Preaching Out of Season: Preaching Right When Things Are Wrong

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2) calls for a seasonal consciousness in preaching, recognizing that God’s truth must be spoken not only when it is convenient or well-received, but also in times of resistance and struggle. To preach out of season means to deliver God’s message even when it’s unwelcome, challenging the status quo, or when the world seems most against it. This is a call to remain faithful, offering hope and conviction in moments when the truth feels most out of place yet most needed.

The above text weighs heavy the responsibility of the preacher to preach responsibly regardless of the season. There should be a seasonal consciousness to our preaching. We don’t preach the same thing, or the same way all the time. Just as there are noted and radical changes in our weather patterns, there are notedradical changes in our world. Everything has shifted! From our most basic human relations to the complex patterns of social, political, economic, educational, judicial and religious systems. Like the inarguable climate change, everything seems to be going wrong. Yet, we have a responsibility to preach right, even when things are so painfully wrong.

Preaching right demands that we adjust out sermonic lens and messages to the season in which we now live.The Bay Area Academy of Responsible Preaching, seeks to raise our seasonal consciousness, so that we can responsibly preach when things are wrong.

2024 CONFERENCE AGENDA

Friday, October 25th

• 5:30 PM - Opening Reception – Meet & Mingle
• 7:00 PM - Lecture & Sermon
• Lecture: “Preaching on Praise and Lament” Rev. R. Janae Pitts-Murdock, Senior Pastor, Light of the World Christian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Sermon: Dr. Ralph D. West, Senior Pastor, The Church Without Walls, Houston, Texas

Saturday, October 26th

• 10:00 AM - The 13th Annual J. Alfred Smith, Sr. Lecture
• Topic: “Parables, Politics, and Prophetic Faith” with lecturers Rev. Dr. Alan Boesak, South Africa and the Honorable Judge Wendell Griffen, Pastor of New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Boxed Lunches will be available for purchase
• 1:00 PM - Workshops
• “The Psychology of Preaching” - Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez
• “Millennial Preaching” - Rev. Demitrius Burnett

Host or Publisher The Leadership Institute at Allen Temple