Now entering its 10th year, the Calvin Center for Excellence in Preaching offers pastors continuing education opportunities and a wealth of preaching resources online.
Scott Hoezee, a veteran preacher and teacher of preaching, has directed the center almost since its inception.
Hoezee says his greatest joy has been making direct contact with pastors and future pastors, “talking about real-life challenges for preaching and then find[ing] ways to address those [issues].”
An average of 400 to 600 pastors use the center’s website each day. In 2013, the site tallied more than 210,000 total visits for the year.
Hoezee says he is gratified that the center’s resources “are being used in hundreds, if not thousands, of congregations every week. That is a deeply satisfying thing—a source of great gratitude to God.”
From 2009 to 2011, the center used a $200,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation to build a website featuring science-for-ministry-related resources, host continuing education events, and publish a book of essays entitled Delight in Creation: Scientists Share Their Work with the Church.
More recently, the center received a three-year $500,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment to focus on peer learning groups for pastors and homiletical education for M.Div. students.
Especially significant has been the center’s flagship summer seminar “Imaginative Reading for Creative Preaching,” which has attracted more than 200 pastors over the last decade.
About the Author
Kristy Manion is a CTS student and project coordinator for the vice president of student life at Calvin College.
