Bible Teachers and Preachers: Foundational

Peter Mead is the director of Cor Deo, a ministry training programme in Chippenham, England. He is also part of the leadership team of Trinity Chippenham, a church Peter helped to plant back in 2014.  Peter is a lecturer for Union School of Theology.  He studied at Multnomah Biblical Seminary before getting his Doctor of Ministry degree under Haddon Robinson at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the area of expository preaching. Peter is the author of Pleased to Dwell,Lost in Wonder, and Foundations (Christian Focus) as well as Galatians and John's Letters(10Publishing), and the preaching blog: BiblicalPreaching.net.  He is married to Melanie and they have six children.

NETWORK SPEAKERS

Jim Cecy is a regular speaker at the European Leadership Forum. He serves as Senior Pastor-Teacher of Campus Bible Church in Fresno, California. Jim is also founder and President of JARON Ministries International, a training ministry for Christian leaders in the U.S. and abroad. He has a Masters of Divinity in Bible Exposition from Talbot Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry from Western Seminary. He is a conference and seminar speaker for hundreds of churches, schools, seminars, conference centers, Christian groups and denominations in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to other books and materials, he is the author of The Purity War: A Biblical Guide to Living in an Immoral World and Anger: The Worm in My Apple. Jim has been married for forty-seven years and has thirteen grandchildren. Information about his materials, books and seminars is available at www.jaron.org and www.puritywar.com and www.campusbiblechurch.com.

Mike Chalmers works at Cor Deo as a mentor and administrator. Previously, he was a Staff Worker in Wales with UCCF. He enjoys preaching and discipling and continues to support and encourage university students by speaking at training events and missions. He is in his first year of study with Union School of Theology as part of one of their Learning Communities. Mike is an uncle to three nephews and a brother to one sister!

Stefan Gustavsson is a member of the European Leadership Forum Steering Committee. He is the director for Apologia – Centre for Christian Apologetics and makes his home in Stockholm. He was the founding General Secretary for the Swedish Evangelical Alliance. Stefan travels widely with apologetic teaching and training and is often involved in university evangelism and public debates. He is the author of several books on Christian apologetics and the Christian mind. Stefan is married to Ingrid and they have three grown children.

Andy Hamilton is originally from Northern Ireland but has lived in Italy for most of his life. Andy obtained a Bachelor of Divinity and a Master of Theology from Queen’s University Belfast through Belfast Bible College.  Following his studies Andy served as Youth Pastor of Scrabo Hall in Newtownards, Northern Ireland and was member of the steering committee of a discipleship and missions training programme called FirstServe (first-serve.org.uk). He currently lives in the outskirts of Rome and is involved in church planting in a town called Monte Porzio Catone. Andy also teaches and coordinates the distance-learning programme at I.B.E.I. (Istituto Biblico Evangelico Italiano – Italian Evangelical Bible Institute). He is married to Ruth, and they have two children, Isaiah and Hollie.

Fraser Kay has been Pastor of North Swindon Baptist Church for the last 10 years. Before then he was teaching within Christian Education. While he did some basic seminary training in his early twenties, his main learning has been ‘on the job’ in the rigours of ministry. He and his wife, Casey, have been married 21 years and his bio would not be complete without referring to her faithful partnership with him in the gospel. They have 2 children, one of them in adulthood now. Fraser’s passion is preaching to see men and women behold Jesus Christ and his kingdom, being transformed as they grow in relationship with Him.

 

Steve Mitchell is part of the leadership team at Cornerstone Church in Swindon, a church plant in the rapidly expanding north of the town. Steve is passionate about seeing God’s people equipped to share God’s Word wherever they are. Previously, he worked in the IT industry and spent 4 months in Uganda with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Steve is married to Jackie, they have three adult children and no grandchildren (yet).

 

Michael Reeves is President and Professor of Theology at Union School of Theology in the UK. Previously he has been Head of Theology for UCCF and an associate minister at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London. He is the author of Introducing Major Theologians, Why the Reformation Still Matters, The Unquenchable Flame, The Good God, and Christ our Life, co-editor of Adam, the Fall and Original Sin, and holds a doctorate in systematic theology from King’s College, London. He is married to Bethan, and together they have two daughters, Lucy and Mia.

 

 

Day 1

The Pastor’s Bible 
Jim Cecy

The Bible is God’s instrument of change, transformation, and, above all, a revelation of His heart. We should expect that whenever the Bible is opened and faithfully taught, lives will be changed and transformed. This session will consider the importance of the Bible in the life of every disciple and the local church. How should the teacher/preacher approach the Bible in order to see transformation in their own life as well as in the lives of those who hear?

Shaping a Message: From Text to Ideas
Mike Chalmers

How do we move from personal Bible study to preparing a message that is biblical, clear, engaging, and relevant to our listeners?  This session gives an overview of the steps from the study of the text to understanding the main idea.  A group exercise will engage the process with a specific biblical text.

Day 2

Shaping a Message: From Idea to Message
Mike Chalmers

This session gives an overview of the steps involved in shaping a message based on previous study of the text.  Following the presentation, we will work in facilitated groups to apply the learning to a biblical text as we move from text to sermon.  

Preaching with Variety: Narrative, Poetry, and Discourse
Peter Mead

The Bible God has given us is overflowing with variety.  It was written by over forty authors, in three languages, on three continents, over a couple of thousand years, and yet is united by the Spirit into a single masterful work that points us to Christ.  The Bible is anything but dull.  The Bible God has given us is what you might expect from the kind of God we find in it: creative, diverse, and fully united.  It doesn’t remain aloof and abstract, but engages with real life in all its fullness.  This session looks at the main three types of literature in the Bible: narrative, poetry, and discourse. If we can rightly understand the types of literature, we can tap into their unique strengths to make our preaching the best it can be!

Day 3

Sermon Exercise
Mike Chalmers and Steve Mitchell

Working together as a learning community we will seek to reinforce the learning that has already taken place as we work with examples of the different genres introduced in the previous session.  How will a different genre of passion change the approach we take to shaping our message when we preach?  How can we make sure that the main idea is effectively communicated, and how can we be certain that God’s inspired genre influences the message we fashion?

Interview with Peter Mead (Combined with Advanced Track)
hosted by Mike Reeves

This combined session with both Bible Teachers Networks will offer a unique opportunity to hear and learn from Peter Mead as he talks about the Bible, ministry and how God works in our day.

Day 4

Preaching the Bible Evangelistically
Stefan Gustavsson

The Bible God has given us is overflowing with variety.  It was written by over forty authors, in three languages, on three continents, over a couple of thousand years, and yet is united by the Spirit into a single masterful work that points us to Christ.  The Bible is anything but dull.  The Bible God has given us is what you might expect from the kind of God we find in it: creative, diverse, and fully united.  It doesn’t remain aloof and abstract, but engages with real life in all its fullness.  This session looks at the main three types of literature in the Bible: narrative, poetry, and discourse. If we can rightly understand the types of literature, we can tap into their unique strengths to make our preaching the best it can be!

The Preacher (Combined with Advanced Network)
Mike Chalmers, Andy Hamilton, Steve Mitchell, Fraser Kay

Preaching is not only about the message, but it is also about the messenger.  In this final session we will engage with three different aspects of the life and ministry of the preacher, allowing what we hear to provoke our thinking as a learning community.  Finally we will use some of the session to conclude the week and reflect on the journey we have been on during these days.