SPEAKERS:

Keynote Speaker: Dr Abraham Kuruvilla, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Preaching Scripture for Application

As our keynote speaker, Abraham Kuruvilla will guide us through the process of interpreting Scripture by paying close attention to the biblical text—what the author is “doing with what he is saying.” This shapes how we curate the text as preachers, and how we call our hearers to inhabit the ideal world the text projects, allowing it week-by-week to conform them to the image of Christ.

Abraham Kuruvilla's passion is “to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching.” He is the author of several preaching books including A Manual for Preaching (Baker, 2019), as well as preachers’ commentaries on the books of Genesis, Judges, Mark, Ephesians, and the Pastoral Epistles. For many years he taught homiletics at Dallas Theological Seminary, and is now Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds two PhDs: the most relevant for this conference is the one on the hermeneutics of preaching through the University of Aberdeen; the other is in immunology, which is relevant to the patients of his dermatological practice he still maintains. Expect to hear plenty of illustrations drawn from dermatology, along with music and cricket—two of his other passions!

Dr Malcolm Gill together with Sam Chan, is author of the recently-released Topical Preaching in a Complex World (Zondervan, 2021). His is currently an Associate Minister at St Andrew’s Cathedral, and is a visiting lecturer at Sydney Missionary & Bible College, with a PhD in New Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary.        

Dr Megan Best is a palliative care doctor, researcher and bioethicist at the University of Notre Dame Australia. She is the author of two books on ethics at the beginning of life: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and A Life Already Started, as well as many articles on ethics and spiritual care at the end of life. She is also the Director of the Ethicentre Centre for Christian ethics.

Guest Panelists: Megan Powell DuToit & Michael Jensen from the With All Due Respect podcast. When they are not podcasting respectfully, Baptist minister Megan works as the Publishing Manager at the Australian College of Theology, and Michael is Rector at St Mark’s Anglican Church, Darling Point. They are both engaged in the public conversation through writing, speaking, and as guests on ABC radio and TV. Between them they have 50 years of preaching experience.

PREACHING INTENSIVE | PC204-712, PC204-812, PC204-912

Morling students, as well as those studying at affiliated colleges through the Australian College of Theology, can attend the conference as part of a four-day intensive. Dr Kuruvilla will teach the additional two days, focusing on advanced preaching principles and skills.

There will be some required prework (available from June 6) prior to the intensive; following the intensive there will be a programme of assessment, including an essay and a sermon preached in a church setting. The unit is available at AQF levels 7-9, and the recommended prerequisite is at least one preaching unit OR two years’ experience as a regular preacher. For more details, contact Dr Tim MacBride by sending an email to enquiries@morling.edu.au.

Note: for students taking the intensive unit, conference fee and registration is included in the unit enrolment. There is no need to register separately for the conference. 

CONFERENCE PROGRAM:

Click each heading below for more information:

• Preaching Scripture for Application | Dr Abraham Kuruvilla

  As our keynote speaker, Abraham Kuruvilla will guide us through the process of interpreting Scripture by paying close attention to the biblical text—what the author is “doing with what he is saying.” This shapes how we curate the text as preachers, and how we call our hearers to inhabit the ideal world the text projects, allowing it week-by-week to conform them to the image of Christ.

  Abe’s passion is “to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching.” He is the author of several preaching books including A Manual for Preaching (Baker, 2019), as well as preachers’ commentaries on the books of Genesis, Judges, Mark, Ephesians, and the Pastoral Epistles. For many years he taught homiletics at Dallas Theological Seminary, and is now Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds two PhDs: the most relevant for this conference is the one on the hermeneutics of preaching through the University of Aberdeen; the other is in immunology, which is relevant to the patients of his dermatological practice he still maintains. Expect to hear plenty of illustrations drawn from dermatology, along with music and cricket—two of his other passions!

• Preaching Topical Sermons on Difficult Issues

  Preaching Topically and Pastorally | Rev Dr Malcolm Gill

  Many of the topics we are called to preach on can be controversial: this may be because the biblical teaching on the issue is at odds with the wider culture; because the Bible’s stance is unclear or inferential; because Christians disagree about it; or, frequently, all of the above! Others are difficult because they raise issues which are sensitive for our hearers, bringing up past guilt or trauma, or highlight present struggles in their own lives, or in the lives of those close to them. How do we preach such difficult issues in a way that is faithful to the biblical text and pastoral towards our congregation—including those who happen across our podcast sermons or livestream archives?

  Malcolm Gill, together with Sam Chan, is author of the recently-released Topical Preaching in a Complex World (Zondervan, 2021). which offers principles and practical help in navigating this challenging task. In his two sessions with us, Malcom will provide some important principles and practical examples to help us navigate this challenging task, before workshopping a topical sermon. Malcolm is Associate Minister at St Andrew’s Cathedral, and is a visiting lecturer at Sydney Missionary & Bible College, with a PhD in New Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary.

  How to preach when you’re not the expert | Dr Megan Best

  Faithful biblical preaching, in our contemporary cultural context, sometimes involves touching on complex social and ethical issues that raise unique challenges for us as preachers. How much prominence should complex and contested issues such as these have within our preaching in a local church context? Should we be saying more or saying less about such things than we typically do? Should we take steps to educate ourselves before we speak, or simply acknowledge our non-expert status and stick to the things we do know something about? Is there a place for co-preaching, with a regular pastor/preacher sharing a sermon or a sermon series with a well-thought-out Christian who has some relevant professional expertise? How can we acknowledge the complexity of the issues without diminishing the urgency of the call to action?

  In this session, Megan Best will speak to us as preachers, drawing on her own background as a bioethicist and medical expert, offering advice on how we can best communicate on such issues.

  Q&A With All Due Respect | Rev Megan Powell DuToit & Rev Dr Michael Jensen

  The final conference session will be a Q&A with two preachers who are no strangers to speaking about controversial topics, as hosts of the popular With All Due Respect podcast. We will be asking them questions such as: how they deal with topics that are pastorally or culturally sensitive; how they can disagree respectively and constructively; and how they respond to criticism—especially when it’s not respectful.

  When they are not podcasting respectfully, Baptist minister Megan works as the Publishing Manager at the Australian College of Theology, and Michael is Rector at St Mark’s Anglican Church, Darling Point. They are both engaged in the public conversation through writing, speaking, and as guests on ABC radio and TV. Between them they have 50 years of preaching experience.