Overview
Purpose: to strengthen and encourage preachers.
We want our sermons to make an eternal difference in the lives of our people. We want to feel prepared. We want our congregation to stay engaged. We want to make every moment count. But often we feel unprepared and unimaginative. We want to be confident, full of the Spirit, and zealous for proclaiming God's Word. Let's renew our passion and skill as preachers together.
Cohort Leader
Ryan Hall is the senior pastor of Anchor Church Palos, located in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. He planted the church in 2009. Under his leadership, Anchor Palos grew to 0 attendees in 2020 (☺Covid) . He has since convinced about 60% of his people to return to the building. Ryan and Lauren have been married for 22 years, have 3 children (20, 18 and 16) and have been in ministry for 20 years.
Email: rhall@anchorpalos.org Text: 630-212-4641
Outcomes
Become a more dynamic communicator.
Become more aware of best practices used by effective communicators.
Become more aware of your personal style of communication.
Become more disciplined in your message planning.
Become more effective in your presentation.
Become more encouraged in your preaching.
Become more effective at building evangelism and apologetics into your sermons.
Methods
Cohort meetings: semester cohorts meet online 6 times over a 2 month period (3 times per month, 90 minutes per session).
Sermon mapping: we will use a diagnostic graph to map and analyze our sermons and the sermons of great preachers. This will be our primary source of insight.
Targeted improvement: we will set self-improvement goals based on our self-assessment.
Best practices: we will study gifted communicators and learn how they structure their sermons.
We will study the mechanics of great preachers like Tim Keller, John Piper, Crawford Loritts, John MacArthur, Louie Giglio, Matt Chandler, Tony Evans, Haddon Robinson, John Stott, D.A. Horton, Chuck Swindoll, J.D. Greear, Alistair Begg, D.A. Carson, David Platt and H.B. Charles.
We will spend time learning how evangelists and apologists arrange their presentations. We will study the mechanics of Billy Graham, Greg Laurie and Lee Strobel.
We will also look at the structure of the book of James as a model for dynamic communication.
Sprint Cohort-4 Weeks
Schedule of Topics
Learn how to map sermons, discover how great preachers communicate effectively, and develop your own preaching gift.
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Overview and Sermon Mapping 101
Explaining the Text
Illustrating the Text
Applying the Text
This speed class is ideal for any communicator seeking to rapidly boost his skill set as a preacher. Sessions are 60 minutes long.
Traditional Cohort-9 Weeks
Schedule of Topics
Learn how to use the expanded map, discover best practices of great preachers, incorporate personality tools into your application, and grow in evangelism and apologetics.
Session 1
Sessions 2 & 3
Sessions 4 & 5
Session 6 & 7
Session 8
Session 9
Using the Expanded Map
Explaining the Text
Illustrating the Text
Applying the Text
Evangelism & Apologetics
Intros, conclusions, & presentation
The traditional cohort is ideal for pastors who seek to master the art of effective communication. Sessions are 60-90 minutes long
Cohort Meeting Elements
What will we do during our cohort meetings?
We will map sermons and identify patterns of dynamic preaching.
We will listen to clips of gifted preachers and discuss their methods.
We will evaluate effective preaching techniques.
We will share insights as we map our own sermons.
We will set goals for targeted improvement.
We will share wisdom, helpful preaching resources and humorous pastoral memories.
F.A.Q.
Answers to your questions
Who can participate?
This cohort is primarily designed for veteran Senior Pastors. Other ministers who have substantial preaching experience or who are in pastoral training could also benefit.
What if I can't make every cohort meeting?
The content will be made available outside of the cohort calls. Make-up calls will be offered if several participants miss a call.
What is the schedule?
Semester Cohorts meet 3 times a month for 60-90 minutes per session. All cohorts are currently held over Zoom.
What is Sermon Mapping?
We use a tool called "sermon mapping" to assess and develop our preaching. It's like an EKG for a message. The chart shows every decision a preacher makes. The result is a "map" of the entire sermon.
