[ 5 minutes to read ]

When all you need is just one more “P.”

[J]ohn Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the most famous English novels. It is a literary classic. The book has a quest plot structure. Christian is trying to get from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. It has many tropes of the quest, such as obstacles, dangers, temptations, setbacks, false helpers, and true helpers.

The quest is a common plot structure throughout literary history going back to The Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s The Odyssey. The quest begins with some lack in the protagonist or some need the protagonist has to meet. If it’s a journey quest, there is a destination the protagonist has to reach. If it’s a personal quest, there is something that has to be learned or some skill that has to be acquired and mastered. The common thread is that the protagonist has to do something he doesn’t know how to do. The story unfolds as the protagonist encounters obstacles he has to overcome to reach the end goal.

Quests are popular and resonate with people because we all have things we need to accomplish, but don’t know how to go about it. The protagonist needs help and finds it in the stories in various forms, often just enough help at the right time to get them over the present obstacle. Helpers come in various forms in quest stories. Sometimes it is a single helper in the form of some wizened, curmudgeonly man who is a little grouchy and talks in riddles. There can also be various helpers along the way, and danger in the form of false helpers who misguide the protagonist.

Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress has helpers in the form of The Evangelist, The Interpreter, the Shining Ones, the palace damsels, etc. Helpers are one of the reasons quests resonate with people so well. We feel the need for helpers, people with the knowledge to propel us forward at just the right time. We often seek helpers in our life, but we also can end up frustrated and disappointed with what we find.

Young preachers are fresh-faced protagonists in their own quest. The young preacher has a job to do. He needs to preach the Bible to feed people and to equip them to do the work they need to do (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2; Ephesians 4:11-16). In a sense, the young preacher is on a quest to become a helper for other people on their quests, like the shepherds of the Delectable Mountains, Knowledge, Experience, Watchful, and Sincere. The young preacher’s quest is not to preach great sermons—open with a joke to get their attention, alliterate three points to make it memorable, and close with a poem to affect their emotions. No, the young preacher’s quest is to become a shepherd to people and to care for their souls by feeding them the Word of God.

Finding Helpers

Though I’ve never looked the part, I was a young preacher once. I can remember the treading water feeling while I tried to figure out what I was doing and should be doing. I was always looking for help. I found help here and there along the way and I’m thankful for all I have had. I still look for help, but I suppose I’m a little better at finding it today and a little quicker in sorting good from bad.

I’ve had different conversations with other pastors about the struggles we faced as young preachers and the help we did have and the help we wanted to have. I’ve seen pastors have a heart to help and encourage young preachers. We’ve talked about how to do it, and finally somebody said, “Let’s do it.” A few different pastors working together and brainstorming came up with the idea for the Sovereign Grace Baptist Pastor-Teacher Seminar. The seminar will be November 30 to December 2, 2017 in Richmond, KY at the Best Western Hotel conference room. A Facebook page has been set up for information and updates about the seminar. Let me tell you a little bit about it and see if it will be helpful and encouraging to you.

The Facts

We do have a purpose statement for the seminar you can view by clicking the image below.

The seminar will focus on the preaching ministry. We know there are a host of topics that would be of interest, but we also realize we can’t cover everything. We decided to focus on the particulars of preaching regularly to a congregation. We also know there are many preachers who have something to contribute to help young preachers, but we can’t have everybody in the limited time and space we are working with. What we do have are preachers with a heart to help and encourage young preachers and an understanding that that’s the primary aim of the seminar. If you are a preacher with fewer than ten years in ministry, a pastor in your first pastorate, a preacher not yet pastoring, a man wrestling with a call to preach, or even a Bible teacher in your church, then this seminar could be some help to you.

We have put a schedule together you can view by clicking the image below.

The schedule might change some, but it will be very similar to this. We have five different speakers who will present seminars on the various topics listed during the morning and afternoon sessions. These seminars will be practical and interactive. It will be more of an informal classroom feel than a formal lecture feel. There will be handouts and free books and such for those who register. You can register by filling in the online form here. There is no cost to register and attend.

The evening sessions will have sermons. So you will have seminars by five different speakers that pertain to the preparation and delivery of sermons and you will also have one sermon from each speaker to hear an example of how they bring it all together. The goal is to present you with different perspectives from preachers who have different gifts and methods of preparing and preaching sermons. We are not trying to promote “one way” of preaching, other than being faithful to the text of Scripture in all preaching. The different methods and styles will give you the opportunity for consideration and hopefully take away what is helpful to you.

We will also have a Q&A session on Saturday to answer questions submitted ahead of time by those attending. The questions can be anything related to preaching or pastoral ministry. We will give preference to questions that are most relevant to the seminar theme and the most likely to be helpful to a greater number of people. Be watching for more information about submitting questions.

The seminar will be held from Thursday, November 30 to Saturday, December 2, 2017 at the Best Western conference room in Richmond, KY. The hotel has given us a group rate for rooms at $75 per night, if you mention you are with the SGB Pastor-Teacher Seminar when you call to book your room. Obviously, doubling up on rooms and splitting the cost is a good idea. The hotel will provide a full breakfast to those staying there. You will need to be prepared to cover your own meals otherwise. You do not have to stay at the hotel to attend the seminar.

You can watch the Facebook page for updates and information. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about the seminar.