Preaching the Kingdom of God

Seminar details:

It was Jesus’s first sermon.  “The kingdom of God is at hand.”  Ever since then, proclaiming the nearness and the nature of God’s kingdom has been vital to the preaching task for pastors everywhere.  In this seminar, participating preachers will ponder the nature of the kingdom through studying the Beatitudes, Jesus’s parables, Old Testament intimations of the reign of God, and a variety of texts in the New Testament in order to come up with compelling ways to talk about Christ’s kingdom in their sermons.

Leaders:

• Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Calvin Theological Seminary President Emeritus, Senior Research Fellow Emeritus, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
• Scott Hoezee, Calvin Theological Seminary Professor of Preaching, Director of the Center for Excellence in Preaching

Funds provided by the Center for Excellence in Preaching (CEP) at Calvin Theological Seminary.

Daily Schedule:

On each of the five days, our seminar begins promptly at 8:45am with Morning Prayers and concludes at noon with lunch. Afternoons are free.

The physical address where the seminar will be held (airport GRR):
Calvin Theological Seminary
3233 Burton Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Application information:

This seminar is primarily about preaching. Applicants who are involved in ministries in which they preach on a regular basis will be given preference over applicants who preach less frequently or only rarely.  Because of the generous underwriting of CEP through its donors, the cost to attend this week-long seminar will be modest. Each participant will be given a stipend to offset travel costs (mileage, airfare, rental car) and lodging for the entire week will be free of charge at the Prince Conference Center at Calvin University beginning Sunday July 20 with a Friday July 25 morning checkout.

The church of each participating pastor will be asked to pay a $150 registration fee (but if a given congregation is not able to pay this, we will not ask the participating pastor to pay it out of pocket). Breakfast is included at the Prince Conference Center; lunches will be provided each day at the seminar. The Monday and Thursday evenings of that week the group will go out to restaurants for dinner.  Articles, web resources, and books will be provided ahead of time and will arrive early enough that participants will have time to study the materials before arriving on the Calvin campus.”

If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact us.

TO APPLY:

• Submit a Curriculum Vitae listing your education, work history, current position, etc.
• Submit an essay of approximately 500 words indicating what interests you about this seminar
• Include contact information (address, phone, email) so that we can get back in touch with you.

All applications must be submitted by March 15, 2025. Seminar participants will be notified by April 4, 2025.

Send all application material to

preaching@calvinseminary.edu (preferred) OR

Rev. Scott Hoezee

Calvin Theological Seminary

3233 Burton Street SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4387