Here’s an interesting perspective on life in the pulpit, from several preachers in Pennsylvania. This comes to us from the York Daily Record/Sunday Times:

In seminary, Greg Lindsey imagined that sitting at a dying man’s side would be the most difficult thing a church pastor is called to do.

Nine months into his first job, he’s found that’s not so.

Near the top of the hard-stuff list? Preaching.

He’s got 12 minutes to say his thing, grab people’s attention and wow them with a nugget of wisdom based on Scripture.

When writer’s block hits, it’s bad. But at Easter — the most sacred date on the Christian calendar — the sermons write themselves, pastors say.

“There’s so many ways to go at it, and it’s an upbeat message,” said Lindsey, pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Manchester.

Easter often draws more people to church than any other day. The pews this morning are crowded with the faithful attendees, as well as the “chreasters” — those who visit twice a year, at Christmas and Easter.

Pastors say they don’t concern themselves with crafting a sermon to spiritually feed both the infrequent and weekly churchgoers alike.

Instead, they strive to become better storytellers, avoid repeating themselves and reflect on contemporary news and issues affecting everyday living.

“I try to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other,” said the Rev. Robert Nugent, a priest at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in New Freedom.

“The challenge of preaching is to help apply the Gospel message to the wide variety of people in the assembly so that it can touch their everyday lives given their differences in age, life experience and level of faith commitment.”

Nugent tries to begin his homilies with a contemporary event that people are reading about, seeing on TV or watching unfold on the national scene.

In East Berlin, the Rev. Margaret Wise’s sermon today at Zwingli United Church of Christ will probably reflect on moral issues in current news, such as the elections and the resignation of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, she said last week.

“I’m thinking in political terms and how the Gospel might impact the political scene – candidates for president and the ethical or unethical way they conduct their campaigns,” she said, “how racism and sexism impact our perceptions and our votes. . . . How might I encourage us to love and serve our neighbors? I don’t know how this will come out on Easter morning.”

The Rev. William L. McNeal, pastor of Fairmount United Methodist in Hellam Township, often tries to focus on the “so-what” factor when preaching, he said.

Jesus was resurrected. So what’s that mean for me?

“How can my speaking help the person who is listening? How will it change the situation they are facing?” said McNeal, who started mulling his Easter sermon at the start of Lent.

At Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in York, the Rev. Ryan Johnson, senior pastor, works a day job and doesn’t have hours to prepare sermons.

“I just wait until the Lord gives me a message. When he does, I write down the Scriptures for it,” he said.

“I get up in the pulpit Sunday morning, open my mouth and let the spirit do the speaking. If you write it down, it’s like you have a preconceived thought, and it might not actually be for the people in the audience.”

Like Johnson, the Rev. Samuel Houser, pastor at St. Patrick Church in York, tries to use examples familiar to people’s lives.

He also finds inspiration for homilies in his personal experiences and observances:

“Seeing an employee at some public building, cleaning the floors or windows with enthusiasm and smiling as I pass by,” Houser said. “Having a pleasant interaction, brief as it may be, with a clerk in store who is polite, helpful and patient when I cannot figure out how to swipe my credit card properly.

“Meeting a young person – or anyone, for that matter – who initiates a handshake or greeting. . . . Listening to the stories and struggles of people who continue, nevertheless, to give of themselves for the good of others.”

Photo: Rev. Greg Lindsey, by Bill Bowden, Daily Record/Sunday News