Poets, Prophets and Preachers

Tonight is the opening of Poets, Prophets and Preachers: Reclaiming the Art of the Sermon in Grand Rapids, Michigan and I am going! Its a rare treat to be able to sit in a Conference setting for a couple of days. I'll be very interested to compare what there is to learn to the Kiwi-Made Preaching Conference that I was at earlier this year which was just outstanding for Kiwi preachers.

The keynote is Rob Bell and some of his topics look to be quite compelling:

Rob Bell – The Original Guerilla Theatre
throwing ourselves into this ancient, sacred art form with the absurd, naive, antiquated belief that the world needs inspiring, provocative, comforting, dangerous, healing, great sermons now more than ever

Rob Bell – The Story We're Telling
sin, salvation, business, art, justice and the importance of beginning in the beginning

Rob Bell – The Fig Tree and the Failure of Language
moment, movement, mystery, and the science of homiletical architecture (alternate title: why some sermons work and others don't)

Rob Bell – Fumbling Around with Your Radar
tools, questions, approaches, and everyday 5 minute disciplines that have helped me understand where sermons come from

Rob Bell – The One Thing I've Never Heard Someone Talk About That Has Changed Everything for Me

He's teaming up with Peter Rollins and Shane Hipps.

Peter Rollins is an emerging church Irish guy who is the coordinator of Ikon. Interested in the artsy angles here. Shane Hipps is pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church, an urban, Anabaptist congregation. He just wrote a book Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith - so I'm assuming this will flavour his stuff along the lines of the medium is the message.

Should be a blast and I will blog as I go!