Inaugural Preaching Program Workshop Highlights

Earlier this month, St. Nersess Seminary launched its Preaching Program with an inaugural pilot workshop. Held at the seminary, the first six clergy to participate attended the all-day session led by workshop leader Fr. James Hamrick, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish, Lewistown, MD, a well-known leader in homiletics and preaching in the Orthodox Church. Two mentors representing both the Western and Eastern Dioceses – Fr. Vazken Movsesian and Fr. Davit Karamyan – also attended to help guide the participants.

The workshop is the first in a series funded by the Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Grant awarded to the seminary in 2023.

“We have designed 9 preaching workshops and 8 seminars for our Clergy in the Eastern and Western Dioceses. The workshop content will be accessible to all our clergy as free online modules during the grant period on our upcoming microsite, set to launch in January 2025,” shared Arpi Nakashian, the grant’s Chief Program Officer. “At the same time, the microsite will also launch “Karoz”, a repository of English translations of sermons by Armenian Church Fathers, with study notes and suggestions for modern use.”

For the first pilot workshop, Fr. James led three lectures on iconic preaching and challenged the six participants to exercise the art of inductive preaching. Prior to the workshop, each participant prepared a sermon which they were able to refine and review with Fr. James and their mentors before preaching the final version in the St. Hagop Chapel.

Watch a brief video highlighting the first Preaching Workshop.

In 2025, two workshops and two seminars will be conducted in both the Eastern and Western Dioceses.