Copyright 1999 The American Reporter. All Rights Reserved.

I am a lay reader in my parish and a member of a diocesan program in exploring ministry. Each month, a small group -- including four from my parish -- meets to consider the nature and ramifications of a call to priesthood, diaconate, and lay ministry in the Episcopal Church.

Our rectors have invited each of us in the program to preach at a regular service at some point during the year.

I was the last in our group to preach, and last Sunday my turn arrived.

For about four months, I have known that a Sunday morning would come when I would have to stand before the congregation and deliver my meditation and analysis (theologians like the term exposition) of the lectionary, the appointed readings from the Scriptures for that Sabbath.

I read the lectionary passages often, and I pondered them frequently: while making my daily commute, in the shower, during boring staff meetings, while watching my children swim and play, especially while listening to other sermons, and even -- I think -- in my dreams.

No columnist ever faced so severe a deadline.

I had no editor hovering over me, but my wife asked -- gently and frequently, "How's your sermon coming?"

The last week before deadline came, and I as yet was without a word of the sermon on paper.

During the three days prior to the Sunday I preached, I attended a church conference for adult education facilitators. At the conference, I had no time to devote to sermon preparation. A mild panic had started to build in my inner being.

A columnist faces a largely anonymous audience. A preacher generally exhorts an audience of friends, family, neighbors, peers and co-pilgrims. The preacher has the more difficult course. I lost count of the number of times I found myself comparing sermon preparation to column preparation and concluding the preacher has the tougher task.

At the same time, I knew I had a column deadline to meet and thought it would be relatively easy to turn out a 700-word reflection. Nevertheless, no matter how often I sat to develop a column, my mind returned to the lectionary and the daunting pulpit responsibility I faced.

I recall several years ago reading a thin volume of sermons by the late theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. I was struck at that time with the points Niebuhr made about preaching that seemed to have relevance to a newspaper columnist.

Now I was experiencing that relevance. I was less than 24 hours away from my appointed hour in front of the congregation and still without a solid word on paper.

In my small group discussion at the conference, our leader asked us to talk about what we were giving up to attend the meetings.

Serendipitously for me, two persons in my group who are ordained priests confessed they had given up sermon preparation to be at the meetings.

Each of them outlined a plan for preparing their sermon in the 19 or 20 hours before they would greet their respective congregations.

One planned to sit down Saturday afternoon and not get up again until the sermon was completed.

The other, who faced a lengthy drive home, planned to work on the sermon until 9 o'clock then go to be and arise at 4 a.m. to complete the exhortation.

As I listened to their related plans, my heart -- if I may be permitted John Wesley's well-known words -- was strangely warmed.

Behind those collars are throats that go dry and pens that procrastinate. What a blessing!

That night I borrowed strategy from both (or perhaps I stole from Peter to pay Paul). I remained awake late writing my sermon, then arose at 5 a.m. to edit and review it.

On Sunday, all went well, and I silently prayed the same result for my new priest friends and inspiring examples.

Alas, my weekly column never got written.

Forgive me. Now I have turned my tardiness into a column.

I could piously claim I put God before journalism, but that's a lame excuse that no editor would allow.

I did learn that columnists are not alone before the tyranny of the deadline, and I've gained a fresh appreciation for that "so be it" word that's so rampant in the Bible -- Amen.

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Allan R. Andrews can be contacted at allan.andrews@reporter.net