The Rev. MEREDITH CRIGLER
BsP’s STEWARD FOR EDUCATION & FORMATION
An Episcopal priest ordained in 2010, Meredith Crigler currently serves as the Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Baytown, TX. Crigler began with Backstory Preaching in 2016 and serves as a mentor, mentor-guide with apprentices, instructor for Sermon Camp, facilitator for Seasonal Sermon Prep and co-author of the Preacher's Planner. She is also a Certified Daring Way® Facilitator, Certified Dare to Lead® Facilitator, and Community Wellness Advocate with Living Compass. With current projects around Preaching Holy Saturday for her DMin, preaching and the enneagram, preaching in transition, and online courses and retreats, Crigler brings a breadth of experience to her work with preachers. She lives just east of Houston, TX, with her spouse Tim, dog Thurgood and cat Pangur.
The hellish reality of our world—and at times our own lives—can feel like Holy Saturday.
Liturgical church traditions remember Holy Saturday as the day between the crucifixion on Good Friday and the dawn of Easter morning when Jesus Christ was dead, buried, and the tomb sealed shut.
Holy Saturday is a time of deep grief, loss, and uncertainty. A time when all seems lost, and yet God is at work.
During this time, Jesus descends to the deepest depths of Hell to proclaim liberation to those in prison (1 Peter 3:19). For preachers, we might note the significance that the Word made flesh enters Hell, remains present to suffering, and speaks a liberative word.
Jesus preaches on Holy Saturday.
Death, grief, trauma, pain, suffering, burnout, and even various iterations of evil affect all our lives, including the lives of preachers.
Even so, words matter.
Proclamation matters.
Preaching matters.
When we find ourselves in the bowels of Hell, what shall we proclaim?
What is Holy Saturday Preaching?
Preaching Holy Saturday is not preaching about Holy Saturday but preaching from Holy Saturday.
By this, I mean intentionally engaging the deep waters of our own suffering: letting ourselves as the preacher dive down into the difficult realities of our circumstances and proclaiming from the depths.
These depths can look like extended times of grief, disability, burnout, woundedness, and more.
We preach Holy Saturday when we allow the backstory of our own Holy Saturday to preach.
This does not mean we necessarily preach about our particular struggles, though we may discern times when we should.
Rather, we can allow those experiences to connect us to the emotional arc of the text and the Holy Saturday experiences of our listeners to proclaim liberation—the good news present in Holy Saturday.
3 Considerations When Preaching Holy Saturday
As one who has lived and preached through years of medical disability and accompanying grief, I offer here a few of my noticings for preachers who find themselves having to proclaim the Word in the midst of their own Holy Saturday despair:
1) Nurture Spirituality:
Even when seemingly absent, God is faithfully present. Surrounding myself with people and practices who ground me in the nature of our loving and liberating God is essential.
For me, this looks like a daily morning and evening examen, sabbath even when work is to be done, and soul friends who hold me accountable.
2) Let your Process carry you:
Habits surrounding my preaching preparation become more critical and must be held with grace.
For me, this looks like protecting the time on my calendar to put in the work for sitting with the scripture (Lectio), studying (Meditatio), workshopping the meaning (Oratio), and listening for the Spirit as a rest (Contemplatio) before preaching.
To hold my process with grace means trusting that God is a faithful redeemer in depths. Sometimes, a sermon need only be “good enough.” That acceptance allows margin for something else to thrive.
3) Harness Craft:
Preaching is compelling when the preacher’s emotional soul journey is appropriately shared in the structure of the sermon.
For me, I pay attention to the emotional journey in the text, my context, and myself and allow this journey to shape the structure of a sermon’s form. Because God is God, remember that there is always good news, even in the depths of Holy Saturday.
A Final Thought
I believe that embodied, vulnerable preaching can liberate the preacher and invite others into liberation.
I am curious if your experience confirms this idea.
If you have found yourself preaching out of the depths, I’d love to know:
What is your preaching like?
What obstacles have you encountered?
What gifts, grace, and insight have you discovered through proclaiming?