The season is right for preaching, but the season is right for a new kind of preaching -- a form of preaching that is less on rhetoric and more on compassion A form of preaching that is less on instruction and more on practice, according to Dr. Reg Eldon, dean of the Centre for Leadership, Education and Training (C-LET) it hosts its third annual Institute of Preaching in The Bahamas. The institute will explore the issues of young Bahamians and the pressing needs of communities in presentations and workshops and offer specific attention to the difficulties encountered in preaching on specific topics and in different, complex situations.

"This is the season for the radical transformation of the church from being museums and hotels to becoming workshops and hospitals where practitioners roll up their sleeves, open their hearts and offer help and healing to people who are hurting," said Eldon.

Presenting during the January 22-24 C-LET event with the theme "Preaching In Season and Out of Season" will be Reverend Dr. Thomas Long, Presbyterian minister and professor of preaching at Candler School of Technology at Emory University; Reverend Courtney Boggs, volunteer chaplain at Lee Arrendale Women's Prison in North Georgia; Darron K. Turnquest, director, Department of Youth in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture; Reverend Leonora Tubbs-Tisdale, professor of homiletics at Yale Divinity School, Yale University; and Reverend J. Marie Neilly. Workshops will be held at Epworth Hall and Ebenezer Methodist Church on East Shirley Street.

Long, a Presbyterian minister in the United States, has been teaching students how to preach for almost 30 years at Candler School of Theology. One of his most interesting books is "The Good Funeral" which he co-authored with a mortician and funeral home director.

Boggs who spent her childhood in Europe and served in the United States Air Force for 22 years will bring to the task of preaching, a mature and wise view of the world, a wealth of life experience, and a gift for language, compassion for the downtrodden, and a profound faith, according to Long.

Turnquest will address the topic "Opening a Window on the Youth of the Nation."

Tubbs-Tisdale who has written eight books on the theory and practice of preaching and who works in areas of prophetic preaching, congregational studies and preaching, and women's ways of preaching will see a textbook she co-authored "The Sermon Workbook" used as the textbook for the 2015 Institute.

Neilly who serves the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church in Abaco will present a workshop on preaching to women in the context of their hurting lives, as many churches enjoy a majority female membership, and yet many of the women suffer abuse, inequality and pain. During the workshop she will speak to encouraging preachers to preach to the areas of hurt that women face on a daily basis and not only preach, but to work toward healing and restoration.

The opening night of the Institute will feature the participation of Rev. Christopher Neely, president of The Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church, Rev. Dr. Eugene Zimmerman and Rev. Dr. Wayne Wiatt of the Florida Institute of Preaching and students from the C-LET Diploma in Ministry Programme.

Rev. Henry Knowles, who was recently appointed to the pastoral charge of five churches in North Eleuthera will address the issue of preaching every week to the same small group of faithful members. As change is constant, and the setting in which preachers have to now preach has radically changed, Eldon said the season is right for a new kind of preaching -- a form that encourages preachers to plant their feet firmly on roads less traveled by many.

The coming together this week of these professors of preaching and preachers will be for the third and final Preaching Institute in a three-year program.

Beginning in January 2013, C-LET and the (BCMC) partnered with the Florida UMC Institute of Preaching to offer encouragement, instruction and resources for preachers of all denominations in The Bahamas. The Institute of Preaching is open to all preachers in The Bahamas. There is a reduced registration fee for all students and Family Island delegates. Sessions are open to the public and not only to preachers.

"The Methodist Church in The Bahamas is committed to the training of both laity and clergy and is working to offer opportunities for all Bahamians to be involved in personal, cultural and spiritual transformation", said Neely. "It is the season for growth and training. We anticipate that this will be the beginning of many positive results that this Institute will accomplish in the lives of our dedicated and committed people," he said.

More information on the Institute of Preaching can be obtained from clet@bahamasmethodist.org or by calling 393-2935 or 393-3726.

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