Choosing to Preach Discussion
#18 - All for Alliteration?
Posted by Kent Anderson on August 26, 2006 19:18
Alliteration ("The purpose of the cross, the person on the cross, the power of the cross…") is a favorite technique of declarative preachers, but is it more trouble than it is worth? In the attempt to find another p-word, do we risk twisting the sermon into saying something that the text does not intend to say?
(from page 145)
Replies
re: #18 - All for Alliteration?
Posted by Tom Reynolds on Sep. 27, 2007 at 23:40
Most of the sermons I hear these days do not use alliteration. This is likely due to the fact that preachers find it somewhat superfluous. However, it does have the great advantage of being memorable. If there is one thing that listeners struggle with these days it is remembering the points of the sermon. As a consequence, it is quite likely that the trouble is worth it if our listeners will be enabled to remember what they heard. However, there is the danger of twisting our sermon to fit a particular letter. I have heard one sermon where he used alliteration for the first three points but admitted that he couldn’t think of another c-word so he used something else that made his last point. Let us use alliteration to advantage but feel free to deviate from it when necessary because our point is more important than the letters.
re: #18 - All for Alliteration?
Posted by Aaron Richert on Feb. 27, 2007 at 13:58
I’m with ya Andre. I spent more time in church growing up trying to guess what my pastor’s next alliteration would be than I did listening to his sermons. Multiple points for me never stuck, with or without alliteration. I’m all about the "big idea" that can be phrased in one simple sentence.
re: #18 - All for Alliteration?
Posted by Andre VanWoerden on Feb. 22, 2007 at 12:33
I’ve never been a big fan of alliteration because it so often seems forced. Yeah, it might serve as a memory aid for the preacher’s outline but hopefully for the listeners it is the big idea that actually impacts them and they will remember. I’m not sure that it is worth the effort or helps to communicate the big idea of the text.
re: #18 - All for Alliteration?
Posted by Johnny Lo on Feb. 15, 2007 at 02:14
I think alliteration can help people to remember what the preacher preached about. It works as a mnenomic device. However, there is definitely sometimes a danger in twisting the sermon into something that the text does not intend to say. If the alliteration draws you away from your text, then I believe that it is better to just leave the alliteration out…or, think harder.