How an Anglican Parish Priest Uses Logos
30 years preaching
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19 years using Logos
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6,500+ volumes in Logos library
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Rev. Canon Steve Tompkins not only preaches but also helps to develop the next generation of Anglican ministers. Logos Bible Software helps him make the most of his time.
Worthy Work
Steve serves at Holy Trinity Edmonds, a church nearing its eighth birthday. But preaching has been part of his life for far longer—30 years. Steve also holds an integral role in developing and running the ordination process for his diocese. He’s been recruited to help do something similar on a national level with Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). As part of a committee, he’ll assist with looking across all dioceses to assess and form standards for ordination candidates’ theological education. Additionally, the committee will create consistent standards for seminaries offering ACNA-approved formation tracks for ordination.
Why Only 5% of Steve’s Theological Library Is Paper-&-Ink Books
As you can imagine, one reason why Steve is such an excellent architect of future ministers’ competency-building is his own firm foundation in Bible study and preaching. His process for sermon preparation is organized, comprehensive, repeatable, and efficient.
Part of that efficiency comes from using Logos. Because of Logos, he can jump right into sermon preparation and do deep Bible study without wasting time on any of this—for starters:
- Figuring out which resources to use
- Finding the right page and section of the page
- Typing insights into his sermon notes
Not uncommon for Logos users, 95% of his theological books are in Logos. He has hundreds of commentaries he wouldn’t have space for physically (or time to go through by hand). When he’s doing sermon or teaching prep, he prefers Logos’s digital books because he can find relevant passages quickly, cut and paste, and follow footnote links to further study. There’s only one instance where he prefers a physical book: when he’s studying it from cover to cover.
Using Logos at Surface Level
Steve always starts sermon preparation in the same place—with the lectionary open on his Logos desktop app. (Of course, he could also use Logos on his mobile app or web app, and all of his work would automatically sync.)
Referencing the liturgy in different books is also really helpful, he says, and he also occasionally uses the 1662, 1928, and 1979 Book of Common Prayer.
Since he started using Logos in 2003 before its sermon-writing tools had advanced to anywhere near the current level (see Sermon Builder and Sermon Manager below), he does his sermon preparation in Logos, then copies and pastes into a Word document to create a one-page outline. When he goes to the pulpit, he takes that one piece of paper.
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Below the Surface: Timeless Methods Fueled by Modern Tech
Before Steve started using Logos, he took steps like these to prepare sermons:
- Reading the lectionary
- Reading the Bible passage
- Comparing the passage in multiple translations
- Reading related Bible verses and passages
- Doing word studies in the original languages
- Consulting specific authors’ works
- Reviewing specific preferred commentaries
He still takes these steps with Logos—he just does them faster. For instance, he uses the Passage Guide to automatically access related content in his commentaries, read important passages, study key words, and more.
He’s also created custom resource collections with specific authors so that when he wants to see what those authors have to say on a passage, all it takes is one click. Steve did the same with his favorite commentaries for each Gospel.
Perhaps without realizing it, he hit on one of the biggest ways to make sure you get the most out of Logos. That’s to decide what YOU want to use it for, and then use it for that. It’s like a mechanic’s garage with every tool imaginable, but no one person needs to use every tool every time. Grab the tools you need and feel good about leaving the others on the shelf for now.
Rev. Canon Steve Tompkins
I absolutely cannot leave behind what Logos gives me with the massive library, access to that library, and the ability to search that library and use those resources. I never prepare a sermon or a teaching or talk or whatever without it.