It's a high wire act, one of which OSHA would not approve -- preaching without notes. Only the most extraordinarily gifted speaker can pull it off, or so I used to think.

A couple of years ago, during his State of the Union Address, President Clinton began his speech reading from the Teleprompter. Suddenly, instead of the current address, the words before his eyes were from the State of the Union speech from the previous year. With remarkable aplomb and rhetorical dexterity, the president kept right on going with his intended speech, ignoring the Teleprompter and speaking extemporaneously until the right words reappeared once again. Most in the audience of millions did not realize that anything had gone wrong.

Most preachers do not have the advantage of Teleprompters, technical glitches notwithstanding. We cannot feign eye contact with our listeners while reading our sermons. Either we must bob our heads up and down between our notes and the congregation, or we must rely on our sometimes untrustworthy memories.

When I began preaching twenty years ago, I wrote out my sermons in full. I retyped them on half sheets of paper for pulpit use, adding spaces between the sentences and underlining key words for emphasis. I knew it was poor form to read the sermon word for word, but I lacked the confidence to "wing it." I prepared myself by reading the manuscript over and over, just short of memorizing it. My intent was to become so familiar with the sermon that I did not have to read it. Still, I wanted the manuscript there, just in case.

For less formal presentations, I developed an abbreviated form of sermon notes, with key phrases written out. Even with abbreviated notes, I felt tied to that piece of paper. My gestures and manner of delivery were often stilted and uncomfortable.

Five years ago our church began to offer an early service on Sunday mornings, decidedly different from the traditional 11:00 a.m. fare. We designed it to be informal and contemporary, with praise music accompanied by a synthesizer, instead of the usual music of hymns, choir, and organ. We encouraged worshipers to come in more casual attire. I wore a sweater instead of a suit and tie, and I preached from the floor instead of standing behind the pulpit. Needless to say, for one who had always relied on sermon notes, this new manner of preaching was more than a little intimidating. Nonetheless, I was determined to give it a try.

Since a full manuscript was no longer practical, I reduced my sermon notes to one page, folded in half. I reverted to my abbreviated sermon note form, using key words and phrases instead of whole sentences. Still, this method required that I have something in my hand while preaching, since I wanted to get away from any type of lectern. I tried clipping my sermon notes to my Bible, but that proved cumbersome. I tried folding them into an even less conspicuous form, like a note card. Yet, the real problem was having any notes at all, however unobtrusive.