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Why
Establish a School of Preaching?
A critique
In 1980, Dr
Samuel Logan Jr. (editor of Preaching – The
Preacher and Preaching in the Twentieth Century)
wrote to several of his ministerial colleagues
asking them to list what they saw as the ten most
serious failures of the Christian pulpit. One of
the replies he received, from Rev. John de Witt,
was published the following year 1. Here are the
twelve failures that de Witt listed:
1. the
pre-eminent failing: a misunderstanding of the
true nature of preaching and what it is that
happens when the Word of God is preached;
2. the great want
of ministerial earnestness in preaching;
3. the insistence
on ‘the conversational style’ and the equal
insistence that enthusiasm, vehemence and
rhetorical skill in preaching are wrong;
4. the lack of
warm, pointed, incisive, personal application;
5. the loss of
the discipline and instruction of the seminary
classroom once a person's training is completed;
6. the lack of
ability to apply the gospel ‘down the line’ in
every single sphere of life;
7. the
ministerial assumption that those to whom we
preach have already come to be disciples of Jesus
Christ, and the consequent loss of boldness and
directness in preaching;
8. the tendency
to despise the ‘form’ of the sermon and the
need for hard work in writing clear, interesting,
gripping, well-organised, and persuasive sermons;
9. the lack of
knowledge, among those who preach, of the arts,
history and philosophy i.e. of the things that put
the preacher in touch with culture and the social
order and lay those things at his disposal;
10. the
congregations' indifference toward preaching and
their satisfaction with mediocrity in the pulpit;
11. relational,
psychologizing, soul-bearing ‘preaching’ that
robs the preacher of his authority, which is
derived directly and solely from the fact that he
is a herald of God;
12. the lack of
emphasis on the preachers' personal holiness and
the recognition that a great part of his power is
lent to his ministry by his holy, godly character
and his ability to say, as Paul did, ‘Brethren,
be followers together of me.’ (Phil.3:17)
deWitt concluded
his letter by saying his list could probably be
expanded!
Anyone who
listens to preaching, or who preaches, frequently
will know that despite being 25 years on from the
time of writing, many of the points he makes still
ring true today. It is a penetrating critique.
A careful
consideration of deWitt's list reveals that many
of the shortcomings of contemporary preaching stem
from a want of more extensive and thorough
training.
It is this
specific need-the need of more extensive and
thorough training for preachers- that the SMBC
School of Preaching has been established to
address.
The Imperative
Biblical
preaching has played a crucial role in the history
of the church, as a means of proclaiming Jesus
Christ to the lost and edifying God's people. Its
importance has not diminished. Biblical preaching
is a vital element in gospel ministry, and to do
it well requires God's blessing and enabling,
and our disciplined training and hard work.
SMBC has
established a School of Preaching because
ultimately we are convicted of the following
truths:
a) God has
spoken. He has spoken in the past through His
prophets and in these last days He has spoken to
us by His Son, who is His Word.
b) God has
announced His offer of salvation. Scripture is God's
word written and it tells of His gracious
provision and offer of salvation to all, through
Jesus Christ alone. Because of its very nature, it
is an offer that must be proclaimed to the ends of
the earth.
c) A response to
God's offer is required. Unless all people
everywhere respond to God's offer in repentance
and faith in Christ, they are lost for all
eternity in hell.
d) Time is short.
The hour of Christ's return is unknown to us.
Therefore there is a great urgency about our task.
e) Preaching the
word of God is the chief means that God uses to
address Himself to sinners.
f) God sends and
equips servants to be heralds of His word.
The imperative to
preach comes directly from the Gospel of Jesus
Christ itself. We have been given Truth to
proclaim. We have been given the Holy Spirit who
testifies to that Truth and He requires the best
of a preacher, as he joins with Him in that
testimony.
It is our hope
and prayer that, in God's sovereignty and grace,
the SMBC School of Preaching will play a
significant role in the training and development
of godly, effective preachers.
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Who
is the School of Preaching for?
The
SMBC School of Preaching is for men and women
involved in preaching in any capacity, who desire
to develop, sharpen and freshen their skills and
commitment to Biblical preaching.
It
is our hope and prayer that, in God's sovereignty
and grace, the SMBC School of Preaching will play
a significant role in the training and development
of godly, effective preachers.
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What
will the School of Preaching look like?
The SMBC School
of Preaching will be a training and resource
centre consisting of several major elements:
(1) Preaching and
development training to equip, encourage and
develop preachers across the spectrum of age and
experience. This training will cover:
- the
theology of preaching. Understanding the
true nature of the preaching task and
deepening the preacher's convictions about
the place and importance of Biblical
preaching;
- literature
types of the Bible. Understanding how a
Biblical books' particular form relates to
its content and message, and how those things
in turn relate to the way we preach them;
- method in
what to say. A thorough and clear process
of sermon preparation that drives the preacher
back to the text to ascertain what it is
saying;
- method in
how to say it. A thorough and clear
process of sermon preparation that makes the
preacher work hard at communicating what he
has to say most effectively to his hearers.
That is, Biblical ‘persuasion’;
- evangelistic
preaching. Training in preaching to men
and women who are not Christians, not
Biblically literate, and who see no real need
to know Jesus Christ;
- worldviews.
Understanding the worldviews prevalent in a
pluralistic culture, their assumptions,
assertions and inconsistencies, in order to
preach the gospel of Jesus Christ more
effectively to people;
- practical
application. Applying the Bible in
searching and practical ways - individually to
hearers who live in widely divergent
situations, and corporately to Christians who
live in an idolatrous world;
- apologetics.
Preaching in such a way that men and women are
taught what the Bible says and why they can
know it is the truth;
(2) The
continuing development of the week-long SMBC
Biennial Preaching Conference;
(3) One and two
day conferences throughout the year focusing on
preaching from particular books of the Bible and
specific aspects of preaching;
(4) Regional and
country preaching workshops.
(5) Intensive
preaching residencies that will provide input
about the preaching task today;
reading/watching/listening/critiquing preaching
from around the world; research into areas of
interest and constructive critique of the
delegate's own preaching;
(6) An
apprenticeship program;
(7) After college
training and mentoring for graduates.
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How
can I be involved with the School of Preaching?
We encourage you
to be a part of the School! There are three main
ways to be involved:
1) Attend a
training course, conference or workshop!
A selection of the School's preaching courses
are available for part-time study at the College
campus each year.
Preaching
conferences and workshops are held each year
(refer ‘Calendar’ insert) and are tailored
specifically to those in preaching ministry.
2) Pray!
We need people to pray regularly for the School
and its staff . This is crucial work, seeking the
Lord's guidance and wisdom in our decision
making and operation of the School, and also our
daily teaching and preaching tasks.
3)
Give!
The
impact in this country, and overseas, of godly men
and women dedicated to working hard at faithfully
preaching the Word of God cannot be
underestimated. A venture such as the SMBC School
of Preaching requires significant funding – for
resources, for the provision of staff and for the
expansion of the work into less privileged areas.
Such funding will indeed cost those who give –
perhaps in many ways. But in the sovereignty and
grace of God, the return on such an investment in
eternity will be lasting.
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