The Backstory Preaching Mentorship
A grace-filled community
where God transforms the lives of preachers.
Applications for the ‘24-’25 Class
Are Now Closed to the public!
Sermon Camp participants can reach out to Lisa Cressman to apply.
A 10-month Preaching intensive
100% of participants recommend the mentorship to other preachers.
“Transformational!”
“Will revolutionize the way you approach sermon preparation.”
“Amazing community!”
“Worth both your time and your money.”
“Helpful and outstanding in quality.”
August 2025 to May 2026
Tackle the Blank Page.
Get people talking about your sermons.
Feel renewed by your sermon prep.
& Finish on YOUR Schedule.
Lisa Cressman, Founding Steward of Backstory Preaching, shares what you can expect in the Mentorship.
“I am more focused and better organized, and although I spend less time on preparation, my people are saying my sermons are more engaging. My only regret is that I did not take the course years ago, but it’s never too late. BSP will revolutionize the way you approach sermon preparation. ”
Our online mentorship has a dual focus to help you be good news so you can preach good news.
Spirituality
You’ll dive deep into your identity as a Christian — your backstory. Your backstory is made mostly of ordinary moments of extraordinary love from God. Without cultivating awareness of that love, preaching can feel like another item on the ministry chore list.
Explore your experience of the gospel.
Examine the mindsets that help and hinder your preaching.
Identify places where fear and shame are holding you back.
Discover the transformative benefits of cultivating wonder, joy, and curiosity as you engage Scripture.
Craft
You’ll also practice the craft of preaching using both original techniques and tried-and-true methods.
Learn how to find a dozen ideas from a single passage of Scripture
Apply new writing strategies to enhance your message
Bring attention to small tweaks to strengthen your speaking skills.
Collaborate with skilled preachers in master classes.
Give and receive constructive feedback to make sermons stronger.
Most importantly, learn how to prepare and preach effectively every week with less stress and more joy so you can “Be Good News to Preach Good News.”
The result? Deeper faith & a new foundation that will strengthen the rest of your preaching vocation.
“BsP has helped me identify what I actually do that engages listeners (and what doesn’t engage listeners). 360s and working with my mentor have given me new tools to experiment with to engage and hold the attention of my listeners.”
What our graduates have to say
“Before I was in full-time ministry. I had the privilege of being a bi-vocational preacher…but I had a big problem. I was spending all of the little cracks in my day, my weeknights and weekends working on sermons…rather than spending time with my family. Thankfully, I discovered Backstory Preaching. It has helped me streamline my preaching preparation process and get back a lot of those hours in my preparation. After doing the Mentorship, I was able to create more effective sermons in a lot less time…So Backstory Preaching has improved both my preaching life and my family life. And I cannot recommend it enough to any preacher.
—The Rev. Courtney Jones, Mentor, Class of 2020
“I’ve been preaching for twenty-two years—every single Sunday almost… [Since the Mentorship], I find sermon writing much, much easier and less time-consuming, and the outcome has become 100% better. My parishioners tell me that, and I appreciate that more than I can ever say.”
—Scott Schellenberger, Class of 2023
“With the help of my mentor, I have created and maintained a sustainable schedule for effective and joy-filled sermon preparation. I’m able to be curious rather than frantic in my text study... And I’m able to be bolder in my preaching because I have the time to ponder a pastoral and effective way to engage difficult topics in my sermons. Plus, I get a full day off every week. I’ve been preaching for twenty years, and for the first time, I’m regularly going to the movies and having dinner with friends on Saturdays rather than being stressed out about my sermon not being ready yet. The Mentorship gave this gift to me, and it has been worth all the time, money, and energy that I spent participating in it. I pray that you too might experience this gift and joy. ”
— The Rev. Norma Malfatti, Class of 2023
Backstory Preaching introduced me to a set of tools that helped me recalibrate how I made leadership decisions and used my time, gave me resources to be more efficient in my sermon prep so that I could reclaim some of that precious family time on the weekend, but also connected me with a community that changed everything for me—a community of people who understand who we are as children of God, recipients of God’s grace, matters to our preaching life. And that tending to our spiritual practices…is really important and not optional when it comes to the preaching life
—The Rev. Andrea Myers, Mentor, Class of 2018
“I had reached the point in my career where the tools I had learned in seminary had been exhausted. Now I enjoy sermon writing again. My connection to scripture has never been stronger. The way I look at the intersection of my sermon writing process and my personal spiritual practice allows me to speak with a language of the heart that has freed me to enjoy preaching again.”
—The Rev. Robert Van Ess, Class of 2022
Backstory Preaching’s Mentorship is for...
Any ordained or lay preacher, whether a new grad or a veteran with many years of experience
Bishops, priests, pastors, and deacons who want to strengthen the craft of writing and delivering sermons
Bi-vocational clergy longing to preach clear, engaging, and effective messages
Clergy members who want to experience the deep connection between spirituality and preaching
Anglican, Mainline Protestant, and Roman Catholic preachers.
Course Includes:
Ten months of individual and small group mentoring beginning in August and running through May.
Membership in The Collective+ for duration of Mentorship.
One-to-one mentor sessions
Master classes with leaders in the field
Small group, online collaboration
Appraisals of every sermon you record and upload
Materials to help you develop your perspective and voice
Option to attain the designation of “Backstory Preacher”
“I am a second career pastor and a “newbie preacher”. Last year I was called to my first congregation. I was seeking my voice and my center for preaching. The Backstory Preaching mentor program has been transformational. I now have a practice that enables me to prayerfully journey through scripture reading, study, and preparation to preach. I have found my voice and posture to proclaim God’s Good News. It is a blessing to be a part of this amazing community.”
Valued at over $9000
offered for just $3990.00
$399 deposit upon application +
9 monthly payments of $399 (August - April)
Applications open in June of 2025.
“I have been preaching for 15 years, and rarely felt confident I was delivering effective sermons. By the end of the Mentorship, I can say with confidence I am an effective preacher. I have been equipped with tools I never had before to continue to improve my preaching, and for that I am grateful. Please don’t let the time involved or the cost get in your way of applying. The Mentorship is worth both your time and your money, because the Mentorship changes sermon development from a chore to an opportunity to spend time with God.”
