The CAPS Program (Cumberland Area Pulpit Supply) at Three Forks Association in Hazard, Ky., was born 17 years ago out of a concern from two local pastors to raise up supply preachers for churches in their community. These pastors put together a one-year course that included a monthly meeting, a hot meal, an hour of teaching on hermeneutics and an hour on homiletics. They, along with the visionary support of AMS Jamie Reynolds, had a desire to teach men who were members of local churches how to study the Bible and how to prepare biblical sermons.
Monday evening, Aug. 19, I attended the graduation service where nine men were recognized for completing the requirements of the training this year. Since its inception. there have been more than 115 graduates from the CAPS program. Many are now pastoring churches in the area or are pulpit supply preachers serving the churches of their association.
Here are some things I observed about these men:
1. They have full-time jobs: Most of these men have already worked a full day before attending the monthly training. Their preaching comes from someone who is dealing with the same things as those in their congregations. They understand firsthand the challenges of working a demanding job while finding time to prepare biblically faithful sermons.
2. They are busy: Most of them are husbands and fathers with a full load of responsibilities. One of the graduates has a wife and seven children. He, like all the CAPS participants, made a great personal sacrifice to be part of the training.
3. They are trained: While they are not taught everything needed to pastor a church, they have received excellent training from faithful practitioners on the basics of Bible study and sermon preparation. They preach to each other twice during the program and evaluate one another on how they can improve their preaching. These men are far more prepared than I was when I began pastoring a church. I wish I could have had a program like CAPS when I started preaching.
4. They are gaining experience: There is no way to become an effective preacher without getting preaching reps. Each must experience preaching successes and failures to grow as a preacher. These men are being given a rare opportunity through their local Baptist association to gain invaluable experience which will undoubtedly sharpen their preaching craft.
5. They are qualified: Not all these men will go on to serve as pastors of local churches, though some of them will, but they are all qualified to fill the pulpit, give a local pastor a break on Sunday and step in as needed to help a congregation hear a faithful sermon.
What stood out to me the most at the CAPS graduation ceremony is that the current trainers are local pastors, Josh Feltner and Pete Youmans. These faithful pastors are training men in their own churches that they know may leave and go pastor other churches.
Pastor Youmans shared that he has had 19 men from his church complete the training and three of them have gone on to pastor other churches. These leaders are working together to advance the gospel by helping every church in their area thrive by raising up men to preach the word. May the Lord be pleased use their example to help Kentucky Baptists train those who will preach in and pastor the churches in our state.
Dr. Todd Gray 