76 – A Prophetic Interview
A weekly blog of Creative Ideas for Leading Worship
A Prophetic Interview
Listening to Local Voices for Justice
What if, instead of a sermon, you give the preaching slot over to a living voice from the local front lines of justice?
One powerful way to deepen worship is to invite a local community leader, activist, advocate, or organiser into the service for a live interview. This person may not call themselves a prophet, but if they are speaking hard truths, standing with those on the margins, and working for a better world, they are doing prophetic work. They are naming what is wrong, imagining what could be different, and refusing to give up on hope.
This kind of interview can be a vivid and memorable act of worship. It brings the themes of justice and righteousness out of the pages of scripture and into the life of the community.
The prophets of the Bible weren’t abstract thinkers. They spoke into real situations of poverty, corruption, exclusion, violence, and false religion. A thoughtful interview with someone engaged in today’s struggles can help a congregation hear those same themes in a fresh and immediate way.
To do this well, preparation matters. In the week or two before the service, spend some time researching your guest and the work they are doing. Learn enough to ask informed, respectful, open-ended questions. Prepare six questions in advance and email them to the guest a few days before the service so they can feel relaxed and ready. Questions might explore what drew them into this work, what challenges they face, what signs of hope they are seeing, and what change they long for.
But don’t treat the questions as a script carved in stone. On the day, listen closely. Be willing to follow what the guest actually says. If something they share catches your attention, or seems likely to stir the hearts of the congregation, go deeper. The best interviews aren’t rigid. They breathe. They make room for honesty, surprise, and real connection.
A crucial skill for the interviewer is silence. Ask the question, then keep quiet. Let the guest speak. Don’t pepper their answer with little noises like “aha”, “hmm”, “yes”, or “I see”. Many interviewers do this without realising how distracting and irritating it is for the audience. A warm, attentive face and the occasional nod will do the job far better. When the guest has finished speaking, then move to the next question.
Practical details matter too. Both interviewer and guest need good quality microphones, and someone should be monitoring and adjusting sound levels throughout the interview. Radio lapel mics are ideal because they allow people to speak naturally and comfortably.
A pair of comfortable chairs at the front of the church can also help create a relaxed and conversational atmosphere.
With the guest’s permission, it is well worth recording the audio and sharing it online later through the church website or social media. That allows the conversation to keep speaking beyond the service itself.
A prophetic interview says something important about worship. It says that God still speaks through living voices. It says that faith belongs in the real world. And it reminds us that listening well is one of the holiest acts we can offer.
Ngā mihi
Philip