Supporting Lay Preachers and Worship Leaders 2025

Preaching & Worshipping with Wisdom for Lectionary Year A
Thursday 25 – Saturday 27 September 2025
Theme: Preaching & Worshipping with Wisdom

Join us this September for our annual Lay Preachers’ and Worship Leaders’ Conference, shaped around the theme Preaching & Worshipping with Wisdom. This year we will give particular attention to combatting Christian anti-Judaism in preaching and worship, offering practical and thoughtful ways to preach wisely, faithfully, and respectfully.

Arrival and Departure
Please plan to arrive on the afternoon of Thursday 25 September in time for a 5:00pm start, and depart after lunch on Saturday 27 September.

Why this theme?

This year’s theme invites Lay Preachers to reflect deeply on how we handle Scripture in preaching and worship—avoiding harmful approaches such as:

  • Anti-Judaism

  • Supersessionism

  • Triumphalism

We seek to ground our preaching in wisdom, humility, and integrity, mindful that, as Proverbs reminds us, “the tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov 18:21)—our words can either facilitate wisdom or unintentionally cause harm.

Biblical Focus: Lectionary Year A

In response to requests for clear and practical biblical teaching to support preaching, this year’s sessions will follow Lectionary Year A, offering tools and strategies to support your ongoing ministry.

Areas of focus are likely to include:

  • Preaching from the Old Testament with attentiveness to its literary, historical, and theological integrity, while thoughtfully engaging its reception in the New Testament.

  • Interpreting messianic texts with sensitivity to their original contexts, avoiding anachronistic or supersessionist readings that anticipate Jesus prematurely.

  • Engaging critically and theologically with portrayals of Jesus in the Gospels, attending to their distinctive emphases and narrative frameworks.

  • Interpreting Pauline and other epistolary texts with exegetical care, situating them within their historical, rhetorical, and theological contexts.

Sessions will explore:

  • Worship, liturgy, and prayer

  • Preaching strategies and sermon development

  • Key biblical themes and theological insights

What to Expect

  • A warm, welcoming environment for worship and learning

  • A variety of engaging session styles

  • Excellent food and hospitality

  • Space to rest, reflect, and enjoy time with others

  • A chance to explore beautiful Westminster and Cambridge

  • A pop-up bookstall from Joy at Soham Books, offering a range of relevant resources

Booking Details
To book your place, please complete and return the Supporting-Lay-Preachers-and-Worship-Leaders-2025-Booking-Form to the Finance Office.

📧 Email: finance@westminster.cam.ac.uk
📞 Phone: 01223 33 06 49

We look forward to welcoming you!

Contact us today