Christmastide 2024 with Rev. Dr. Lisa Cressman of Backstory Preaching

In this special Christmastide episode, Tara reflects on the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love that have been unwrapped throughout Advent, and shares how the message of Christmas continues to inspire daily life. She is joined for an insightful conversation with Reverend Dr. Lisa Cressman, founder of Backstory Preaching. This episode delves into the transformative power of connecting spirituality with preaching. Additionally, the episode includes heartwarming holiday greetings from various guests and a special Christmas blessing in the form of a poem. Join us as we discover how to keep the spirit of Christmas alive all year round!

Thanks to the following special guests for sharing Holiday Greetings:
Rev. Dr Eileen Campbell Reed
Rev. Ruth Hetland
Rev. Dr. Katy Stinta
Tim Kerr (Wildgoose Festival)
Rev. Dr. Stephen and Rebecca Grabill
Rev. Dr. Lisa Cressman, Backstory Preaching

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Transcript

S6 E5 Christmastide 2024 with Rev. Dr. Lisa Cressman of Backstory Preaching

 [00:00:00] 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Welcome to Holy Shenanigans podcast. I'm your muse, Tara Lamond Eastman, pastor, podcaster, and practitioner of Holy Shenanigans. I'm so happy to have you with us to discover the sacred showing up in everyday life. All through this season of Advent, I've unwrapped stories of hope, peace, joy, and love. If you've been following along here, you've probably been enjoying your chocolates from your Advent calendar as well. And you know that our journey to Christmas is about to end. Or is it? I think Christmas is finally here, and Christmas is only beginning. Theologian and poet Howard Thurman says this best in his poem, The Work of [00:01:00] Christmas. When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, The Work of Christmas. Begins to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all siblings, to make music from the heart. Thanks to Thurman, I have a backstory for why Christmas needs to last longer than 12 days. Christmas offers each of us a daily opportunity to keep Christmas alive in the things that Advent taught us through hope, peace, joy, and love.[00:02:00] 

So as we revel in the days of Christmas, I wonder, what is our backstory to continue the work of Christmas? The psalm reading for Christmas Eve helps me to hear this call to work for Christmas. In a new way, let the heavens be glad. Let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar in. All that fills it. Let the field exalt and everything in it, then shall all the trees in the forest sing for joy.

 This Christmas at Holy shenanigans podcast. We want to keep the work of Christmas going and going. So later in this episode, you will hear some holiday greetings from Holy shenanigators. You already know from earlier this year. But I first want to introduce you to today's guest, Reverend Dr.

Lisa [00:03:00] Cressman. Lisa is the founder of Backstory Preaching that helps preachers to enjoy their work and to have their preaching restore rather than to drain. Thank you, Lisa, for joining us for this Christmas episode of Holy Shenanigans podcast.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Oh, thank you, Tara, I'm delighted to be here.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Thank you so much. Could you give folks who don't know about backstory preaching a little bit of background on it?

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Sure. Backstory Preaching is an all online ministry for preachers. We serve lay and ordained preachers. Pretty much Episcopal and mainline Protestant denominations. And our mission is to help preachers thrive in and out of the pulpit. And we do that by focusing on preachers process, craft, and spirituality.

So process, how are they getting their sermons [00:04:00] done? And is that working for them, or is it draining the life out of them?

Craft, skill development that never ends. It goes through our entire ministries, from year to year to year. We are always growing in our craft. And then finally, spirituality, from whence all of the above comes.

Sermon prep itself, is a spiritual practice. That is what we advocate at Backstory Preaching and that transforms preaching and the entire process of it from being another box on the checklist in an overcrowded week to a time of respite and connection with God that feeds the preacher before we even think about

 So when you put all of that together, it is transformative for the preacher, their sermons, and the listeners who receive them. The tagline for backstory preaching [00:05:00] is, be good news to preach good news, which really describes the whole backstory process because we are asking God through our process of sermon prep to transform us to become more like Christ. So that we pray that we are becoming the good news we preach.

And if that doesn't summarize a beautiful way to go about the vocation of preaching, I don't know what else is.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: I think that's a perfect summation thank you so much for that explanation.

So this podcast effort started for me in 2020 I was in a new call and I was longing for conversation partners around the scripture and I didn't just want to do another text study and didn't want to just read something. And so the podcast became a space for me to. experiment a little bit more to look at the texts from a poetic [00:06:00] perspective and also integrate poetry into my process as a preacher. 

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Beautiful. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: so, that was my backstory at least in regards to sharing this podcast in the world. But I'm curious for you, how did this backstory preaching begin

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Well, it's a story. The short version of this story is that my family and I, moved unexpectedly in terms of our long term life plans 

from my hometown in Minnesota to Texas for my husband to pursue his dream job.

 It was not something I had on my list of things that I would do in my lifetime. is to move to Texas. But here we were, and our boys were entering middle school.

It was a massive upheaval for the [00:07:00] family.

And I really needed to be home tending the family. It was not a time for me to look for a traditional parish ministry like I had done for all the years prior. I really needed to be at home. I got to the end of unpacking the boxes after about six months, and I was panicking. I didn't know what I was going to do with myself. I was not a part for reasons that are not worth describing, and no fault of the Diocese of Texas. I was not a part of the Diocese of Texas, so nobody knew me. I'm living in a city of six million people. Of whom I knew exactly one,

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Wow.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: I didn't know what I was going to do.

I was really, really depressed. And all along, I'm praying like, okay God anytime now you've got some ideas for me. Neon lights would really help. Anything, any clue, but I gotta work with something here. And I had nothing. And one night I went to bed. [00:08:00] And I was literally awakened at two o'clock in the morning with this entire vision of backstory preaching laid out. And I could see it for 20 years and I knew it was going to work.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: wow,

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: I absolutely knew it was going to work. 

And the vision was what would happen if you worked with preachers long term in a manner that was at least as much spiritual direction as it was on the craft of preaching.

What would happen?

And I didn't know exactly what would happen, but I knew it was going to make a big difference. the one human being I knew, in the Houston, Texas metro was a priest in the Diocese of Texas. She vetted me to them, they very kindly and generously offered me a proof of concept startup grant and we were off to the races. So in 2016, [00:09:00] we launched, in fact, it's almost our anniversary because we launched in January of 16 with our, one year intensive mentorship.

That is still our flagship and we're still, offering our mentorship. And it, is an amazing program, but we have also added on a whole bunch of other things, none of which were in my mind at the time I've authored a couple of books, I do podcasts, I do conferences and retreats none of which was on my mind.

So the Holy Spirit has been moving at gale force speed. Every now and then I kind of say, you know, you could, for a little while, just bring it down to a gentle puff.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: But the holy shenanigans continue.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Exactly. Exactly. it has been the most astonishing, gratifying ministry I have ever been privy to be part of. [00:10:00] The effect that this ministry has had on preachers.

 is beyond anything I could have asked for or imagined. And it is beautiful to watch the transformation that happens in preachers when they connect their spirituality, their backstory, meaning their relationship with God. When that gets connected directly to their preaching,

 then amazing things happen.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. I, feel like even though this sounds like a scary statement, it's like preaching or being a pastor without a net might be some ways that people describe that, but actually I think a better way to describe that is that coming out of a supported sense. Of who you are as a child of God, reaching out of that place of grounding and security.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Exactly. Yep. It allows the preacher to be more courageous in what they [00:11:00] say, whether that is a message of gospel justice, or it is a moment of vulnerability, or it is taking the congregation into places they would prefer not to go. If you know in your core that you are loved by God, it's not that there's nothing at stake, because your job could be at stake. 

that's a real thing. And in addition, when you know that you are absolutely loved by God, you have nothing to lose. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: As a person and preacher who likes to make things, music and art and writing, I know that if I am not engaged in those creative expressions, that my preaching isn't in that creative flow as well. When creativity is a part of my backstory, my preaching and living is so much more meaningful

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: and I'm [00:12:00] guessing on the basis of what you just said, that preaching is then more joyful for you. It's more fun.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yes, indeed. 

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: It's more joyful and more fun for us. Our listeners pick up on that. They start to feel that joy and the sense of fun, even if it's a difficult message, it is still fun to explore the gospel.

And it is fun to explore that in community. And our listeners see that, and hear that in our voices, they see it in our body language. And that is infectious.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Earlier this week. I had the opportunity to go to a Christian school to share the story of what Advent is. I walked into that situation having only a little bit of understanding of the diversity of the group. I had kindergartners all the way to high schoolers, for about an hour and, and had a plan.

But then, [00:13:00] you know, thanks be for background and youth ministry. Woo. Was able to pivot and make it a much more interactive, joyful experience for myself, as well as the 38 students that were gathered that day because my backstory Was there, , I just wanted to share these themes of hope, peace, joy, and love with this group of students that maybe hadn't engaged with it in this interactive way of, lighting those candles and telling stories of hope and peace and joy and love together.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: what a blast.

One of the important things about backstory preaching is talking about what your backstory is, it's like characters in a movie or TV show, the actor, usually, as I understand it, not being an actor myself, goes through a lot of pains to create what the character's backstory is, because the [00:14:00] character's backstory provides all the motivation.

Mm hmm. For every decision the character makes. But that backstory is rarely spoken out loud. It remains in the background, propelling the character.

In the same way, our backstories are doing exactly that. But our backstories are not necessarily something we name out loud. 

So it is not the same thing as telling personal stories.

Telling a personal story is a rhetorical device that we have to decide with every sermon whether that's something we want to do or not. But it has nothing to do with our backstories. Our backstories are who we are and our relationship with God. 

 All of the ways God made us. all of our experiences, our education, our prejudices, our, lens through which we read scripture.

 All of that is propelling us to make the [00:15:00] decisions we make about understanding what the good news is 

and how we will present it. So our backstories are going with us into every single sermon, whether we know it or not.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: It's always showing up. So what we suggest is that preachers are offering their backstories to the glory of God 

saying, use it, this is all of the stuff I've got.

And it is the only, vessel through which. The Word of God is going to be incarnated through me into a sermon. It's the only thing we have to work with,

is who we are and our backstories. So we want to make sure that it is being used to its best effect, 

that it is in the best sense of this word being exploited to the glory of God.

To exploit is not always a bad thing. It is to mean to use something in totality. [00:16:00] So we want to ask God to use us in totality. to spread the Word of God as best as we are able. So when we tend to our backstories, we pay attention to How did I arrive at this interpretation? Where is God for me in the scripture?

 What do I believe God wants? What does God hope for? Our backstories are lending itself to the interpretation we come up with. So wanting to be as clear as we can about how that is happening, offering it to God, and then going forward into crafting our sermon accordingly. But when we've got that relationship with God that is always a part of it, that's what gives us the courage to move forward.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: The psalm reading I mentioned earlier talks about proclaiming God's word from this place of nature. Quite literally, you know, talking about the [00:17:00] glory of the trees and the glory of, all of nature but that message of verdancy of greenness to borrow from Hildegard is Something that in my preaching, I'm trying to share with the folks this verdancy, this, love of God is not just. A secret language for the pastor,

But this life to the full is something for each and every one of us that I feel God wants us to engage with and in and through our lives. And so I'm wondering for our folks that are listening today that aren't necessarily a pastor or a preacher, why and how can this backstory perspective be helpful in their own everyday life?

Or 

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: great question. I like the examples that you offered because The places where we know we access [00:18:00] awe are the best places we can go. To be in awe of something is to appreciate it, but not wanting to acquire it. It's a paraphrase from Brene Brown. We want to be in its presence and bask in that feeling, but we are not trying to assimilate it and make it ours.

That's when we're in the presence of something larger than ourselves. And nature is one of the easiest access points for that.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: When we are in a place of awe, it also opens wonder and curiosity. And when we start asking questions, it leads to more places of awe, and awe is a place that also leads to joy. When we can place ourselves deliberately in [00:19:00] places where that awe is possible by the gift of the Spirit, then we are perpetually feeding our backstories, , and that is what gives us our motivation of why. Why am I engaged in ministry? Why do I believe? And that's just because we are children of God. It doesn't matter, lay ordained, irrelevant.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah,

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: It is when we are, cultivating that awe, we are cultivating our why. And that's what gives us the capacity and the energy and the focus to keep going in our ministries.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: yeah, as you explain that \ I'm thinking of lay folks I have known over the years that, have leaned into care of others in such beautiful ways by helping folks who are refugees and they are coming into. The United States and [00:20:00] supporting them by, you know, diaper handout day folks that help feed the neighbors of their community each week by sharing a community meal or cooking folks who fill their free little libraries with books or with snacks.

Or with warm winter where so I, hope when folks hear our conversation, they can go, Oh, aha. This is something that is already within me. I just never realized 

 here at holy shenanigans podcast, we have been sharing stories of how God or the divine shows up in everyday life. And you shared a beautiful Holy Shenanigans story already about how backstory preaching came to be. But I wonder in this coming into Christmas season, if you have perhaps another story you might be willing to share with us.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: As we record this, I am not in [00:21:00] Texas. I am in North Carolina, in the mountains. in 2023, my husband and I were thinking about where we might want to go when we retire. And mountains are our favoritestestestestest place in the world. And long story short, the house that I am in came up on the market.

I looked at it online and said, that is my house.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Wow.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Now, other people might get to my house first, but whether they do or not, that is my house. That is my house. So over Holy Week, I flew out because I don't have to necessarily be in church at particular times. I get to choose my schedule these days.

And within a few days we bought this house without my husband seeing it.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Wow.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Sight unseen, my husband said yes, and that, above all, is a holy shenanigan story, that my husband was willing to do that, [00:22:00] and so, that I am in the mountains of Western North Carolina my family will be here as well, everybody's flying in, Our young adult children are going to be here and I am so grateful to be surrounded in a beautiful location in the midst of a lot of, work and devastation because I'm in the area where Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc and it is all around me. And so it is a beautiful place of both respite. And knowing the work of the community that needs to be done and the ways that people pull together to help each other out. So it's all one big holy. literally mess.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: And that that work of Christmas continues. Yeah.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Yes, exactly.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Thank you, Lisa, so much for, sharing your time and your stories and the importance of knowing that we are truly always beloved children of God [00:23:00] and to live our lives and to continue this spirit of Christmas all year. I just am curious if folks want to learn more about backstory preaching, how can they find you?

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Go to BackstoryPreaching. com and we're also on Facebook. I do a live broadcast every Monday at noon central where we pray Lectio on the coming Sunday's RCL Gospel. So you're always welcome to join me on our Facebook page or again on BackstoryPreaching. com.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: So before you go and get ready for Christmas I wanted to share a blessing with you in the form of a poem, which is my Christmas wish for all the folks who have been supporting and listening to this podcast, but also for you, as 

you witness. This new home and this new time of life in the mountains that you so love.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Thank you.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: [00:24:00] Christmas is here. We have been on the lookout for hope. We have stirred up spaces of peace. We have jumped into joy. We have been held together by the glue of love. We have waited for Christmas. When will Christmas finally come? Be here. We retell Christmas's story to remember angels and shepherds, a carpenter, a maiden.

They travel, they take risks, they follow a star, they gather at the manger. Cattle sigh, birds coo in the rafters, and woolly sheep share their warmth against the cold night. Merry labors. [00:25:00] When will Christmas finally be here? In time, the child is born. The child takes their first breath. The child cries. This, this is the song we have been longing to hear.

Could it be that Christmas is finally here? Mary rests in Joseph's arms. We all stare and wonder. She gently passes the baby to Joseph and asks all who are gathered, come near. Hold out your arms. Christmas abides with us. Christmas abides in you. Christmas is here. Christmas is here.[00:26:00] 

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: That was beautiful. Thank you, Tara.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: You're welcome. I hope that these words and our conversation and the meditations of our heart Our pleasing in God's sight and that can be an encouragement for people to know that their backstory is essential, essential to this continued work of Christmas.

Rev’d Dr. Lisa Cressman: Amen.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: So before we say farewell to each other and to 2024, I invite you all to keep on listening because there are some holiday greetings. From our returning special guests. 

Eileen Campbell Reed: Hello, and welcome to the 12 days of Christmas. This is Eileen Campbell Reed. I love the 12 days of Christmas between Christmas day and [00:27:00] Epiphany. Every year, my husband and I celebrate by trading small gifts with each other. It's been a wonderful family tradition. This year, during the 12 days of Christmas, and. Leading up to Epiphany, my wish and hope for you is a sense of deep peace, deep peace of the quiet earth, the shining stars, the light of Christ, and may that light of Christ shine on you in Epiphany and in all the seasons of the year to come. 

Ruth Hetland: Hi, my name is Ruth Hetland, as I think about all the people that my co host Dawn Trautman and I have talked to on Creative Creative Podcast, that My wish is that everyone be able to follow their creative spirit in the next year and to follow especially the [00:28:00] intuition that they have if they had a dream about something that they would like to make or create or do, that they follow the threads of that and see what might be knit together in the next year from, you know, Those threads of ideas and so best wishes to Tara and everyone at the Holy Shenanigans podcast and all the listeners. Have a very Merry Christmas and a happy, happy new year. Bye.

Pastor Katy Stenta: Hello, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. This is Pastor Katy from Katie and the Word. My holiday wish is for everyone to have comfort during this season. I always think about that a lot of people need comfort. So that's my wish. I hope everyone has comfort. Thanks and Happy Holidays. Bye.

Tim Kerr: [00:29:00] Hello, my beautiful friends. This is Tim Kerr from the Wild Goose Festival wishing you and yours and the whole world a season of love and peace. Let's all continue to work together in the new year to create the world we want to live in. Peace. 

Rebecca Grabill: Hi, this is the Grabill, Rebecca 

Stephen Grabill: and Stephen. 

Rebecca Grabill: We are authors of the joy of Advent, and we are just sharing our Christmas wish for the whole Holy shenanigans community and really for the whole world. And our wish is that everyone will keep the party going after Christmas day. We would love for everyone to celebrate the full 12 days of Christmas all the way through to 12th night and Epiphany.

Stephen Grabill: And of course, the whole point of that is to remember that Christ came into the world to become one of us. And hopefully, [00:30:00] we will remember in Christmastide and after, that we are to be like Him in the world. His hands and feet to share His love with all. So Merry Christmas! 

Rebecca Grabill: Merry Christmas!

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: I am your holy shenanigans news, Tara Lamont Eastman. Thank you for joining us for holy shenanigans. That surprise encourage redirect and turn life upside down all in the name of love. This is an unpredictable spiritual adventure that is always sacred, but never stuffy. Thanks to our guests who have left us wonderful Christmas greetings.

And thank you, Lisa, for sharing your joy and inspiration to keep the work of Christmas going. Christmas blessings to you and yours as you [00:31:00] unwrap it and keep Christmas going.

We'll see you soon in a brand new year of holy shenanigans in 2025 until next time. Remember that you are always. Beloved.