‘I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.’

Philippians 1:27-28 NIV

Following a very encouraging conference in 2008, we were delighted to welcome Alistair Begg as our keynote speaker. Alistair is one of the most helpful Bible preachers of our generation, having pastored thriving churches on both sides of the Atlantic.

He led us in a study of the book of Philippians.

Feedback received from last year’s conference led us to offer an extra dimension in 2009 by adding a workshop which helped with the ‘nuts and blots’ of moving from preparation to presentation.

How do we go about preparing, from start to finish, a biblically faithful, clear and relevant message? Edward Lobb, whose life is committed to preparing Bible teachers for that very task, gave us valuable training and direction.

Add to that the opportunity to learn from a fellow preacher from church history – this year Charles Simeon – a Q&A session on the issues that most concern us about preaching, and the opportunity to enjoy fellowship with one another and we believe this day significantly helped us to contend more effectively for the faith through the preaching of God’s living word.