LOCALLY SOURCED
A Cohort of Preachers Pastoral Resident Erick Solomon looks at the Workshop on Biblical Exposition Every year in May a cohort of preachers gathers at College Church to grow together as expositional preachers. First, let’s define what we mean by expositional. In his book Expositional Preaching: How We Speak God’s Word Today, David Helm defines it as “…empowered preaching that rightfully submits the shape and emphasis of the sermon to the shape and emphasis of a biblical text.” For three days, in large and small group settings, these preachers participate in the Workshop on Biblical Exposition. If that sounds familiar, it's because the first workshops began right here at College Church more than twenty years ago. The Charles Simeon Trust (CST) was established in January 2001 by former College Church pastors David Helm, Jon Dennis and Kent Hughes. (David and Jon are pastors of our first church plant, Holy Trinity, in Chicago.) Currently, the trust operates workshops in 19 different countries. The CST mission is simple: "We exist to promote the growth of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world by training up the next generation of Biblical expositors." But the way in which they do this is truly remarkable: through workshops that provide large group instruction and small group feedback and push preachers to grow in their preaching. Courses that provide intensive and extensive training in preaching give preachers invaluable practice and feedback as they grow as better preachers of the Word. To put it in perspective, many of these preachers have rarely, if ever, received constructive feedback in the middle of their preparation. Few have been challenged in their preparation within a community of preachers. These
experiences are unique and help sharpen preachers in a way few other programs have been able to do. In just a couple of months, another Workshop on Biblical Exposition is coming to College Church. From May 6 to 8, College Church will host a group of preachers growing in their skills to faithfully preach God's Word to God's people. Our focus this year is on the Book of Acts, and Senior Pastor Josh Moody will be joined by William Phillip, senior minister of the Tron Church in Glasgow, and David Helm in leading the workshop. Each participant will present his work in his small group on two different texts from Acts. Within this group of six to eight preachers, participants present a worksheet that breaks down each of their passages and gives the main point, the structure and the gospel connection within each text, among other things. They then receive feedback from the other participants. Large group sessions include instruction and examples of exposition from the leaders. And we, College Church, are a part of that. As a community centered on the Word of God, we get to participate in the training and sending of preachers who do the same. This is one of the ways we participate in the big-C-Church: by partnering with an organization like CST and with like-minded instructors to train like-minded preachers for the purpose of
building up the body of Christ through the preaching of the Bible. Here’s what you can do: PRAY. These workshops are intensive. There is a lot of work that goes into preparing for them, both as a host church and on behalf of those participating. Pray for the instructors, the small group leaders and the participants, that they would all come humble and expectant for God to grow them within that community of preachers over those three days. INVITE. If you know of any men who are preachers, aspiring preachers or Bible teachers, let them know about this workshop at simeontrust.org/workshop/wheaton-2020/ (The Charles Simeon Trust offers separate workshops for women.) SERVE. If you are interested in serving with the hospitality team, contact Carolyn at clitfin@college-church.org. We are a church community that believes that God's people are only as healthy as they are centered on the Word of God. The Workshop on Biblical Exposition is one of the many ways we participate in strengthening the big-C-Church for that kind of ministry: healthy churches centered on the Word of God.
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