Rescuing Today’s Pulpit
El Salvador Leaders Work to Redeem Biblical Preaching
By Jonathan Lamb
Langham Partnership International Program Director, Preaching
“Rescue today’s pulpit” – this is the dramatic call from Christian leaders in Central America. El Salvador – ‘the Saviour’ in Spanish – is a country with a rapidly expanding evangelical community, and with an urgent need for the strengthening of teaching in the local churches.
To this end, the second consultation for Bible expositors was held in the city of San Salvador, August 13-15 2007, tackling the theme of ‘Bible Exposition: The Bridge Between the Word and Life’. More than 120 pastors and lay preachers worked on themes associated with the proper handling of the Biblical text and the challenge of speaking pastorally to today’s generation. Four agencies worked in partnership to make the conference possible. Trainers included Daniel Salinas and Milton Acosta, two Latin American Langham Preaching facilitators and members of the Langham Partnership Regional Council. They were joined by colleagues from the Theological Fraternity of Latin America and World Vision, who also supported the event.
Milton Acosta described how there are all sorts of theologies in Central America – fundamentalist, prosperity, leftist and others – many of which were represented at the conference. ‘But I could see how all of them were willing to listen and were interested in learning’, he said. ‘More than ever, I am convinced that Bible exposition is one of the key elements for the hope of a better future for the evangelical church in Latin America’. Daniel Salinas explained that the San Salvador project was a potential model for other countries in Central America. ‘There were observers from Honduras, who plan to have something similar next year.’
The Latin American preaching movements are growing steadily, and we are very thankful for the help of Igor Amestegui, the newly appointed Regional Facilitator for Langham Preaching in Latin America, who will be able to strengthen the networking between the various Preaching movements across the continent, as well as with the wider Langham Preaching programme around the world.
The local coordinating team stated ‘We are confident that this event has been a blessing for the evangelical church in El Salvador. We thank God for the support of those who reaffirm the need to rescue today’s pulpits’.
