Resource Search Results

Preaching Conversations that Connect Pulpit and Pew

Whether churches call it a message, teaching, homily, or sermon, there’s often a big gap between what preachers think they are saying and what listeners hear. Preaching can become more effective when ministers, priests, deacons, and laypeople learn how to talk together. This two-way preaching conversation requires a cultural shift.

Feature Story | October 05, 2023

Karla J. Bellinger on Lay Contributions to Compelling Preaching

Have you ever gone home from worship disappointed that the preacher or Sunday homily didn’t seem very effective? Recent research reveals that listeners can help preachers help their peers grow closer to God.

Conversation | October 05, 2023

Rebecca Snippe on Zeteosearch.org

Preachers, worship leaders, teachers, and others who study the Bible often go online to find resources for their research. Sorting through search results is often frustrating. But Zeteosearch.org—a revamped curated search engine—offers thought-provoking results.

Conversation | November 14, 2022

Deep Calls to Deep: Nurturing Preachers for the Work of Proclamation

Deep Calls to Deep is a program to strengthen preaching by using communities of peer groups to nurture pastors’ own spiritual, emotional, physical, and imaginative lives. In this paper, Ruthanna Hooke discusses the structure and themes of Deep Calls to Deep, a peer group learning program rooted in the conviction that preaching is soul-work.

Academic Article | June 17, 2020

Preachers Need Friends, Too

The peer cohort is a place for preachers to strengthen their skills in real time while building intentional friendships.

Reflection | February 04, 2020

Final Exams Every Week: Life with a Peer Learning Group

Peer learning groups promote faithful endurance and mutual encouragement in the face of what makes the preaching life challenging.

Reflection | January 06, 2020

From Colleagues to Companions: Unexpected Fruits of a Peer Learning Group

What do you get when you put a diverse group of clergy around a table once a month? More beauty than you might expect.

Reflection | August 28, 2019

Frank Thomas on the Power of African-American Preaching

“How is it that you can take a group of people who are in despair and when you get finished preaching the gospel, they have hope?” This question sent Frank Thomas down a path that led him nearly forty years later to create the first PhD program in African-American preaching.

Conversation | April 10, 2019

Five Things I Love about My Preaching Peer Group

A young pastor calls his preaching peer group “a funeral and a pep rally in the same ninety minutes.” Find out why.

Reflection | February 06, 2019

The Role of a Peer Learning Group in My Preaching Journey

God’s message of inclusiveness reaches past the walls that divide us, says Deborah Jungmi Kang, a Korean pastor serving a largely Anglo-American church in Illinois. As Kang develops her preaching voice, a peer learning group provides support.

Reflection | October 02, 2018

What I Learned through Preaching Partnerships

Fred Provencher has participated in two preaching peer groups in his twenty-plus years of ministry. Read his reflections along with his advice for younger preachers.

Reflection | October 02, 2018

Ernest Brooks on Inspiring Young People to Become Preachers

The Academy of Preachers identifies promising young preachers from all Christian backgrounds and brings them together to explore and develop their preaching gifts.

Conversation | September 19, 2018

Yes, And . . .

Experiencing pastoral burnout, Denise Luper began a yearlong leave of absence soon after joining a peer preaching and learning group. The peer group became an important part of her healing process.

Reflection | September 17, 2018

A Community That Affirms

A peer preaching group changed the course of a student’s seminary journey—and her ministry path.

Reflection | September 14, 2018

Three Reasons to Join a Preaching Peer Group

Sermon preparation is a recurring task that can be lonely and draining. A Texas pastor describes how a peer learning group revitalized her preaching.

Reflection | September 12, 2018

Improving Preaching through Mutual Reflection

Newly trained as a homiletic peer coach, a veteran pastor builds on the experiences that had the greatest impact on his formation as a preacher: mutual reflection with colleagues.

Reflection | September 05, 2018

Considering a Preaching Peer Group? Five Things to Think About

A seasoned pastor found a preaching peer group to be a source of refreshment, challenge, and growth. Here are his top five reasons.

Reflection | September 05, 2018

My Preaching Journey and the Power of Peer Learning

A certified lay minister, hesitant to preach, finds her voice with the support of a preaching peer group.

Reflection | August 20, 2018

Authenticity and Preaching: Reflections of a Reluctant Peer Group Participant

A preaching peer group held surprises for pastor Estee Valendy, who discovered—in herself and in her peers—that “excellent preaching is fundamentally authentic preaching.”

Reflection | August 15, 2018

The Peer Group as Incubator

At a time of transition in his personal and church life, a young pastor jumped at the chance to join a pastor peer group. Learn how this group has helped shape his preaching process.

Reflection | August 13, 2018