Team Preaching: A Plurality of Preachers and How They Partner in a Local Church

Abstract

Contradicting an American trend, preaching teams do not limit the pulpit to the best available preacher. Preaching teams embody a different paradigm than relationally distant heroes. While one preacher can become a brand by which a church grows, that is not the kind of growth team preaching pursues. This dissertation argues for the model of team preaching, discovers the priorities of team preaching, and identifies the best practices of team preaching through the study of relevant literature. Using a literature-based research design, it triangulates and synthesizes the perspectives of Biblical, theoretical, and practical sources. Insofar as it is God who makes the preaching team possible, the unifying power of God is not only preached but is actualized in the people who preach it. Team preaching is not merely a preaching rotation, nor is it a support team for a lone preacher. Team preaching is a plurality of preachers whose partnership in Christ shepherds a local church into Christlikeness through the power of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit.