From Pulpit to Paper: Tips for Effective Note-Taking
This article is here to encourage you to maximize your time on Sunday mornings through the practice of note-taking. Note taking can be extremely beneficial, but it can also be to your detriment if you are trying to write down every sentence. This article is for note-takers and non-note-takers alike. If you are not a note-taker, my hope is that you will become one. If you are, my hope is that you would grow in how you take notes and use your notes after Sundays.
Tip #1: Fill out the text, title, and preacher of the sermon ahead of time so that when the sermon begins you don’t get behind! Use the church email or the bulletin to find this info before the sermon begins.
Tip #2: Divide your sermon notes into sections as the sermon unfolds. A sermon usually has an introduction, it will have some brief context, it will have 3-5 points, and then followed by a conclusion. Listen closely and you will be able to hear when the preacher is transitioning out of his introduction, into the context, and into the points. Make these sections STAND OUT in your notebook as you go to organize your notes.
Tip #3: Write down short, concise sentences. Your goal is not to re-write the sermon, and your goal is not to get every gold nugget. The goal is to grab a few of the most impactful insights, theological concepts, and above all, applications that stood out to you from the text. “
Tip #4: Use a star or a different kind of symbol to highlight application points. You want these to stand out on your page. When you return to your notes, you will be able to quickly see the big application points.
Tip #5: This one hurts… but avoid using a phone to take notes, and perhaps even a typing device. Phones offer us too much and oftentimes we find ourselves texting or distracted with multitasking. Choose a notebook and commit to it. We retain more when we write, and again, the goal is not to write down as much as we can. Choose what you write carefully and you will get better at it the more you do it!
Tip #6: Take your journal with you throughout your week. Literally. It could be so convenient to have your notes all on an app on your phone or tablet. A journal is bulkier than a phone, it feels inconvenient. But a large part of note-taking is returning to them. I have found that returning to a paper journal is more edifying than clicking the notes app after scrolling social media. Allow yourself to return to your notes without needing to be on your phone.
Tip #7: If you take tip #6, then tip #7 is to treat your sermon journal as your favorite app. Peruse through it at the gas pump, in the doctor’s office, in the grocery store line, waiting for your coffee, or while at lunch with family or friends. Some of my favorite moments are found while out and about peeking through my sermon notes from a Sunday evening sermon preached months ago by a dear friend. It is a blessing to be refreshed by a truth and carry it on with me into that day or week. The next time you go run an errand, leave your phone behind and take your sermon journal with you. Your soul will thank you!
