Graduate School| About the Program | Dr. Robinson | Faculty | Courses |
The LBC Graduate School is pleased to offer the Haddon Robinson School of Preaching Graduate Certificate in Homiletics. This program is designed to assist pastors in their pulpit ministry, specifically in the preparation and delivery of their sermons. Dr. Haddon Robinson serves as the lead professor.
About the Program
The Graduate Certificate in Homiletics is a 12 graduate credit program consisting of four modular courses over two years. The courses are offered in July and January of each year.
The courses are taught in a four-day (Tuesday–Friday) modular format. Pre-and-post classroom activities are included. Post classroom activity involves preaching mentors who continue to work with the students in refining their sermon preparation and delivery.
The program structure utilizes the adult degree completion model which organizes groups or cohorts of pastors who begin and complete the program together. Cohort size is limited to 20 pastors who are engaged in a regular preaching ministry with three years experience. Prospective students will need to make a commitment to complete the entire program. Students not accepted in the program are unable to take the individual courses.
The 2008 - 2010 cohort which begins this summer is being formed. The first class meets July 8-11, 2008. If you are interested in being part of this cohort please email Rev. Randy Pelton at or email the Graduate School Office at or phone 1.866.275.8720.Click to download an application. (pdf, 116kb) The application is due May 1.
Dr. Robinson will serve as lead Professor in the program. He is currently the Harold John Ockenga Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Seminary and has moved to the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area. He earned a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, M.A. from Southern Methodist University, and a Ph.D. from University of Illinois. Dr. Robinson is widely regarded as an expert in the area of preaching. A 1996 Baylor University poll named him as one of the twelve most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. He has taught homiletics and speech at the University of Illinois, Dallas Theological Seminary, Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. A prolific writer, Dr. Robinson has served as editor of the field of preaching for The Theological Annual, as a contributing editor for Preaching, and as a senior editor for Christianity Today. In addition, he has authored six books and written numerous articles for The Christian Medical Society Journal, Bibliotheca Sacra, Moody Monthly, the American Lutheran Magazine and Leadership Journal. Dr. Robinson’s book, Biblical Preaching, is currently being used as a text for preaching in 120 seminaries and colleges throughout the world.
Preaching Mentors:
Preaching Mentors will play a crucial role in the program. These individuals possess a depth of preaching expertise, experience in using Dr. Robinson’s method of Biblical preaching, and practical classroom experience. These mentors will model those best practices which the Church and Ministry Leadership Department teaches as necessary for enhancing preaching ministries. Their role will be to direct preaching labs during the last day of each residency period. After the residency period, these mentors will evaluate and respond to four student sermons submitted as post-course projects.
Dr. Dennis Cahill, Senior Pastor of Christ Community Church in Edison, New Jersey, earned his Th.M. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and a D.Min. in Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is a member of the Evangelical Homiletics Society and has published in Preaching.
Dr. Christopher Edwards earned both the M.Div. and D.Min. degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and he was a member of the first cohort to graduate from the Haddon Robinson School of Preaching at Lancaster Bible College Graduate School. In addition, he has been a guest mentor for Pastoral Skills at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Chris brings over 25 years of preaching experience to our program and is currently Senior Pastor at Northampton Presbyterian Church in Holland, Pennsylvania, where he has served for 13 years.Dr. Randal Pelton serves as Senior Pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Mt. Joy, PA. He earned his Th.M. at Dallas Theological Seminary and D.Min. in Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has taught at Washington Bible College, Bethany Bible College, and serves as a Preaching Mentor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, along with presenting papers at the Evangelical Homiletics Society and publishing articles in The Art & Craft of Preaching.
Dr. Torrey Robinson, a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and Denver Seminary, completed a D.Min in Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Torrey has served in a variety of local church pastoral positions and is currently the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Tarrytown, New York. He continues to teach Homiletics at Bethel Seminary of the East and has written It’s All in How You Tell It, published by Baker Books.
Guest Lecturers are experienced homileticians and specialists in a particular aspect of preaching and may be utilized during the program. These outside speakers have been chosen on the basis of their ability to augment the emphasis on Dr. Robinson’s “Big Idea” approach to biblical preaching and will provide students with a broadened scope of preaching instruction.
Course Descriptions
HC 501 Blending Hermeneutics With Homiletics
This course will focus on applying Haddon Robinson’s “Big Idea” method to specific preaching portions in the Bible. Lectures will help provide pastors with a working knowledge of the various genres in the Scriptures with a view towards locating the Christ-Centered “Big Idea.” The content will include the exploration of textual, contextual, and canonical clues that lead to the big idea. Pastors will be led through numerous biblical texts throughout Scripture in order to move from the hermeneutics of fragments to the hermeneutics of ideas that preach - blending hermeneutics with homiletics. (3 credits)
HC 502 Avoiding Heresy at the Level of Application
The title for this course is taken from an influential article Haddon Robinson wrote in which he stated that most heresy occurs at the level of application. One preaching hazard is that pastors approach the Bible looking for a sermon before Sunday’s deadline. This course explores methods for approaching Scripture for the church, what is sometimes referred to as the “So what?” of preaching. A variety of preaching portions throughout the Scriptures become exercises in moving to a valid response by believers and unbelievers to God’s revelation. The content will include the discussion and evaluation of various ways to move from the historical text to the contemporary message. Emphasis will be placed on deriving an application or applications that find their source in the method practiced in the first residency. (3 credits)
HC 503 Exploring Sermon Forms Without Sacrificing Clarity
This course will attempt to expose pastors to a variety of sermon forms and styles. Pastors will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of some of the prominent forms and styles of preaching. The content will include an analysis of major forms sermons can take and the various styles of preaching employed by effective communicators. Each form and style will be discussed and displayed in the light of a main goal—clarity. At this point in the program pastors will be working at developing major sermon components - introductions, main points, illustrations, conclusions—in such a way that God’s message in a particular preaching portion will be clearly presented. (3 credits)
HC 504 Preaching to the Post-Modern Generation
The final module contains lectures and exercises devoted to helping pastors understand the thinking patterns of our post-modern, technologically savvy generations. The content will include the exploration of the characteristics that make up our modern-day, really post-modern day, listeners and how those characteristics affect the development and delivery of biblical sermons in an effort to better connect with post-modern listeners. Time will be spent discussing the use of technology during the preaching segment of worship services. Pastors will be asked to utilize whatever technology they see appropriate for their particular ministry setting. (3 credits)