Here's How It Works . . .

The Plan

Basically, the Barnabas Project is a guided reading group. We will choose a book to read together and use the blog as our forum to discuss our thoughts and impressions about what we're reading.

My role as facilitator is to ask leading questions that will help guide your reading of the book and spark discussions about the fundamentals of ministry.

The Book

So, to begin this experiment, we have chosen Michael Quicke's book 360-Degree Preaching: Hearing, Speaking, and Living the Word. Quicke is professor of preaching and communication at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. He offers the concept of the "preaching swim" as a way of integrating all aspects of sermonizing, from choosing the text to pulpit delivery and as a way of addressing the challenges of preaching to a postmodern generation.

Some quick notes about book choices: first, we will rarely find a book with which we totally agree. In fact, total "agreement" means the book isn't challenging us and we aren't really learning anything! So feel free to disagree with aspects of what we're reading; it's expected and even welcomed. Secondly, let me know if you think of a book that you would like to read and discuss together. This is supposed to be a collaborative learning effort, so we want to address the interests and concerns of the group. Thirdly, Bro. Dumaresq will have final say in what books we read and in what order we read them.

So, with these few things in mind, let's begin!