There remains a well-documented lack of theologically sound, Bible-centric preaching in Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of sermons are preached by untrained (or undertrained) church leaders. Following a practical theology praxis, this book develops a conceptual framework for the evaluation of existing “alternative” approaches to “grassroots” preacher training. It also proposes broad principles for effective preacher training, and offers a practical solution. The 20th century had seen the Christian church in Africa grow 36 fold to 360 million. This amazing growth is arguably “the largest religious change in human history in such a short period.” It has shifted the focus of Christianity from North to South. This rapid growth is – debatably – considered by some missiologists and theologians to have resulted in an African church “a mile wide and an inch deep.” That is, a church of great size but lacking in spiritual depth. The rapid growth has led to insufficient numbers of trained leaders being available to oversee their congregations. Most leaders are unpaid. Untrained or undertrained leaders have an inadequate knowledge of scripture, and lack understanding of its interpretation. They also lack the skills they need to communicate its truths. Even so, they preach up to 90% of the sermons in rural Africa. Despite a tremendous hunger for training among many of those preachers, “traditional” college based theological education cannot keep up with the demand for trained pastors and preachers in an affordable or culturally appropriate manner.

Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION 12 CHAPTER 1: MODELLING EFFECTIVENESS 15 PRACTICAL THEOLOGY PRAXIS 15 THEOLOGY 15 Theology of Preaching 16 Theology of Preacher Training 18 CONTEXT 19 Malawi 19 Zambezi Evangelical Church 20 Learning in Context 21 Preaching in Context 22 OTHER SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE 24 Diversified Theological Education 24 Training Needs 25 Training Principles 26 Coaching 27 Franchise Management 28 Church Planting and Multiplication 29 CONCLUSIONS ON CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 31 CHAPTER 2: EVALUATING EFFECTIVENESS 32 DESIGN 32 ETHICS 32 METHODS 33 Semi-Structured Interview 33 Guided Questionnaire 34 Existing Document Analysis 34 Self-Guided Survey 34 Learning Styles 35 PROCESS 35 Interview and Guided Questionnaire of Users 35 Interview and Guided Questionnaire of Providers 36 Self-Guided Survey 36 CHAPTER 3: ANALYSING ZEC 37 ANALYTICAL TOOLS 37 Quantitative 37 Qualitative 37 Triangulation and Comparison 37 USER RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 38 ZEC Research Partners 38 ZEC Context 38 ZEC Churches 39 ZEC Preachers 39 ZEC Preaching 40 ZEC Learning Styles 41 ZEC Preaching Styles 42 ZEC Perspectives on Preacher Training 43 PROVIDER RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 45 Provider Research Partners 45 ZEC and Africa Context 46 Importance of Preaching and Preacher Training 46 Evaluating Training Methods 47 Program Profiles, Goals and Principles 47 Program Approach to Preaching 48 Program and Critical Success Factors 49 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSING ZEC 50 ZEC CONTEXT 50 ZEC PREACHING 51 Importance and Nature of Preaching 51 Problems with Preaching 52 Opportunities 52 ZEC LEARNING STYLE 53 ZEC PREACHING STYLE 55 TRAINING 58 Problems with “Traditional” Models 58 Importance of Key Components 58 Challenge of Leadership Culture 59 Profile of ZEC Needs and Provider Programs 59 Goals of ZEC and Training Programs 61 Principles for Preacher Training 61 Critical Success Factors 66 Summary Overview of Training Programmes 67 CHAPTER 5: DOING BETTER 68 CONCLUSIONS 68 Context 68 Preaching 68 Learning 69 Preacher Training 70 Framework, Methods and Tools 73 RECOMMENDATIONS 74 Providers 74 ZEC 75 Wider Church in Malawi and Sub-Saharan Africa 76 Further Work 76 CHAPTER 6: PREACH THE WORD 79 ZEC 79 ZEC TRAINING 80 Discipleship Training 80 Leadership Training 80 PREACH THE WORD 81 Program development 81 Overview 82 Module 1: We Preach the Word 84 Preaching Journal 88 Module 2: We Preach the Whole Word 89 Module 3 90 College integration 90 LOOKING FORWARD 91 APPENDIX A – QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION FRAMEWORK 94 ZEC LEADERSHIP CULTURE 94 ZEC CONTEXT PROFILE 95 TRADITIONAL METHODS 96 ALTERNATIVE METHODS 96 PREACHER TRAINING 97 Training Profile 97 Goals 98 Principles 98 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS 99 PREACHING 99 LEARNING 100 APPENDIX B – SELECTED RESULTS 102 ZEC RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 102 Context 102 Leadership Culture 103 Churches 103 Preachers 104 Preaching 105 Preacher Training 106 PROVIDER RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 108 Qualitative Summary 108 Context 111 Preacher Training 111 DISCUSSION 114 Problems with ‘traditional” methods 114 Key componants of “alternative” methods 114 APPENDIX C – EXAMPLE SESSION PLANS 115 OVERVIEW OF MODULE 1 115 OVERVIEW OF MODULE 2 116 MODULE 1: SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION TO PREACHING AND THE PREACHER 117 1.1 Introduction 117 1.2 Preaching as a Craft 117 1.3 Importance of Preaching 118 1.4 Nature of Preaching 118 1.5 Expository Preaching 120 MODULE 1 – SESSION 5: UNDERSTANDING A BIBLE LETTER 123 5.1 The Style of the Bible Passage 123 5.2 Characteristics of a Letter 123 5.3 Bible Letters 123 5.4 Sculpting a Sermon with a Bible Letter 124 BIBLIOGRAPHY 126 ENDNOTES 140