Monday Morning Preacher: Itinerant Preaching

I've preached almost every Sunday this month, a different place each week, and it is finally sinking in how very freeing that is.

One of the things that's great about being an itinerant preacher is that I can tell stories of what happened at one parish to the other (leaving out names, of course). The person referred to isn't in the pews; the parish will only see itself reflected without feeling hectored. Suddenly, the stories are not, "You did this." Instead, they become this universal, "We do this," and it's much safer to say and to hear.

I also find myself willing and able to say things I could not say as a settled parochial priest. Because I am not dependent upon the church for my living, the scope of what I feel I can say has widened. I am more critical of the church; I am less worried about being perceived as doctrinally pure. I am, in short, more honest. And I cannot help but think that that's a good thing.