Calvin Miller at Opening Retreat Aug 6-7

We'll begin the 2009-2010 academic year for the Master of Ministry program with a student-faculty retreat on Thursday and Friday, August 6 and 7, on the Anderson University campus. It will begin with lunch on Thursday and conclude about 3:00 pm on Friday.

This will be a valuable time of orientation, getting to know one another, and preparing to receive maximum value from the coming year of study. We'll be posting additional information and schedules on the auministry.com website soon.

I'm excited to report that Calvin Miller, a well-known preacher and writer (and a member of our M.Min. strategic faculty), has agreed to be with us as a featured leader for the retreat. He'll be our worship speaker Thursday evening, will lead us in a discussion of ministry issues on Friday morning, and will be our closing speaker that afternoon.

Calvin recently retired as Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Studies at Beeson Divinity School; prior to that he taught at Southwestern Seminary. From 1966 to 1991 he served as senior pastor of Westside Church in Omaha, Nebraska, which grew from 10 members to more than 2500 during his pastorate. He has written more than 40 books, including his classic work The Singer. His book Preaching: The Art of Narrative Exposition, was the Preaching magazine Book of the Year in 2007. The retreat will offer a unique opportunity to meet and visit with this gifted ministry leader.

We look forward to our new students participating in this great event, which will be held each fall just prior to the beginning of the fall term. (In future years, we'll encourage M.Min. alumni to come back and join us, with special programming for them as well.) So if you are applying to the M.Min. program, be sure to mark your calendar for Aug 6-7 -- you won't want to miss this special event.

Preaching Boot Camp news

A good story on Preaching Boot Camp appeared in the most recent issue of the Baptist Courier, the publication of South Carolina Baptists. Here's the link: http://www.baptistcourier.com/3196.article

Registration is underway for the week-long event, which will offer practical guidance in planning a year's preaching. For more info go to www.preachingbootcamp.com.