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Sermons and Comments from the 2009 Preaching Excellence Program, compiled by Tim Mulder and Fred Rossi, will be finished shortly. Final touches at the printer are in process and distribution will follow.
Perhaps the most ambitious new initiative for the Episcopal Preaching Foundation will occur April 19-22, 2010 at the Episcopal Conference Center, Kanuga, in Hendersonville, NC. Billed as the first National Episcopal Preaching Conference, the gathering will be an opportunity for the wider church to experience the programmatic successes that have been at the heart of PEP conferences. Provisional planning has already begun, and notices are already being distributed with the following information.
The Episcopal Preaching Foundation is joining with the Kanuga Conference Center to sponsor the first National Episcopal Preaching Conference in April 2010. Through a mix of lectures, preaching groups, worship, and fellowship, participants will focus on "Preaching Jesus." Confirmed speakers include The Rev. Dr. William Brosend (School of Theology, Sewanee, and a Director of the Episcopal Preaching Foundation), The Rev. Dr. Thomas Long (Candler School of Theology), The Rev. Dr. William Willimon (Bishop of the North Alabama Conference, United Methodist Church) and Lauren Winner, Ph.D. (Duke Divinity School). The former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, The Rt. Rev. Frank Griswold, will serve as chaplain. In addition to enjoying lectures and sermons by the speakers, each registrant will participate in a small preaching group. Led by faculty of the Foundation's annual Preaching Excellence Program, the groups will allow participants to offer sermons of their own for feedback and critique. An attendance of 200 Episcopal preachers is expected.
A new organization with a focus on "young preachers" is being developed. The Academy describes its work as "a fresh initiative, underwritten by the Lilly Endowment, designed to identify, network, inspire, and support young people who sense a call to Christian preaching." EPF has been asked to help identify young Episcopalians who might be interested in attending the Academy's activities and offerings, including the Festival of Young Preachers taking place in January 2010.
Over the months of July and August the EPF Executive Director scheduled a number of visits with bishops, priests, active and retired clergy, faculty, deans, and administrators, as well as seminarians at both Episcopal and independent divinity schools. A number of informal findings have come to light. Men and women seem to preach differently. Laity are being empowered to preach, yet are not fully authorized to do so in some quarters. Time for sermon preparation seems to have decreased as other demands on clergy have increased. As data from this qualitative survey are compiled and evaluated they will be shared.
Commentaries have been posted weekly on the EPF website with contributors representing several different seminaries writing from all over the country. Commentaries are scheduled through the end of Year B, and a new schedule will be developed for Year C later this fall. If any are interested in contributing to this helpful initiative, please contact the Executive Director at execdir@tepf.net.
According to Jennifer Garza, a syndicated columnist, "pulpit plagiarism" has become a renewed concern in several denominations. "Last year 5000 pastors took 'The Pastor's Pledge' promising to use the Bible as their primary sermon source." Web sites make it easier to "steal sermons" and posting plagiarism warning statements may not be enough to deter the practice 'Online sermon websites offer sermons, some free, some for a price, on topics ranging from church membership to the perils of drinking to finding harmony in the home. For about $250, anyone can purchase an all-inclusive sermon series that includes the sermon, an outline, illustrations, graphics and video.' One California professor quipped, "There is so much good preaching on TV or on the Internet that it heightens the expectations for people when they come to hear a sermon in person." That has implications for all of us.
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