Against sermon note taking

Alistair Chalmers makes the case for taking notes during sermons here.  This is something I’ve changed my mind on.  Having a congregation furiously scribbling down notes during your talk is the gold standard measure of effective conservative evangelical preaching. It’s up there with getting a spontaneous outburst of hallelujahs and amens at a Pentecostal service or a standing ovation at a conference.

For years we’ve encouraged people to turn up at church with their Bible and their notebook, ready to capture our main points.  I wonder though how effective note taking is when it comes to disciple making.  Here are a few reasons why I don’t think it’s such a good idea. 

First, I don’t think it really helps us to retain and remember.  Be honest, how often do you go back and look at the notes you’ve made? And does scribbling furiously away actually help us to concentrate and listen carefully, or do we end up dual processing?  The big risk is that the salient points actually get lost in the noise of all the stuff we’ve scribbled down. If we do manage to capture the main application and headings, then surely those big themes could have been captured for us on a handout.

Secondly, I believe that it sets the tone and feel of the talk.  We are used to taking notes at seminars and lectures.  The posture of the listener then is that of one who is expecting to receive academic knowledge and wisdom.  This also affects the tone, posture and content of the preacher/sermon.  In fact, let’s be explicit about this, if I’m preaching for note takers then I’m preaching for middle-class students and graduates.  Furthermore, I’m preaching primarily to the mind.

This leads me to my third point.  I don’t want you to have your head down looking at your notes for the same reason that I don’t, as the preacher, want to be looking down at a script. It’s also why I’m not a big fan of power-point presentations either.  I want to engage with you eye to eye, heart to heart, in a form of conversation where I preach to the affections. So, put down your note-pad and pen and look the preacher in the eye. The only thing you should be looking back down at is your Bible.