Sweet’s Story Squad

PreachTheStory.com Contributors

Len Sweet

Master Sermons, Videos, Consulting, and Social Media

Author of more than two hundred articles, 1500+ published sermons and sixty books, Leonard Sweet’s recent publications include the groundbreaking textbook on preaching, Giving Blood: A Fresh Paradigm for Preaching, the best-seller From Tablet to Table, The Bad Habits of Jesus, and the fall 2019 release of the twenty-year successor to SoulTsunami, Rings of Fire: Walking in Faith Through a Volcanic Future.

Len often appears on the “50 Most Influential Christians in America” listings, and in 2010 was selected by the top non-English Christian website as one of the “Top 10 Influential World Christians of 2010”. His “Napkin Scribbles” podcasts can be accessed onleonardsweet.com or spotify. His Twitter and Facebook microblogs are ranked as some of the highest in the religious world.

Len works with graduate students at four institutions: Drew University, where he has occupied the E. Stanley Jones Chair, George Fox University, Tabor College, and Evangelical Seminary, where he currently holds the Charles Wesley Senior Professorship of Doctoral Studies. In 2015 he launched his own homiletics resource preachthestory.com. One of the most sought-after speakers in the religious world today, he resides on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands.

Len Wilson

Story Consultant

Len Wilson has spent his career advocating creativity and more effective communication in faith and church life. In service to this calling, he has worked on five local church staffs; authored ten books through Abingdon Press, including Think Like a Five Year Old; taught and consulted with organizations and ministries across the country; co-founded Midnight Oil Productions;

and directed church leadership publishing at the United Methodist Publishing House. At Ginghamsburg Church in the late 90s, Len helped pioneer visual storytelling in worship. You may know Len for his annual top 25 list of fastest growing large United Methodist churches. He interned at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, played sax in a band with jazz great Denis DiBlasio, and, for a few seconds, appeared in a Spielberg movie. Len holds an MA from United Theological Seminary and is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Semiotics and Future Studies from Portland Seminary. He is currently Creative and Communication Director at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas.

Teri Hyrkas

Open Table Book Review Team

Teri Hyrkas is a lover of The Story, and one of Len’s favorite Facebook conversation partners—he calls what they do there “duets.” A voracious reader of books and other media, she brings book clubs to life with conversations that spark and sparkle. You will be able to use in your church the sumptuous fare served weekly at “The Open Table” in a variety of ways and small group settings.

Landrum Leavell III

Open Table Review Team

Lan Leavell III is a pastor of the Village Church Denton in Texas. He has served churches throughout his life and is deeply committed to Jesus, Texas life, his wife Suzanne, and Len Sweet! An avid reader, and fabulous reviewer, we are proud to have Lan as part of our review team!

Doug Balzer

Open Table Book Review Team

Doug Balzer is an ordained pastor in the Free Methodist Church and an instructor at George Fox Evangelical Seminary. A former DMin student with Len Sweet, Doug is excited to be a new member of our Book Review Team for The Open Table.

Vernon Hyndman

Open Table Book Review Team

Vern is a curious traveler, whose journey through life seems more like the crazed wanderings of an escaped beagle than arrow-straight directness. Biomedical engineering research in anesthesia, internet entrepreneur, and now the pastor of disaster diving deeper life in Jesus from the high diving board. Vern seeks the heart of the Father, through the life of the Son, in the power of the Spirit… and spreads it all around like a prodigal with Dad’s platinum card. Devoted and married to Shelley, father of four amazing young adults.

Dan Payne

Open Table Book Review Team

Dan Payne is an ordained minister and instructor on the secondary and post-secondary levels. Dan holds an MDiv degree and is completing his doctorate in Semiotics and Future Studies at Portland Seminary in Oregon. In addition to spending time perusing music, Dan is a lover of both comedy and science fiction and serves as a stand-up comedian in his spare time. Dan has eclectic tastes in music, but favors Soft Rock, Classic Rock from the 70s-80s, Alternative, Celtic, and of course, Christian favorites. You’ll find some of those favorites coming out in Dan’s weekly contributions to “Sound Theology.”

Adam McGuffie

Digital Consultant

Adam works as an independent consultant and is a husband and a father of a growing family in Portland, Oregon. On the weekends, you can find him working on his Saab, traveling with his family, having people over for dinner, and exploring innovative ways of building local communities with photography, web design, and the internet. www.adammcguffie.com

Jesse B. Caldwell

Guest Preacher

Jesse Caldwell is a North Carolina Superior Court Judge; but in the Methodist tradition, Judge Caldwell is a dynamic lay preacher, widely respected on the homiletic circuit for his wit, winsomeness, and EPIC style of preaching. Jesse is an long-time active member of the First United Methodist Church of Gastonia but is often found preaching in pulpits of various denominations. He has published many sermons and is a sought-after public speaker. We are proud to have him serve as a frequent Guest Preacher here at preachthestory.com.

Elizabeth Rennie

Traditional Exegesis

For the past twenty-five+ years Elizabeth has done the exegetical backgrounding which has resourced Len’s sermons. In other words, she has had a hand in over 1500 published sermons. She is excited about sprouting new wings and waving new magic with preachthestory.