MARY WISNIEWSKI
Assistant Living Editor
Senior Kent Miller said he is mostly the typical Pepperdine public relations major. But on Sunday mornings, the Michigan native has done something few others can attest to at this age — Miller periodically delivers sermons at Woodland Hills Christian Church, his home church while at Pepperdine.
“I’m not just a young face. I do have something to tell,” Miller said. “It’s nice to say what’s on your heart.”
Miller began to preach when Greg Daum, his minister and speech professor at Pepperdine, asked him to prepare a sermon one weekend last year. Though not every church offers such opportunities, Miller is one of several students who have taken advantage of a church that does.
“More or less when I go on vacation, we find someone connected with the church to preach,” Daum said. Often, the church’s Pepperdine students — many of whom are from Daum’s speech class — fill that role.
Daum said he chose student preachers from his class after hearing their speech skills and getting to know them on a personal level.
“(Miller) was a natural fit,” Daum said.
Miller has periodically filled in preaching ever since.
“It’s exciting and nerve-wrecking,” he said. “You never know what to expect. There is a quirky atmosphere at church.”
There is also a lot of hype from the audience to be funny, he said. Usually, he tries to keep his message to around 15 minutes.
“If you talk too long, people will fade out,” Miller said. “If I expect them to listen, I have to do a good job.”
He said preaching also helps with his confidence. Miller’s church provides him with a different audience than his classes do. Although there are many Pepperdine peers who attend, WHCC’s congregation also includes elderly individuals and young families.
Senior Lindsay Goldford, who also preached at WHCC three years ago, emphasizes such heterogeneity.
“It’s much more diverse,” Goldford said. “You have old people, young people, single people, parents, non-parents.”
Goldford has also preached on campus at the University Church of Christ’s Care Group, a midweek student worship service. She said the two experiences were vastly different.
“Care Group is pretty homogenous,” Goldford said. “It’s easier to speak out of your own experience. At Woodland Hills Christian Church, you have to think: Is what I’m saying applicable to the 85-year-old woman in the back row?”
Goldford also noted, however, that the smaller WHCC crowd is supportive and appreciative no matter the sermon. She said that as an overall experience, preaching at the church is overwhelmingly positive.
Miller said he likes to challenge the congregation.
“I like to push the envelope a little bit,” he said. “I want to say something that pushes them.”
He said that in challenging the congregation without causing too many problems, the process of finding material to preach on is meticulous and sometimes difficult. Although his audience has never glared at him, Miller said he has had his share of blank stares.
Prior to WHCC, Miller had no experience preaching. In high school, he worked with youth groups and entered speech competitions but never delivered sermons. He later managed to recognize his talent in speech, though.
“I thought, if I am good at speeches and first-person narratives, I probably can give a sermon,” he said.
Daum said he recognized Miller’s speaking ability and said his congregation jokes that student preachers could put Daum out of a job.
“The congregation is encouraged by the students,” Daum said. “Not everyone has an opportunity to share their speaking talents if they are not a minister.”
WHCC and the University Church of Christ are not the only places where students get opportunities to preach.
Senior Matt Williams said he ministers as well as preaches at various churches. He attends and occasionally preaches at Culver City Gospel, a church that encourages younger members to speak.
“Basically, people in church wanted me to share the testimony of becoming a Christian,” Williams said.
Now he preaches at least once every three months.
“The audience expects a certain quality out of me,” he said.
Although Williams is majoring in international business with a math minor, he said he hopes to preach and minister for the rest of his life.
WHCC and Culver City Gospel allow students to preach, but other local churches often don’t have such opportunities.
St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church is one such example.
“If we had students come here regularly and (they) made St. Aidan’s their home, they could preach,” the Rev. Joyce Stickney said.
Currently, students are only attending sporadically with a few members participating in the choir, according to Stickney.
“I feel it’s not as if they have made St. Aidan’s their home,” she said. “When they do preach, they need to know who they are preaching to.”
For students like Miller, Goldford and Williams, who have found more of a home at their church, preaching is something they feel ready to do. But for most, the opportunity is still at large.
material to preach on is meticulous and sometimes difficult. Although his audience has never glared at him, Miller said he has had his share of blank stares.
Prior to WHCC, Miller had no experience preaching. In high school, he worked with youth groups and entered speech competitions but never delivered sermons. He later managed to recognize his talent in speech, though.
“I thought, if I am good at speeches and first-person narratives, I probably can give a sermon,” he said.
Daum said he recognized Miller’s speaking ability and said his congregation jokes that student preachers could put Daum out of a job.
“The congregation is encouraged by the students,” Daum said. “Not everyone has an opportunity to share their speaking talents if they are not a minister.”
WHCC and the University Church of Christ are not the only places where students get opportunities to preach.
Senior Matt Williams said he ministers as well as preaches at various churches. He attends and occasionally preaches at Culver City Gospel, a church that encourages younger members to speak.
“Basically, people in church wanted me to share the testimony of becoming a Christian,” Williams said.
Now he preaches at least once every three months.
“The audience expects a certain quality out of me,” he said.
Although Williams is majoring in international business with a math minor, he said he hopes to preach and minister for the rest of his life.
WHCC and Culver City Gospel allow students to preach, but other facilities often don’t have such opportunities.
St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church is one such example.
“If we had students come here regularly and (they) made St. Aidan’s their home, they could preach,” the Rev. Joyce Stickney said.
Currently, students only attend sporadically with a few members participating in the choir, according to Stickney.
“I feel it’s not as if they have made St. Aidan’s their home,” she said. “When they do preach, they need to know who they are preaching to.”
For students like Miller, Goldford and Williams, who have found more of a home at their church, preaching is something they feel ready to do. But for most, the opportunity is still at large.
11-17-2005