The Lee University Paul L. Walker Pentecostal Preaching Center will host its inaugural fall preaching conference on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25-26. 

The conference is made possible by the $1.24 million grant Lee recently received from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Compelling Preaching Initiative. The aim of the initiative is to foster and support preaching that inspires, encourages, and guides people to come to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully. 

“We’re excited that the first of what we believe will be annual conferences has finally arrived,” said Lee President Dr. Paul Conn. “This is an excellent line up of speakers, and we think it gets the Paul L. Walker Pentecostal Preaching Center off to a great start!” 

The conference is intended to inspire and equip young and old ministers in the art of preaching. This year’s theme will focus on the power of Pentecostal preaching. 

“The preaching conference is an exciting opportunity for Lee to enhance its role as the premier ministerial training institution for Church of God pastors and ministers,” said Dr. Mark Walker, professor of pastoral studies at Lee. “A core commitment of Lee’s School of Theology & Ministry is to help existing and aspiring preachers master the sacred art of preaching God’s timeless and lifechanging truths. Our prayer is that those who attend the conference will find the resources they need to better excel in preaching and will be reinspired and reinvigorated to carry out that sacred call to the highest level.” 

The conference will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday with a lecture by Dr. Mark Rutland in the Lee University Chapel. Rutland is an ordained minister in the International Ministerial Fellowship and founder of Global Servants, a ministry organization in Ghana and Thailand. 

Four seminars will take place on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. in the Jones Lecture Hall, located in the School of Theology & Ministry. Dr. Steve Hall and his wife LaDon will discuss ministerial soul health, Dr. Julie Martinez and Dr. Wilmer Estrada-Carrasquillo will present a lecture on the issues of cultural competency, Dr. Brian Mattson will discuss the use of technology in preaching, and at 3:15 p.m. Dr. Daniel Glover and Drew Eastes will speak about sermon construction and biblical interpretation. 

In addition to these seminars, guests may also attend a Saturday luncheon, which will feature a panel discussion of former Church of God overseers and committee members, including former General Overseer Dennis McGuire, former General Overseer and former Lee president Dr. Lamar Vest, former executive committee member Dr. Gene Rice, and former Overseer and former missions superintendent Dr. Carl Hart. 

“The presupposition of the preaching center is that Pentecostal preaching in this cultural moment is uniquely suited to address the postmodern audience with the gospel,” said Hall, executive director of the Paul L. Walker Center of Pentecostal Preaching and associate professor of pastoral ministry at Lee. “This conference is to inspire and equip Pentecostal preachers for such a time as this.” 

The conference is free and open to all the preaching center’s mentors, mentees, and other aspiring and existing Pentecostal ministers. Tickets are available on eventbrite.com. 

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. 

The Paul L. Walker Center for Pentecostal Preaching empowers Pentecostal preachers to share the gospel effectively in today’s world. Through teaching ministerial soul health, biblical interpretation and sermon construction, cultural engagement competency, and media technology competency, the center equips both active and aspiring preachers with essential skills to meet the diverse needs of contemporary audiences. 

For more information about the conference, contact Hall at [email protected]. 

For more information about the preaching center, contact Hall at [email protected] or visit https://www.leeuniversity.edu/preaching-center/.