Conference offers biblical model for preaching and teaching Galatians

The Center for Church Revitalization at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted its first Preaching & Teaching Conference on campus, September 27-28, providing pastors and church leaders a model for developing a church-wide sermon series through the book of Galatians.

In addition to faculty-led workshops for the development of age-specific curriculum, plenary sessions were led by Kenneth S. Hemphill, the seventh president of Southwestern Seminary.

In his opening remarks of the first session, Hemphill reflected on the COVID-19 impact on churches and commented that “every church is going to need revitalization,” including the reestablishment of teaching and discipleship through both sermons and a small-group context.

“It’s my conviction that you’ve got to change the heart before you can change the thinking,” Hemphill said. “And you have to change the thinking before you can change the methodology.”

“Nothing changes the heart or the head but the Word of God and the Spirit,” Hemphill added.

Hemphill then taught through the first two chapters of Galatians discussing what it means to have confidence rooted in the Gospel and how that has an impact on both the individual believer and the local church.

“It all begins and ends with the Gospel: our conversion, our ministry, and our eternal security,” Hemphill said.

Outlining key elements of confidence in the Gospel, Hemphill first said, “the authentic Gospel originates with God,” not man.

“The authority you have for preaching is God who gave the message,” Hemphill said.

Next, Hemphill encouraged conference attendees with the reminder that “the Gospel gives us confidence in ministry. This is the bottom line of Galatians and the testimony of Paul throughout his letters.”

Hemphill then acknowledged that men and women who serve in ministry will face many challenges, including the temptation to serve and please other people. However, he said, they must remember that they are accountable only to God, the one who gave them their calling.

“It is that confidence that when you lay your head down and say, ‘I know that You have called me and You gave me this message and You commissioned me,’” Hemphill said. “So, it is the Gospel that gives us confidence in ministry.”

Hemphill explained confidence in the Gospel produces true passion for evangelism.

“We underplay the importance of the confidence of the Gospel,” Hemphill said, explaining to the gathering of pastors and church leaders that a lack of confidence in preaching the Good News produces a hesitancy and lack of courage in their congregants to also preach that same Gospel to their friends.

Reiterating the need for churches to be revitalized through teaching and discipleship, Hemphill emphasized the importance of theological education in the church for the sake of individual transformation and the Kingdom.

“I think we have undershot the willingness of our people to study the Word of God,” Hemphill said. “We need to raise that bar that they do need to be theologians, that they do need to be informed about the Word of God.”

In addition to Hemphill’s four plenary sessions during the two-day conference, attendees participated in five workshops with seminary faculty who guided them through methods for creating sermons and curriculum.

Workshops were led by Matthew McKellar, professor of preaching, for the pastor track; Chris Shirley, professor of educational ministries and associate dean of the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries, for the adult ministry track; Richard Ross, professor of student ministry and J.M Price Chair of Religious Education, for the student ministry track; and Karen Kennemur, professor of children’s ministry and Bessie Fleming Chair of Childhood Education, for the children’s ministry track.

Kenneth Priest, director of the Center for Church Revitalization, says the center plans to host a Preaching & Teaching Conference every fall, offering a model for preaching and teaching through a book of the Bible across all generations in the church. In the spring, they will offer the Church Revitalization Conference, focused on church renewal.

“The goal of this type of conference is providing a unique equipping environment for pastors, especially our smaller single-staff churches,” Priest said. “This type of conference gives them the tools they need to engage churches in an effective, biblical model of preaching and teaching, especially as it relates to church revitalization.”

Established in August 2019, the Center for Church Revitalization provides resources, consulting services, and equipping events. Learn more about its resources and church health consultation here, or by emailing revitalization@swbts.edu.