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| Training preachers at Oak Hill |
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A well rounded ministry will be biblical in a number of ways, and whether we are counselling, training, discipling or doing apologetics, we will need to handle God’s word.
But preaching is unique. It is the foundation ministry of the church’s life, the means by which the Lord Jesus leads, feeds, guards and equips his people. For this reason, preaching is the central ministry task in which our students need training.
Of course, no college can truly train a preacher. A preacher is made by the rich mixture of gifts and personality that God gives, and then the slow simmering over years of hard and prayerful ministry. Those are what make a preacher. But a college can make a significant contribution by putting the right habits in place.
Faculty
Although all the tutors of Oak Hill share in this area of training for preaching, the faculty member with responsibility for it is Chris Green (pictured right). Chris is a highly experienced and convinced preacher, who has been involved with training preachers since the early days of the Cornhill Training Course. With David Jackman, he edited When God’s Voice is Heard (IVP), a book of essays on preaching. Last year, Chris gave Bible readings at the Keswick Convention, and he is a member of a local Anglican church plant, where he preaches regularly.
Modules
The first requirement of the preacher is being able to handle God’s word properly, and that means paying careful attention to the biblical text, to issues of biblical and systematic theology, of interpretation and application, and then of crafting a message. So one of the foundation modules is Exegesis and Hermeneutics for Teaching, a 13-week module that blends lectures, exercises, oral presentation and study.
The module takes students through "twelve steps from exegesis to teaching", Oak Hill’s unique approach to handling the Bible well. Each student will learn how to take a New and an Old Testament passage through those twelve steps. World Mission students have their own Cross-cultural Communication module instead.
A second-year module, Advanced Homiletics, develops the preaching element further, with exposure to a range of contemporary preachers, examination of different kinds of biblical materials and how they might be preached, different preaching theories and sermon styles, and culminating in each student preaching a sermon from Ezekiel (the Old Testament set text) and an evangelistic sermon. Both are recorded and discussed.
In an increasingly anti-Christian culture, there is increased need for people who can explain and defend the gospel, and show the redundancy of other world views. Our apologetics modules require students to organise and speak at an apologetic event with non-Christians present and asking questions.
Preaching groups
Weekly preaching groups are informal and voluntary, but most students and many faculty take part. One member of the group preaches one of their recent sermons, and then there is friendly and focused discussion to help one another improve. It is a great opportunity to preach a sermon in advance as well, so that any alterations can be made in good time for Sunday!
Placements
All the placement churches, Anglican and Free Church, are required to provide opportunities for the students to preach on Sundays. These sermons are then discussed with both the placement supervisor, and again back at college with the student’s tutor.
Chapel
Every chapel service opens God’s word, and students are on a rota to take most of those opportunities. Sermons are discussed with the tutor, and often in fellowship groups, but we hope that starting in September 2008 we shall have an experienced older preacher joining us to give detailed one-to-one feedback for every sermon preached and every service led.
Missions
Every Anglican ordinand has to take part in one evangelistic mission during their time at college, and most independent students take advantage of these too. These always provide a generous range of real life evangelistic speaking events, from services through supper parties, school assemblies and pub nights. The faculty member leading the team is on hand to coach each speaker beforehand, and lead a team discussion afterwards.
Voice coaching and presentation
There is no point speaking if you can’t be heard, so Oak Hill has always made a point of having tuition in this area. Our new visiting lecturer is Richard Garnett, a Christian who has a background in professional acting. He was trained at RADA, and then worked with Alan Ayckbourn, the Royal Shakespeare Company, in the West End and on Broadway, in TV and movies.
More recently, Richard has coached the employees of large companies in public presentation. His deepest passion is for the clear communication of the gospel, and he will be bringing his unique expertise to Oak Hill for the first time in 2008.
Preaching weeks
Starting in 2007, Oak Hill has joined with the Proclamation Trust to offer an intensive week on preaching, with a particular focus on one biblical book, and a variety of pastoral contexts (funerals, weddings and so on). This core element of our training in preaching happens in the summer after exams. |
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