Once a quarter, on average, the American Anglican Council and Leaderworks host a special training event for Anglican priests, the Rector’s Summit for Vision and Planning (RSVP). Just this week we held another training that focused on the topic of preaching. The 4 day event was open to rectors of congregations within the Anglican Church in North America ACNA.  25 rectors joined us from all across the Province, the US and Canada, representing many of our dioceses.

The purpose of the summits is to provide inspiration, equipping and empowering in particular areas of ministry. Each year, we intend to focus on a single area of ministry that all Rectors face in congregational ministry. In 2019, our focus will continue to be on preaching. Our goal is to raise the excellence and inspiration of Biblical preaching all across the Province.

The teaching team for RSVP Preaching includes the Rev. Kevin Miller, the Executive Director of Ministry Advancement at Christianity Today and senior pastor at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, Illinois; the Rev. Ethan Magness, Rector of Grace Anglican Church, Grove City PA; the Rev. Canon David Roseberry, Leader Works and myself.

Here are just some of the questions and issues we have addressed over the last three days:

• Where do we draw our spiritual authority from in preaching?
• Where do we start from in preaching: the supply side of the text, or the needs in our congregation—and why?
• How do you allow the text to unfold and inform your heart as well as your mind when you prepare?
• The science of the sermon: how do we bring exposition and application together to speak to both heart and mind?
• Preaching as “eschatological preaching”—upsetting our narcissism by focusing us on Jesus
• How to use stories well in preaching
• How do we coloring our imaginations so that we have such stories to tell?
• Outlining your sermon: Choosing the structure that fits your text and your context.

I wish you could see the seriousness, the energy and the passion with which the clergy here are engaging our teaching team, each other and the desire to raise the level of excellence in preaching in the local congregation. As in all of our leadership training events, which includes the AAC’s Clergy Leadership Training Institute, the learning is participatory, with both lecture and small groups, and plenty of time for question and answer. There is a strong emphasis on building relationships here that will lead into Clergy Covenant Care Groups for ongoing support and sharing among the clergy. And, as always, we are blessed to have a dedicated team of on-site intercessors praying for us and available to the clergy for individual prayer as well.

One senior leader told me that this has been the very best, substantive learning and development event he has ever attended.  We look forward to posting more testimonies, photos and (God-willing) a video to encourage other clergy across the Province to join us for the next RSVP Preaching in 2020 (dates and location TBA).

The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey is President & CEO of the American Anglican Council.