M. Craig Barnes – Bio
Finding the Congregation in the Text
While careful exegesis always honors what the text says, the challenge of the preacher is to peer beneath the text to discover the confessional claims of the Gospel. This workshop will work through some portals in the biblical texts that lead to the discovery of our own lives with and without God. This isn’t an exercise in making the Bible relevant or applicable, but about making the church relevant to the biblical understanding of life as a new creation.
Casey Barton – Bio
Preaching As Eschatology
Theologian Jürgen Moltmann writes, “The eschatological is not one element of Christianity, but it is the medium of Christian faith as such, the key in which everything in it is set, the glow that suffuses everything here in the dawn of an expected new day,” (Theology of Hope, 16). While we may tend to think and speak about eschatology as a theology of end times, the doctrine is more than millenniums, lamp stands, and dragons. Eschatology is more broadly, and more practically, a theology of time, wherein the last page of the story gives frame and focus to every moment that comes before. This workshop will explore preaching in its eschatological context as proclamation that invites listeners to participate in the new creation even now, under the conditions of the present.
Martha Burns – Bio
Speaking from the Heart (and other organs)
How do we engage our bodies to help us be expressive speakers?
This workshop offers simple tools to connect words and thoughts to the wisdom and expansiveness of our bodies. An opportunity for the mind to be guided by the heart, the breath and the imagination. Participants are asked to bring excerpts from their own sermons.
Maximum 12 participants
Sarah Han – Bio
Renewed Preaching for a Digital Age
There are rapid changes in the digital realm that have forged new frontiers for engaging God’s Word in impactful and creative ways. With the growth of social media platforms, virtual reality, the gaming industry, and artificial intelligence, the call to share a message of being a “new creation” in these digital spaces has become increasingly urgent. This workshop will address how Millennials, Generation Z, and Generation Alpha are engaging in new ways of sharing the Word of God in the digital world and what this means for the renewing of preaching for the next generation.
Karoline Lewis – Bio
New Creation and Preaching John’s Theology of Resurrection
The Christian promise of the resurrection centers our belief in God’s ongoing new creation. The Gospel writers present four very different accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. Unique to the Gospel of John is Jesus’ extended interpretation of his resurrection on the last night he spends with his disciples. In his Farewell Discourse (John 14–17), Jesus reflects on his ministry, commissions his disciples, testifies to the Paraclete, prays for his followers, and helps his disciples see the promises of the resurrection before it happens. This workshop will explore how the viewpoint of Jesus’ departing declarations makes a difference for preaching the resurrection, especially the possibility of new creation through his, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Jerome J. Washington – Bio
From Ancient Scrolls to Modern Souls: Preaching from the Prophets
The presentation will delve into the timeless wisdom contained in the words of the Old Testament prophets. It will provide sermonic insights relevant to the contemporary life of the preacher and the listener from prophetic teachings. Those ancient messages offer invaluable guidance from the prophets for navigating the complexities of the human experience. We will discover pathways to personal growth, societal harmony, and spiritual fulfillment.