Agenda

SUNDAY OCTOBER 25

MORNING

  • 10:30  Calvin Presbyterian and Deer Park United Churches – Map
    Guest Preacher: Rev. Dr. Michael Brooks
  • 10:30  Christ Church Deer Park – Map
    Guest Preacher: Rev. Dr. Mark Jefferson
  • 10:30  St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church – Map
    Guest Preacher: Rev. Dr. Craig Barnes
  • 11:00  Yorkminster Park Baptist Church – Map
    Guest Preacher: Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown
  • 11:00 Metropolitan United Church – Map
    Guest Preacher: Rev. John L. Bell
  • 11:00 St. Andrew’s United Church – Map
    Guest Preacher: Rev. Susan Sparks
  • 11:00  Timothy Eaton Memorial Church – Map
    Guest Preacher: Rev. Scott Hoezee
  • 11:00 St. James Cathedral – Map
    Guest Preacher: Rt. Rev. Eugene Sutton

EVENING

  • 5:00   REGISTRATION OPEN at the YP Centre
  • 7:00   WORSHIP: Craig Barnes, “Jesus Is In Our Boat” – Mark 4:35-41
  • 8:00   Break
  • 8:15    KEYNOTE PANEL DISCUSSION
    Craig Barnes, John Bell, and Teresa Fry Brown, and Michael Brooks with Katie Givens Kime (Moderator)

MONDAY OCTOBER 26

MORNING 

  • 8:00   Registration at the YP Centre
    Coffee, tea and cold continental breakfast in the Gym
    Merchant tables and displays in the Gym
  • 9:00   Worship: Michael Brooks, 2026 Paul Scott Wilson Preacher, “Pointers” – Mark 1:1-15
  • 9:40   Lecture: Teresa L. Fry Brown, “Mining Moral Imagination In Unsettling Times”
    Reflecting on Charles Taylor’s concept of “social imaginary,” Richard Burke’s definition of moral imagination, and womanist homiletics, the lecture will explore principles and beliefs for preaching in uncertain or disruptive times.

10:40   Break

  • 11:00   Workshop Session One
    1. John L. Bell: Creative Communal Bible Study
    2. Sarah Han: Preaching Jesus from Rhythms of Abiding
    3. Gail Ricciuti: Jesus the Conundrum – Preaching the Questions
    4. Andrew Stirling: Learning from Bonhoeffer’s Christology for Our Time of Hyper-nationalism
    5. Eugene Sutton: Preaching Public Issues
    6. RH Thomson: The Power of The Story – Wondrous or Malevolent

12:15   Lunch in the Heritage Room

AFTERNOON 

  • 1:20   Lecture: Craig Barnes “Preaching Jesus Christ In A Day of Fear”
  • 2:20   Workshop Session Two
    1. Teresa Fry Brown: Luke 4 Sermons: Pastoral, Prophetic or Problematic?
    2. John Boutros: Proclaiming the Presence: From Pain to Paradise
    3. Jason Byassee: What is Jewish about the Ongoing Saving Significance of Jesus?
    4. Scott Hoezee: Quoting Jesus: When Jesus’ Words Get the Preacher into Trouble and What to Do about It
    5. Susan Sparks: Clearing the Clutter to Channel the Call: Jesus and Marie Kondo
    6. Sarah Travis: Baptized and Called: Equipping Lay People to Preach

3:35   Break

3:50   Open Sessions (Open to registered attendees only)

  • Panel Discussion: Preaching Jesus Christ – Jason Byassee and Paul Scott Wilson 
  • Panel Discussion: ‘Once Upon A Sermon’ A Preachers Guide to Storytelling – Ins Choi, Susan Sparks and RH Thomson 

4:50  Wine and Cheese Reception at Christ Church Deer Park 

6:00  Dinner in the Heritage Room

EVENING

7:30  Musical Event: THE BIG SING… is nothing more or less than its title.
It is an opportunity for people who sing or who believe they can’t sing to join together in experiencing the song of the church as represented in its glorious variety of style, subject matter and origin. John Bell will take people through a range of immediately accessible songs, some with known tunes to illustrate the significance that singing has in the shaping of our faith and in celebration of the intentional diversity in the body of Christ.
This event is FREE and open to the public.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27

MORNING

  • 8:00 Coffee and Refreshments in the Gym
    Coffee, tea and cold continental breakfast
    Book tables and exhibits
  • 9:00  Lecture: John L. Bell, “A Life In a Comma”
    a look at how the incarnate ministry of Jesus has – for a variety of reasons – been relegated in significance in preaching and song, in preference to unbiblical notions of Christmas and theological theories of the atonement.
  • 10:00  Workshop Session Three
    1. Craig Barnes: Preaching Jesus Christ in Times of Conflict
    2. Emily Bisset: Preaching Salvation: An Exploration
    3. John Boutros: Proclaiming the Presence: From Pain to Paradise
    4. Laura de Jong: Dream Deaths: The Comfort and Challenge of a Surprising Saviour
    5. Mark Jefferson: Rhythm and Algorithm: Preaching Jesus Christ in a Digitally Scripted World
    6. Eliana Ah-Rum Ku: Preaching Jesus Christ with Hospitality
    7. Paul Scott Wilson: Jesus and the Old Testament

11:15   Break

  • 11:45 Worship: Teresa Fry Brown

AFTERNOON

12:30  Lunch in the Heritage Room

  • 1:45 FINE-TUNED PREACHING (gather in the Friendship Room)
    Fine-tuned preaching is a bonus session which offers constructive and encouraging support in a small group of peers with two mentors both of whom have wide experience and expertise in the homiletics field.  Each participant is expected to deliver a sermon of twelve to fifteen minutes in length.  While the sermon needs to be prepared in advance, it does not need to be submitted in advance. It can be a sermon that has already been preached or one you hope to preach.  Registration is limited to four participants per group.  As the groups fill up there may be an additional group/s added. The sessions will end by 4:00 p.m.  Many who participate highlight the Fine-tuned preaching session as one of the most helpful sessions of the LRPF.

Many attendees have identified Fine-Tuned Preaching as one of the most valuable and impactful components of the LRPF.

Group 1: Gail Ricciuti and Jason Byassee
Group 2: Sarah Travis and Michael Knowles
Group 3: Sarah Han and Scott Hoezee
Group 4: Emily Bisset and Mark Jefferson
Group 5: Susan Sparks and Casey Barton
Group 6: Laura de Jong and Todd Townshend
Group 7: Michael Brooks and Eliana Ah-Rum Ku