Sarah Han – Bio
Coaching Listeners to Self-actualization of their Eternal Identity through Grace

This workshop will draw from coaching principles to highlight the grace of God and how participants can become better shapers of culture and identity. This digital generation is hyper-focused on the experiential, on discovering a true sense of identity, and on radical transformations. Preaching can be an imaginative act of coaching people into grace-led transformation through encounter with God. Through an alternative metanarrative of the self that has been created in the image of God, preachers can coach listeners on how to live into this identity every day.

Laura de Jong – Bio
Preaching Toward Resilience 

In accepting the Newbery Medal in 2014, children’s author Kate DiCamillo said, “We have been given the sacred task of making hearts large through story. We are working to make hearts that are capable of containing much joy and much sorrow, hearts capacious enough to contain the complexities and mysteries…of ourselves and of each other.” In an ever-changing world where our natural response might be to batten down the hatches, how might preachers share in this sacred task of working to enlarge hearts, of encouraging resilience amongst our listeners, so the church might engage the world with courage, faithfulness, and delight?

Stuart Blythe  – Bio
Fit for Purpose

Sermons should not merely say something but seek to do something. Knowing the purpose for a sermon not only helps it “land” where it should but acts as a filter for the content it includes. Despite this, preachers can be vague on purpose. In this seminar I will offer five broad listener-centered potential purposes for any sermon. We will also discuss the factors we need to consider in determining the purpose for any sermon. This seminar is designed to be practical and helpful in bringer sharper focus to sermons.

Terry Fallis – Bio
Speaking, Preaching, and Engaging

“Public speaking in general, and sermon delivery in particular, are not natural acts. Few are born as gifted and magnetic speakers. Rather, sermons that engage congregants and hold their focus from start to finish are almost certainly delivered by ministers who understand human behaviour and have developed and refined a certain set of skills – skills that can be identified, learned, and maintained. In this workshop, we will pull back the curtain to explore what’s really going on in the dynamic relationship between speaker and audience, or in our case, minister, and congregation. We’ll share insights and tips about sermon structure and effective performance, all in an effort to keep congregations engaged if not entranced.”

Paul Scott Wilson – Bio
Interpreting the Bible for Grace

Many preachers miss the opportunity to preach grace by failing to bring God to expression. A way of reading scripture is needed to bring into focus God’s redemptive acts. In this workshop we will develop a resurrection hermeneutic to harvest grace even from difficult Bible texts.