An occasional compilation of events from around the religious world. To suggest items for inclusion, email assistant editor Jeff Brumley at [email protected].
A group of Baylor University seminarians has created a list of who they consider to be the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world.
The lineup was released May 1 by the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary.
Criteria included biblical and exegetical skills, relevance, personal authenticity, theological orthodoxy, sermon form, effective communication and delivery.
Alistair Begg, senior pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, leads the list. He is followed by:
· Tony Evans, founding pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas.
· Joel C. Gregory, endowed chair in Preaching and evangelism at Truett.
· Timothy Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, New York.
· Thomas G. Long, professor emeritus of preaching and director of the Early Career Pastoral Leadership Program at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia.
· Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois.
· John Piper, chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
· The late Haddon Robinson, former professor of preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston.
· Andy Stanley, senior pastor of North Point Community Church, Buckhead Church, Browns Bridge Church, Gwinnett Church, Woodstock City Church, and Decatur City Church.
· Charles Swindoll, senior pastor at Stonebriar Community Church, in Frisco, Texas.
· Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, professor, author and theologian.
· Ralph Douglas West, founder and senior pastor of The Church Without Walls in Houston, Texas.
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Church, schools explore race in America
Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, co-sponsored an event in April exploring how race pervades American life.
It does so “in ways that are often taken for granted but that have devastating impacts on our nation’s most marginalized populations,” the church said on its website.
The event was led by presenters from the Greensboro-based Racial Equity Institute, or REI, who offered data and stories illustrating the structural nature of racism and its modern-day manifestations.
Other sponsors included Duke School, the Shambhala Center in Durham and event host Carolina Friends School, also in Durham.
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Play highlights homeless struggle
A college instructor inspired by a Baptist church’s feeding ministry wrote a play illustrating the plight of homeless people.
“Stories from the Table,” by Joshua Bledsoe, was performed in April at Blue Ridge Community College in Hendersonville, North Carolina, Blue Ridge Public Radio reported.
Bledsoe is a communications instructor at the college. He was moved to write his first-ever play after serving meals to homeless people at Providence Baptist Church in Hendersonville.
“I started listening to stories and I found out that people didn’t have the label of homeless, they had a name, they had a story,” he told BRPR. “I wanted to find a way to elevate their stories so people can see homelessness affects everyone.”
The drama features a high school student who becomes homeless due to drug use.
“In the play, many people, even the volunteers, some people have community they’re searching for,” he said. “The main theme of this is we’re all searching for a place to belong.”