Jeremy Hobson from Trinity Church Islington reports on this year’s London Preachers’ Conference:
Faithful preaching is right at the heart of a faithful local church. But those of us who preach need to hear faithful preaching ourselves, and get reliable feedback on the teaching we’re giving. That’s why a group of us, a few years ago, set up the London Preachers’ Conference – because, as local church pastors, we wanted to be taught from God’s word and prayerfully sharpen each other up ‘as iron sharpens iron’.
This year on 20 April, under the umbrella of the London Gospel Partnership, around 35 of us met for this year’s conference. Gathering on Zoom rather than in person, the conference was shorter than it has been in the past, but the emphasis was the same – a practical conference for London-based local pastors from a variety of denominations and church backgrounds, where we could be taught and gain reliable feedback.
A highlight of the conference has always been the smaller preaching groups, who this year met in breakout rooms in groups of four led by an experienced pastor. Each of us had an hour to play a video of our most recent sermon, and receive feedback in a supportive environment. This year the encouragements and suggestions were as invaluable as ever. Was the message of the talk the same as the message of the passage? Did the illustrations fit? And did it matter that I dropped my visual aid halfway through the talk? These were all questions we talked about, encouraged each other in, and prayed through. All from pastors who understand something of the pressures and potential of London ministry.
Topping and tailing the conference this year were two talks from Jason Roach, pastor of The Bridge, Battersea, and Bishop’s Adviser in the London Diocese. Not only were Jason’s two talks from 2 Corinthians an extremely apt reminder of the challenges of cross-shaped ministry through the challenges of a global pandemic. But, once we had digested the emphasis on this kind of sacrificial, humble ministry that highlights the glory of the gospel, he then took a few minutes to share with us some of the decisions he’d made in putting the talks together, as well as answering questions from others at the conference.
Next year, God willing, the London Preachers’ Conference will be back at High Leigh from 26-28 April with Julian Hardyman and Kev Murdoch as our speakers.
