Say a few words

We were about to have another church banquet. The chair of the committee that was organizing the event stopped by my office to review the program. Seated across from me with her iPad in hand, she checked off one item after another as I kept smiling and saying, “That sounds fine.” Then came one of the most familiar questions of my ministry: “Oh, and pastor, will you say a few words?” This question hadn’t even made the checklist. It never does. It’s just a reflexive action of all chairs of church committees responsible for banquet programs.

I’ve never known exactly what is meant by this request. Do they want me to say a few words of inspiration, prophecy, consolation, biblical theology—or just a few words about how much I appreciate the person who asked me to say a few words? Maybe the important point is to use only a few words.

Seminaries teach future pastors how to do careful exegesis of the biblical text, how to explore the wonders of over 2,000 years of theological tradition, how to take seriously the mission of the church, and even a few important insights on how to do pastoral care. But no professor has a lecture in her or his syllabus on “Say a few words.”