In an autobiographical article which appeared in The Sunday Companion, July 22, 1922, Watkinson wrote: "One of the most popular sermons that I ever preached was suggested in its entirety by a simple woman, who little dreamed of saying anything worthy of the pulpit. She had got hold, in her private reading of the Scriptures, of a passage I had never noticed and gave it a capital practical application, which enabled me to make effective use of it. I went through the country preaching this striking discourse as if it were my own, and thousands of people never suspected its obscure source. I had the sense to know a good thing when I heard it. But the genuine merit belonged to the modest creature in the background. The Africans have a pathetic saying, 'When a poor man makes a proverb, it does not circulate.' But I made the proverb of that poor woman circulate.
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"This was by no means the only occasion on which my inspiration came from the people. All through my ministry I was helped by their fresh and vital reflections on the great doctrines and duties of our faith. If the pulpit is to retain its interest, the preacher must cultivate the close fellowship of the common people. If the sermon is to have the touch of reality, we cannot ignore actual life and experience, even that of the lowliest. Both Faraday and Darwin loved to listen to the humblest worker in things pertaining to science; how much more may the preacher consult with advantage the unsophisticated brother who puts to the test of actual life the great spiritual doctrines of theology."
What were the principles which guided Watkinson in his work? First of all, he placed great emphasis on the preacher being ready to take infinite pains with his task. Secondly, the preacher must learn to be simple and interesting. Scholarship the preacher should have but it must never be paraded in the pulpit. The preacher must find out acceptable words and must deal with the people as they are and speak in language they can understand. Preaching should be full of life and color and movement, according to Watkinson. The immense popularity of the novel ought to teach the preacher the value of a concrete and pictorial style.
In an interview with a reporter for The Methodist Recorder on his methods of illustrations, Watkinson said: "I never, if I know it, use an illustration that anybody else has used. There is such a gain in finding one's own. They have a power and freshness that other men's discourses inevitably lack. The illustration must be capable of swift statement, then having got the benefit of it, you must drop it. You don't want too many illustrations in one sermon. One under each division is enough; to exceed that number is apt to divert attention. This was brought home to me by the remark of a man who had heard me preach. 'You have told us some most interesting facts today.' Oh, yes, I thought, and in so doing I have missed the mark. He has thought more about my facts than about my thesis."
Another rule of Watkinson's was that preaching should be timely. The preacher must treat the great evangelical truths in the light of present-day knowledge and conditions. "To enable him to do this the preacher must be familiar with the teachings of science. He must carefully study all that the scientist can teach him concerning the new facts and teachings of Nature and thus enrich his sermons with new and forceful illustrations and analogies."
