From the Director’s Desk: Practical Preaching Experience at SWSBS

Sometimes people wonder about the balance between classroom education and “outside” education at Southwest. Just today, during our final exams, I was reminded of how SWSBS blends classroom instruction with practical experience. Each graduating student has already preached their final “student sermon” without the aid of notes. Then, for a final exam, each student had to present Wednesday night devotional thoughts, a Lord’s Supper “table talk,” and a youth devotional. Each of these brief lessons was to be delivered on various topics, to various audiences, and within a short time frame. Each graduating student was to deliver these talks without notes as well.

Students have taught Bible classes, conducted mock personal studies, and presented chapel lessons and full-length sermons for critique. These opportunities bring practical aspects of preaching into the classroom. However, because SWSBS works so closely with the congregation and other local congregations, our students have far more opportunities outside the classroom.

For our four students who are about to graduate, Daniel Baker, Samuel Dill, Andy Reyes, and Jimmy Xie, these opportunities have been everywhere. These men have knocked doors, delivered care packages, written cards, conducted personal Bible studies, taught online Bible classes (in multiple languages), preached dozens (if not a hundred!) of sermons, given Bible classes, spoken on Wednesday nights, given youth devotionals, hosted people in their homes, attended funerals, and much more.

Our classroom instruction is important. As such, it is recognized by various universities as college-level instruction. However, often what happens outside the classroom is what makes the experience at SWSBS so unique and beneficial. We glory in the work that has been accomplished by these four men and which will be celebrated formally on June 28, 2026. We know that when they graduate, they will not have all the answers and may not even know all the questions. That is okay. But we rest assured that the instruction and experience they have received, inside and outside the classroom, have prepared them to take the next step to service in the Kingdom.

-Trent Kennedy