Preaching in a Changing Culture

Preaching in a Changing Culture was a one-day conference that took place on Saturday 14 April, sponsored by the Anabaptist Network, Cell UK and YWAM. Karen Stallard and Stuart Murray Williams from Urban Expression participated in this, together with Laurence Singlehurst and Trevor Withers from Cell UK. We considered various questions:

• How can we communicate authentically in a changing culture?
• How can our churches become learning communities rather than consumers of preaching?
• How effective is the model of a ‘speaker at the front telling the people truth’?
• What is the relationship between content, communication skills and anointing?
• What impact can the use of art and drama have in preaching?
• What is the role of cell groups in unpacking sermons?
• What are the benefits and pitfalls of interactive preaching?

Over 50 people took part in the conference. There was great interest in interactive and multi-voiced alternatives to monologue sermons and a request for practical resources. One participant in the event (our webmaster, Graham Old) immediately bought the domain name http://interactivepreaching.net in the hope that we might be able to build a website dedicated to such resources and sharing experiences.