Guest scholars and pastors share their experience with Didasko Seminars

What scholars say

The Didasko seminar is exactly what I wish I had during the years I was teaching the Bible regularly in a local church. This is a chance to sit with a scholar who has dedicated years to studying a specific part of the Bible, working through specific texts with a room full of eager ministry colleagues.

In addition, every session includes a collaborative brainstorm on how to preach each text with its unique challenges and opportunities. Not only will you walk away with a fully developed outline for a sermon series or class, you also get a chance to build friendships and continue learning about Scripture in a communal setting. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Fruitful discussion on a biblical text, fellowship and friendships that continue long after the seminar ends, and just plain fun – this is what pastors can expect at the Didasko Seminar.

The Seminars offer hands-on learning and rich engagement with the Bible as each pastor builds a preaching series in conversation with the group.

In my experience, these seminars represent the best practices for the intersection and integration of the Academy and Church. Pastors may spend hours combing through commentaries, but in these seminars, they can experience the benefit of academics distilling the most important information and tailoring it for use in a sermon.

Pastors will get the chance to ask their specific questions of an expert and then have the opportunity to brainstorm and collaborate with other pastors about the best ways to preach through the biblical book. These are more than seminars — they are workshops that can help pastors grow both in their grasp of scholarship and in their hermeneutical and homiletical proficiency. Participating pastors can step into a network of scholars and colleagues who together are taking on the sometimes overwhelming task of preaching the Word of God effectively as they minister to their congregations.

Imagine getting big ideas and possible preaching outlines in collaboration with other pastor-teachers committed to biblical exposition, under the tutelage of a scholar who has done specialized work on a particular book of the Bible and with pastors committed to making it relevant—perhaps up to a half a year’s worth at a time.

The Didasko Seminars make that possible and build new friends and collegiality that can last longer still. They are some of the most rewarding ministry events I’ve ever participated in.

The ministry of preaching is, of course, a privilege. But it can also become something of a burden, with the need weekly to study the Scriptural text and come up with a way to present it that will communicate its intent to one’s congregation.

The Didasko Seminar experience offers a wonderful opportunity to re-charge one’s exegetical and homiletical batteries. In a format that, in my experience, is unique, the seminar is led equally by a scholar and a homiletition. This setting provides a great opportunity to wrestle with the challenge of faithfully proclaiming the text — in conversation with fellow preachers intent on the same goal. Highly recommended!

The pastor’s preaching retreat is a breath of fresh air for preachers and leaders who serve on the frontlines of church ministry. Good content is out there on YouTube and podcasts, but it is a rare gift and grace to gather together for several days of learning, discussion, mutual support, good food, laughter, and holy tears as stories and lives are shared with one another.

Too many pastors perform their duties alone and operate at an unsustainable pace. The opportunity to slow down, soak in a text of Scripture, and share struggles, challenges, hopes, and dreams with fellow leaders creates a transformative experience. I am excited to see how these pastors will go forth with fresh energy and inspiration to “gospelize” their communities.

This was a very substantial, rich, and engaging week in the serious study of the OT Law and how to preach it in the church today. I enjoyed it immensely as I taught through major points and sections of the Law in the OT and then together we took it forward into the NT for the church in the light of Christ. The Pastors showed deep and abiding interest and knowledge in the Word of God.

They interacted with the teaching very well as they thought it through together and considered openly and wisely how to understand it and preach it. Their thoughts and questions were sincere and penetrating. It was a lively time. What a joy it was to experience our pursuit of God together for the good of His Kingdom people.

What Pastors Say

The Didasko Seminars offer a great combination of biblical study, preaching application, and meaningful conversation, all taught by respected scholars and seasoned leaders.

Over a span of a couple days, acquaintances become friends as pastors from across the country celebrate their different contexts while unifying around Jesus. It’s a beautiful, transformative experience that sends you home grateful, full, and rejuvenated.

I would highly recommend the Didasko seminars to any pastor that is hungry for a more comprehensive view of God’s Word. But what I love the most is that it is not just about the learning, it is also about the community.

I enjoyed getting to know other pastors as well. I learned from pastors that have been leading for decades and from pastors who were relatively new like me. It has enhanced my preaching and enhanced my connection with fellow pastors in our area and beyond. If you can make it to the Didasko Seminars, do what you can to be there you will not regret it.

After participating in two (back-to-back years) seminars, I can honestly say – my ministry has never been the same! These environments gather some of the world’s leading scholars together with local pastors and teachers for a week-long hyper-distillation of the text. What is produced, especially in my life, is a robust love of the scriptures along with a tool kit to examine the text with fresh eyes and heart!

I can say unashamedly – I want these experiences weekly but will settle for a minimum of quarterly! I LOVE what Didasko Seminars is all about and the Church of Jesus Christ is forever blessed by Chris and his heart to resource preachers and teachers! So, thank you!

Talking about how much I enjoyed Didasko is the easiest thing I’ll do all year. It’s one thing to study a text to prepare a sermon – another thing entirely to spend days with a scholar as he/she reveals the treasures hidden in an entire book! Add to that a few dozen teaching pastors joyfully aiming their collective imaginations at the possibilities for preaching a series from it.

I put this time in my calendar as “Preacher Camp” – equal parts fun, arts & crafts (preaching is both a craft and an art is it not?), and friend-making in an “away” setting. Being a pastor doesn’t have to be lonely work. A cloud of WITH-ness follows me home. I’m rested and inspired.

As a pastor, commentaries and books help me prepare. Imagine if, before preaching a book of the Bible, you could spend a week with the author of one of the best commentaries on that book. Imagine if, instead of just reading the author’s words, you heard their voice and could ask questions.

Then imagine eating lunch with them! That is a Didasko Seminar! But Didasko is much more than time with a scholar. It is a room full of gospel-centered pastors committed to studying the same book and interacting with them on the important questions about it. Questions such as, “What is the big idea of this passage? How can we connect this with our audience? What are the cultural hangups that might keep our people from understanding? Where do we see Jesus in this text?” Answering questions like these, not in the isolation of my study but in the community of a Didasko Seminar, helps me understand the Bible better and preach it with greater clarity and conviction. I highly recommend Didasko! I haven’t found anything else like it!

The Didasko seminar revitalized my study and rekindled my passion for preaching. Within months, I was implementing fresh insights and delivering some of my most impactful (and shared) sermons to date!

Didasko seminars are absolute gold for two reasons.

First, Didasko seminars are like interacting with a living, breathing commentary. You can read a book anywhere, but this is the only place I know you can raise your hand and actually ask a question of the scholar who wrote it.

And even better, it’s like a homiletical think tank. Chris Dolson is a preaching mastermind who pivots the group from deep textual insights to lightning rod conversations that will give you compelling clarity for how to teach it.

When I was first invited to the Didasko seminar several years ago, I expected an atmosphere similar to what I have experienced at other theological conferences and teaching seminars. What I did not expect was the intimate setting, with actual conversational access to scholars whose work I had only ever appreciated from afar. My standard criteria for evaluating any potential event is that it might lead to one or two good ideas that I can implement in our church. Didasko exceeds those expectations.

This is more than just background scholarship on a book or theological topic. Each year, I leave the seminar with everything I need to teach a complete series of messages, including topics, big ideas, and ideas for outlines. You cannot get this from reading a book or attending a conference. You owe it to your church to attend a Didasko seminar.