Developing Preachers in a Time of Crisis

Seven ways we are developing preachers.

In my last post, I began exploring how we can raise up church leadership from within. This follow-up focuses specifically on developing preachers.

The Canadian church is facing a looming leadership crisis. It’s estimated that we’ll need to raise up at least 625 new pastors in the coming years just to replace those stepping away from ministry. Yet, our Bible colleges are producing fewer than 200 graduates per year combined. That’s a massive shortfall, especially felt by smaller and rural congregations across the country.

This pain point is somewhat ameliorated through two key sources:

1. Innovative training programs are emerging that are more accessible, lower in cost, and often remote, allowing for greater reach and flexibility.
   

2. Immigrant church leaders and international missionaries are increasingly serving the Canadian church, especially from Brazil, Korea, and across West and East Africa. Without this vital contribution, the church in Canada would be in far greater distress.

While these are critical parts of the solution, they don’t address the core issue. They still operate, at some level, within the framework of a clergy-laity divide, one that subtly discourages ordinary believers from seeing themselves as empowered to live on mission.

We don't just need more formal clergy.
We need every follower of Jesus to be equipped and released to live on mission, right where they are.

Preaching and the Local Church

There are many implications to this, but I want to focus on just one: preaching. Specifically, how we develop bi-vocational preaching teams from within our churches.

1. The Responsibility Lies with the Local Church

The local church, not the Bible college, has the biblical mandate to raise up leaders. We cannot outsource this responsibility or rely solely on external pipelines.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2 is clear:

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

We need systematic, intentional processes for developing biblical teachers from within the church. As I shared in part one of this series, it doesn’t happen by accident, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

2. Every Church Needs a Plurality of Teachers

The dominant church model often revolves around a single preacher. While it’s reasonable to have a primary communicator, no church can remain healthy if all teaching responsibility falls on one person.

Interestingly, one of the qualifications for church leadership is being "able to teach." This, along with hospitality, is often overlooked. A good starting point is this: train every elder, deacon, or church leader, whatever term you use, to preach.

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How We're Developing Preachers

Here’s how we’re building and supporting our bi-vocational preaching team across our network:

1. Clarify the Purpose of Preaching

We define preaching as:

God speaking through Scripture to unify His Church in following Jesus on mission.

This definition shapes our four preaching objectives:

• To hear from God through Scripture, not the preacher.

• To invite the church to worship.

• To remind the church of its mission and responsibilities.

• To unify the church under shared values and vision.

What isn’t the purpose of preaching? To grow the church, save souls, give life advice, tell jokes, or entertain.

2. Preach Through Scripture

We teach one book of the Bible at a time across all our churches, aligning with our daily devotional rhythm.

The hardest and most vital preaching skill is learning to preach the text, staying anchored in Scripture rather than proof-texting verses to support personal ideas.

All of our locations preach the same passage weekly with minimal top-down direction. This forces us to stay faithful to the text and develop the basic skill of discovering its intended meaning. The primary way we assess a sermon is “were you faithful to the text?”

3. Collaborate on Sermons

Our preachers share notes and ideas through a dedicated Engage Spaces communication channel. Even though we’re in different cities, this collaborative culture makes every preacher better and builds unity.

We often end up with very different sermon structures that are headed in the same direction because everyone is on the same text and approaching it with similar values.

4. Leverage Every Event as a Training Ground

We use every event, retreat, conference, hangout, or MC hosting spot as a platform to give new communicators opportunities to practice public speaking.

5. Rotate Preachers Across Locations

Our preaching roster includes 27 preachers of varying experience levels. They rotate across our seven cities, often preaching outside their home context. This not only sharpens their skills but strengthens bonds between our church members.

Preaching becomes a family affair—we show up for each other, support one another, and celebrate what God is doing across the network.

6. Hold a Monthly Members' Assembly

Laura and I lead a monthly streamed teaching time for our members, where we bring focused teaching and vision-casting. This allows us to speak into complex topics that may need more nuance and maintain unity across our broader church family.

7. Make Preaching One Part of a Bigger Discipleship System

Preaching is powerful, but it’s not the only source of biblical teaching. Our discipleship ecosystem includes many other formal and relational tools:

• Living Sent 1 & 2

• Leader-in-training programs

• Online courses in Engage Spaces

• Life-on-life discipleship in our house churches

Conclusion
The latent potential within the pews of the church is tremendous if we would cultivate it and call it into being. Like Ezekiel, speaking to dry bones, there is an army waiting to be called to life in the pews of our churches.

If you found this helpful, please share or re-stack it for others to find! Your support in helping our ideas reach more people means the world to us!

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If you'd like to dig deeper into why traditional vocational ministry models are struggling, my friend Rob Chartrand wrote a compelling article on the subject: 👉Why Young Canadians Are Turning Away from Ministry Roles