Sermons That Work, the popular and heavily utilized offering for clergy and lay leaders from the Office of Communication, is expanding to provide additional services.

Launched on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, the expanded Sermons That Work will continue to offer ready-to-preach sermons and weekly Bible study, while now providing book reviews, special reports on church leadership, preaching tips and other key elements.

Sermons That Work may be found here.

“The idea of supplying congregations with sermons or homilies dates back to the English Reformation,” noted Anne Rudig, Director of Communication. “Carrying on that tradition, the Episcopal Church has been offering Sermons That Work online since 1995. Now, with additional content, our clergy and lay leadership have additional tools to assist them with their preaching and spiritual responsibilities.”

Originally designed to assist small congregations and missions without full-time clergy, Sermons That Work supplies fresh sermons in English and Spanish each week for lay readers based on the Revised Common Lectionary readings for Sundays and selected feast days.

“Sermons That Work allows those who preach regularly and lead worship to use the comprehensive, lectionary-based archives for research projects, sermons, presentations and small groups,” noted Sarah Johnson, editor of Sermons That Work. “Now, clergy and laity will have additional information from which to choose.”

Upcoming special reports on Sermons That Work include: Vacation Bible Schools That Work; Newcomers and Converts; Transforming Churches (Season 2); The Digital Parish

Recognizing the value of Sermons That Work as a source of inspiration for preaching, the Episcopal Church offers all the sermons up into the public domain, free from any copyright considerations, with only the request that proper credit is given to the sermon writers for the use of their ideas and words.

Sermons That Work, along with Episcopal News Service and Wayfarer, is part of the Episcopal Digital Network, a digital publication network that delivers news and feature stories to church leaders, members and general audiences.

Spanish sermons, “Sermones que iluminan,” and Bible study, “Estudio de la Biblia,” are available here.