by Brendan Rowland, Student Public Relations Writer
Cedarville University will host a lunch on November 2 for local pastors with Dr. Bryan Chapell, president emeritus of Covenant Theological Seminary in Creve Coeur, Missouri, as the featured speaker.
The luncheon will be held from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Stevens Student Center event rooms.
Chapell will also be the guest speaker at Cedarville’s 10 a.m. chapel in the Dixon Ministry Center on November 2-3.
Chapell is the author of “Praying Backwards” and “Christ-Centered Preaching,” among other titles, and is heard daily during the Unlimited Grace syndicated radio broadcast.
During an informal fellowship lunch of local pastors, he will field questions on his chapel sermon and about his area of expertise, homiletics, the use of rhetoric in preaching. Those in attendance will receive a copy of his book “Christ-Centered Preaching.”
The event is also a special meeting of Cedarville’s Pastors Advisory Council (PAC), a group of approximately 25 pastors who meet semi-annually to discuss strategies and ideas for the university to engage with and support local churches.
The lunch is the creation of Cedarville’s church relations department. “We want to connect the resources, people and programs of the university to the local church to be a benefit and blessing and serve them any way we can,” said the Rev. Bruce Traeger, director of church relations.
“Relationship building is always a key part of what we do,” Traeger continued, emphasizing the lunch’s benefit of strengthening connections between pastors and ministry leaders and the university.
Chapell is a natural choice to headline the event. “All of us, pastors included, are lifelong learners,” Traeger said. “When someone, like Chapell, has done extensive ministry work and has years of experience in his field, pastors want to be sharpened and challenged by them to benefit their own ministry.”
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,715 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its accelerated B.A. and M.Div. degree, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.