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Preaching Prophetic Literature: Isaiah

Practical Instruction - Persuasive Preaching - Small Group Practice

April 08-10, 2025 | El Paso, Texas
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What Is It?

The Workshop on Biblical Exposition is a three-day training event aimed to encourage and equip you in the skills needed to read, understand, and proclaim the Word of God.

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The Workshop on Biblical Exposition is a three-day training event aimed to encourage and equip you in the skills needed to read, understand, and proclaim the Word of God. The Workshop includes times set aside for 1) Principles of Exposition (instructional sessions on how to better handle biblical texts), 2) Small Group Practice (when you will share and receive feedback on two passages you prepare in advance), and 3) Expositions (the opportunity to sit under the word). Each of these sessions is carefully designed to be interrelated for the greatest value in improving your work. In other words, this is a Workshop and not a conference. If you cannot be at all the sessions, then it really isn’t for you.

It is important to note: Partial participation is not permitted. Our pedagogical commitments in the small group sessions as well as the cumulative relationship between the small group and plenary sessions, full participation is required. Extenuating circumstances should be discussed with the Charles Simeon Trust and exceptions will be granted very rarely.

Who Should Attend?

The Workshops on Biblical Exposition are for men who are responsible for regularly preaching and teaching. We also welcome those in bi-vocational ministries as well as those training for ministry.

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The Workshops on Biblical Exposition are for men who are responsible for regularly preaching and teaching. We also welcome those in bi-vocational ministries as well as those training for ministry. We also have Workshops for women who are responsible for teaching women.

Given our understanding of Scripture, most of our Workshops on Biblical Exposition are for men who are responsible for regularly opening up God’s Word for God’s people. Specifically, they are for those men currently in pastoral ministry and, as such, are responsible for preaching and teaching God’s Word in congregational settings. Though vocational preaching pastors are our priority, the Workshops are open to those in general teaching ministry: including some lay-preachers, teaching Elders, seminary students or professors, teaching missionaries, and those serving in similar roles. Again, our priority is those who regularly preach or teach from God’s Word.

I noticed you just said “men.” What if I am a woman?
We are fully committed to training women for ministry through our Workshops on Biblical Exposition for women. But we also have theological commitments as to what that means. The Charles Simeon Trust adheres to a position on church leadership that is often identified as “complementarian.” While we do not support the ordination of women for pulpit ministry, we do believe that women are called to teaching ministry for women in biblically appropriate settings and should be trained for it as such. It is our conviction that the Church in North America has been particularly slow in this kind of training effort, and as such, we need to do a better job of training women. Women need to be equipped for this task. While the local church should and will do much of this work, we believe that we can support the church in further enabling women. As such, we have established Workshops on Biblical Exposition for women in ministry. We believe that women who are working in ministry in churches need encouragement in their ministry and hope that, by encouraging women to participate in the Workshop for women in ministry, we can also establish a base for fellowship and encouragement. Knowing this, women who wish to attend a Workshop on Biblical Exposition, regardless of where they identify themselves on an egalitarian-complementarian spectrum, are welcome to participate in a Workshop for women in ministry. It is designed for women who are currently in a teaching ministry with the responsibility to teach the Bible regularly. It is open to women who lead in regular teaching ministries including large group instructors, small group teachers, and women’s and children’s ministry leaders appointed by their churches. Women who are interested in this Workshop or have questions about our position or philosophy on this matter are encouraged to contact the Director of Women’s Workshops, Colleen McFadden (cmcfadden@simeontrust.org).

How Should I Prepare?

During the small groups, you will have an opportunity to get feedback on work you’ve prepared in advance.

 

PREPARE FOR A WORKSHOP

Leaders

SPANO Chris Spano Senior Pastor, Trinity Community Church

Chris Spano

Senior Pastor, Trinity Community Church

Chris Spano is the Senior Pastor at Trinity Community Church in Bowie, Maryland. Previously, he served as a Pastoral Resident at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. Chris studied at Wheaton College where he earned a BA in Biblical and Theological Studies. He also studied at the Wheaton College Graduate School where he earned an MA in Biblical Exegesis and an MA in Theology. He has been involved with the Charles Simeon Trust since 2010.

COOK Curtis Cook Senior Pastor, Hope Fellowship Church

Curtis Cook

Senior Pastor, Hope Fellowship Church

Curtis Cook is the Senior Pastor of Hope Fellowship Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He earned a B.S. from Oklahoma State University and an MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

BARNES Clift Barnes Lead Pastor, Horizon Christian Fellowship

Clift Barnes

Lead Pastor, Horizon Christian Fellowship
Clift Barnes is the lead pastor at Horizon Christian Fellowship in El Paso, Texas, where he planted the church in January of 2005. Clift has a BA in education from the University of Texas-El Paso, and has been in full-time ministry since 1995. Prior to his current position, Clift served in youth ministry for ten years.
Horizon Christian Fellowship
Schedule

8:15am-4:30pm, Tuesday, April 8
8:15am-4:30pm, Wednesday, April 9
8:15am-12:15pm, Thursday, April 10

Small Group Passages

Participants will each be assigned two of the following passages:

Isaiah 1 Isaiah 25
Isaiah 6 Isaiah 40:10-31
Isaiah 11 Isaiah 55
Isaiah 24 Isaiah 63:15 – 64:12
Cost

$139 USD before March 3
$159 USD after March 3
Lunch and refreshment breaks are provided each day at no cost.

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