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reEquip // Could I now reach who I once was?: a day on preaching that meets the culture without losing the text

reEquip is a monthly opportunity for those in pastoral ministry (and ministry adjacent roles) to connect and be taught & encouraged in their ministry positions.

Join us for our April reEquip day with Dr. Zack Eswine, pastor, professor of homiletics, and author of Preaching to a Post-Everything World: Crafting Biblical Sermons That Connect with Our Culture.

Most of us were trained to choose: preach the text faithfully, or preach to the room in front of us. Somewhere along the way we absorbed the idea that going deeper into Scripture means drifting further from the people actually listening – and that real relevance means trimming the text to fit them.
Zack Eswine has spent his ministry arguing that this is a false dichotomy. He starts from a haunting question: could the sermon you preach this week actually reach the person you used to be, before you knew any of this? For him, that’s not a rhetorical trick – it’s a discipline. Faithful exposition and cultural fluency aren’t in tension; they’re both required if the gospel is going to land on people as they actually are, in this place, at this time, in the actual world they’re navigating, rather than a version of them that’s easier to preach to.
This reEquip day is a chance to think hard about that discipline – how to stay unflinchingly faithful to the text while genuinely engaging the world your listeners live in, so that the sermon actually reaches someone.

Rhythm of the Day:

(you are most welcome to join us for community prayers beforehand at 9am)
9.30am – Meet for coffee/tea and pastries
10:00am – Brief welcome & devotion
10:15am – Session 1: The false choice – Why preachers default to either “faithful” or “relevant,” and why Scripture itself models something more integrated. Could I now reach who I once was?
11:15am – Break for coffee/tea
11.45am – Session 2: Reading the culture like a text – Practical tools for exegeting the room: the assumptions, fears and stories your listeners already carry, and how to preach into them without flattering or dodging them.
1pm – Lunch
2pm – Session 3: Staying faithful in a multi-everything world – Holding the line on biblical exposition while preaching across generations, backgrounds and postmodern instincts within a single congregation.
3pm – Q&A with a cuppa
3.30pm – Finish

Please do contact hello@yarntonmanor.com if you would like to come but cost is prohibitive.

Registration closes 12pm on Monday 19th.

Date
21st April 2027
Time
09:30 - 15:30
Price
£15/person (including catering)
Speaker
Dr. Zack Eswine

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Zack pastors at Riverside Church, Missouri, and is the co-founder of Sage Christianity with his wife Jessica, which seeks to bring doubts and questions into conversation with the wisdom of Jesus. Formerly serving as the Scholar-in-Residence for the Francis Schaeffer Institute (FSI) at Covenant Seminary, Zack partners with several seminaries, conferences and networks as a sought after teacher and speaker. ​He is the author of Preaching Today’s book of the year, Preaching to a Post-Everything World (Baker, 2008), as well as The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus (Crossway, 2015), which received Christianity Today‘s 2016 book of the year in the church/pastoral leadership category.

He is married to Jessica and they have three children.

The statistics relating to pastoral ministry burn-out is high. Too high.
For many the life of church or para-church ministry can be stressful, busy and, very often, lonely.
The to-do list can be overwhelming and unending, leaving little to no space for any kind of self-study or growth – often we feel out of our depth. Often we feel like calling it quits.

reEquip seeks to support and encourage those in pastoral ministry (and ministry adjacent roles).

Come and:

(1) receive focused teaching and training that will help us in our ministry life, whether in pastoral skills, practical ministry, bible teaching or areas of theology,
(2) enjoy the company of and learn from others in similar situations and
(3) enjoy a delicious lunch together!

Yarnton Manor, Church Lane, Yarnton, Oxfordshire, OX5 1PY.

Directions –

If you’re driving from Oxford:

  • Take the A44 (Oxford → Woodstock) north-west out of Oxford.

  • Look out for a roundabout by the Turnpike Pub, then turn left toward Cassington Road.

  • Follow Cassington Road until you see signs for Church Lane. Turn left onto Church Lane.

  • Yarnton Manor will be a few hundred yards down Church Lane on the right.

By Public Transport

  • The Stagecoach S3 bus route travels between Oxford train station, city centre and Yarnton (towards Chipping Norton/Charlbury.

  • Get off at the Paddocks stop in Yarnton, then you’ll need to walk south to Cassington road, turn left and then right onto Church Lane

Arriving:

  • Yarnton Manor entrance gates are just to the left of St. Bartholomew’s Church.
  • Press ‘Call’ on the gate intercom for security to let you in.

We have accommodation on-site. How about you combine reEquip with a short ministry retreat?

Enquire above for pricing and availability.

See our Day Guest Information page for more helpful information for your time with us

Day Guest Information