Bold Word 2012: Preaching Christ Crucified is a new four-day preaching conference that will be held in October at First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, formed by a cohort of Austin Seminary alumni. This group, the Society of Pastoral Excellence, and their idea for this conference was born at MidWinters 2010, when Michael Brundeen (MDiv’07), Paul Burns (MDiv’07), and Richard Powell (MDiv’07) were struck by a feeling that something was missing in the current state of the denomination—a zest for preaching.
“Preaching is one of the core things of the PCUSA and we thought how do we lift that up in a way that’s positive for seminarians and pastors,” Paul Burns said. “Wouldn’t it be great to have a continuing education event featuring great preachers?”
They began compiling a list of preachers they enjoyed hearing and reading, and asked others for their feedback as well. From these lists, the line up for the first Bold Word conference was formed.
Bold Word hopes to draw a large crowd with the goal of helping to revitalize each participant’s faith by being engaged in great worship, building a connectional church, and reinforcing the significance of preaching.
Pastors, seminarians, and anyone who is passionate about great preaching are invited to attend this four-day event. The line up includes:
- Craig Barnes, Robert Meneilly Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the senior pastor of The Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;
- Donovan Drake, Pastor and Head of Staff at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee;
- Katie Cummings (MDiv ’05), Associate Pastor for Adult Ministries at Grace Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas;
- River Jordan, author, speaker, and radio show host from Nashville, Tennessee;
- Sarah Demarest Allen (MDiv’07), Associate Pastor for Discipleship at First Presbyterian Church of Austin;
- Theodore Wardlaw, president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary;
- Thomas Tewell, executive director for the faith-based CF Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia;
- and Christopher Harris (MDiv’08), co-founder of Faith Growth, a service that guides church leadership in the digital age.
Each will preach and conduct a seminar.