Preaching Among Friends is a six-week online workshop for lay preachers, suitable for beginners and for experienced preachers looking to hone their craft. Meeting on Sunday evenings, this course addresses the unique positions of lay preachers by offering the chance to claim their voice to preach, craft relevant sermons they believe with one clear message of Good News, and apply a sustainable practice that respects the limited amount of time they may have for sermon prep. The course will meet Sunday evening each week for 75 minutes in the early evening for the first five weeks. There will be an average of two hours of homework per week. In the sixth week, the class will meet nightly as preachers draft their sermons in real time.

Registration Deadline: January 5, 2026

The cost of the course is $275 ($475 for participants outside the Diocese of Indianapolis). $200 will be refunded to you upon successful completion of the course (Diocese of Indianapolis participants only). Scholarship support is available. Refunds for completion and scholarships are limited to participants from the Diocese of Indianapolis only. Please contact Canon Brendan O’Sullivan-Hale for additional details.

Successful participants are able to navigate the Bible and liturgical calendar
confidently. They can:

• find Scripture passages
• follow footnotes
• articulate that the context of each book is particular
• find passages assigned by the lectionary for a Sunday
• roughly define the theology and focus of each liturgical season

This is an entirely online course. The cohort leader will guide participants to learn the course site, but participants must be able to:

• access a computer with high-speed internet (Mobile devices can work but are cumbersome and usually lead to increased frustration. They don’t have the capabilities of a computer.)
• download and upload pdf and Word files
• click links
• join a Zoom room, mute their microphones, and accept the invitation to join a breakout room
• type in dialogue boxes
• check spam and trash folders for email (and ideally, safe-list incoming messages from Backstory Preaching)

Schedule:

January 18: Orientation

January 25: Who says you can preach?

February 1: Read the text.

February 8: Study the text.

February 15: Discern a Word, Part 1

February 22: Discern a Word, Part 2

March 1 – March 5: Craft a Sermon in Real Time

REGISTER HERE