Annual conference in Toronto explores preaching Christ today
For generations, Christian preachers rarely had to ask what it meant to preach Jesus Christ. It was simply assumed Christ would be at the centre of the sermon.
Today, that assumption can no longer be taken for granted.
Pastors preach into a culture marked by political polarization, declining biblical literacy, growing religious diversity and widespread skepticism toward institutions – including the Church. Neighbouring congregations can carry vastly different experiences and expectations, while social media amplifies every disagreement. Even within the Church, there can be little consensus about how sermons should engage contemporary issues.
In such a climate, preachers may find themselves asking difficult questions.
How do we proclaim Christ in ways that are faithful without becoming partisan? How do we speak with conviction while remaining humble? How do we preach hope to people anxious about the future? How do we proclaim the uniqueness of Christ without dismissing our neighbours of other faiths – or none at all?
These are not merely academic questions. They are pastoral ones.
The challenge is not that Jesus Christ has become less relevant. Our fractured world is hungry for reconciliation, hope, forgiveness, justice and resurrection. The challenge is discerning how to proclaim Christ with faithfulness, humility and conviction.
Churches, seminaries and ministry leaders continue to wrestle with these questions in a variety of settings. Since 1987, the Lester Randall Preaching Fellowship has been one place where those conversations converge. A leading ecumenical conference devoted to the ministry of preaching, it brings together pastors, students, scholars, lay leaders and others from Canada and beyond for thoughtful learning, practical mentoring and collegial fellowship.
The Fellowship is organized by an ecumenical partnership of Toronto churches in collaboration with seminaries, colleges and universities across Canada and the United States (including Acadia, McMaster, Tyndale and Wycliffe here in Canada).
This year’s gathering, to be held October 25–27 at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, follows the theme Preaching Jesus Christ, developed by Paul Scott Wilson, professor emeritus of homiletics at Emmanuel College of the University of Toronto and past president of the Academy of Homiletics.
“How does Christ care about our problems?” is one way to get at these issues, says Wilson. “Is it possible to preach Christ from the Hebrew Scriptures or the majority of New Testament passages that do not mention him directly? What is a resurrection lens with which we may read the Bible?”
Michael Brooks is lead pastor of Port Nelson United Church in Burlington, Ont., and will deliver a sermon this year as a result of being named this year's Paul Scott Wilson Preacher. In a recent podcast, he reflects on the conference theme.
“Distraction is increasing all the time,” he says. “And so, above all what I’m coming to is that Jesus Christ is enough. It sounds simplistic, but if we believe in that bedrock faith that we all share, that crosses denominational lines, that is the foundation of what we’re called to do.”
At a time when many pastors experience isolation, such conversations matter more than ever.
The Lester Randall Preaching Fellowship this year features keynote speakers Craig Barnes (president emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary), John Bell (Iona Community, Church of Scotland), Teresa Fry Brown (professor of preaching, Candler Seminary and Emory University) and many other workshop leaders. Learn more at LesterRandall.com.
Janice Ivory-Smith of Toronto is communications coordinator for the Lester Randall Preaching Fellowship and a member of its planning committee. Bible photo by Mitchell Leach from Unsplash.