Courses > Lay Education > Preaching Difficult Texts

Preaching Difficult Texts

An Open Enrolment Course

Tuesday evenings September 22nd to October 6th, 7:30pm to 9:00pm, online.

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The Bible contains some famously hard texts (“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off…”). The lectionary readings suggested for fall 2026 for Anglicans, Lutherans, Catholics and the United Church turn out to showcase quite a few such difficult passages.

What’s a faithful preacher or a thoughtful listener from the pew to do?

For three Tuesday evenings online (Sept 22, 29, and Oct 6, 2026, at 7:30 pm EST), Dr. Matthew R. Anderson will uncover an uncomfortable text you will face every Sunday up to and including The Reign of Christ – and give practical advice on what to make of it.

Matthew Anderson

Instructor: The Rev. Dr. Matthew Anderson is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada who currently serves as the Gatto Chair in Christian Studies at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Previously, he taught for many years at Concordia University in Montreal. His research interests are Pauline studies, pilgrimage studies, gender, and decolonizing/aware-settler biblical studies. Matthew has walked thousands of kilometres on pilgrimage trails in Europe and North America.

Learn Together

We want to encourage people to learn together. You can join this course as an individual, but we also encourage you to gather with a friend or group in a parish hall, living room, or over Zoom to participate in and to discuss the class afterwards using the resources we provide. Whether you have three people or a dozen people gathered together, register as a group and the cost is the same. Group leaders will be given a Zoom link which they can distribute to their group members.

About Open Enrolment

Our open enrolment courses, workshops, and events equip students for life in a changing church. These courses are aimed at anyone who is interested in deepening their Christian faith and knowledge, and cultivating leadership skills in the church. There is no homework or written assignments. All you need is a desire to learn and a willingness to participate. To see our full list of open enrolment course offerings, follow the link: https://montrealdio.ca/our-courses/

FEES

Regular: $90/person, $200/group

Friends of the College: $75/person, $170/group

There will be a $25 late fee for anyone who registers after February 20, 2026.

If any groups are unable to gather physically together in the same room, one group member may pay the group rate and distribute the link to the other group members, rather than paying for each connection.

MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION

[email protected]

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