Many worshippers see it as the loneliest part of a minister’s job: crafting a sermon, in the wee hours, the only aids a Bible and some reference books before presenting the fully formed product to the congregation.

But increasingly, the pastor’s message is the painstaking work of a committee — a panel of church staff and congregants who meet weekly to suggest sermon topics, critique the minister’s prose and examine how his or her preaching will mesh with other elements of the service.

One goal of worship-planning teams is to ensure the minister’s words will resonate with all segments of a congregation. Often, the team’s job is to turn the sermon into a multimedia experience, with specialists in music, drama and video technology contributing.

“It’s happening more and more as they will all bring different gifts to the table,” said Randel Everett, president of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies, a Baptist-affiliated seminary in Arlington, Va.

Everett said he had noticed movement toward collaborative sermons for more than a decade but that it had become prevalent in the past three years.

At Purcellville (Va.) Baptist Church, the Rev. David Janney meets with a worship committee for several hours every Wednesday. Janney typically shows them a draft 11 days before he plans to deliver the sermon. The group of about eight, which includes other clergy, administrators and one elder, decides on sermon topics, selecting them several months in advance.

At a recent meeting, Janney’s sermon was to urge families to stay together and engage in as many joint activities as possible. “If you don’t spend time with them, they won’t spend time with you,” he had written.

Membership coordinator Dania O’Connor recommended starting the sentence, “When we don’t spend time with them,” to acknowledge that everyone — even the pastor — sometimes fails to set aside enough time for family. Others agreed that sounded less judgmental.

Music director Brian Bush suggested Janney talk about “second chances” — how people can reconnect with estranged parents and children. So the pastor added about seven minutes on that theme and truncated another section.

“You’ve made it a much more powerful message just by your feedback,” Janney told the group.