TERRELL, Texas — Assemble an all-star lineup of some of the most powerful, passionate preachers in Churches of Christ.

Put these ministers on the same lectureship program, and give each 20 minutes to speak.

You probably can guess what happens next.

That’s right: Incredibly uplifting and challenging sermons. And, yes, stopwatches working overtime and the original schedule falling quickly by the wayside.

Maybe in some congregations, the preacher can wrap up his message in one-third of an hour. But at the recent 74th annual lectureship at Southwestern Christian College — the historically black Christian college east of Dallas — I got the impression that the buzzer sounded (figuratively, of course) just as each speaker was getting warmed up. 

“This does not work in Ethiopia,” a smiling Behailu Abebe said of the time limit as he reported on mission work in his home nation.

Anderson spoke on ministering to the down and out in the inner city and the need to “talk up” to such troubled souls. That can require a preacher to leave his office, take off his suit jacket and brush elbows with someone who may reek of alcohol or smell like urine, he suggested.

Or it may mean allowing a person dressed in less than Sunday best to use the church restroom.

“We’ve had people steal our toilet paper,” Anderson said. “That’s OK. It’s 89 cents a roll.”

McClendon highlighted his congregation’s community outreach programs, including a youth basketball league designed to keep trigger-happy young men off the streets.

“It’s not about basketball,” he said. “But we knew if we put a ball out there, we were going to get the boys to come.

“Guess what?” he added. “These boys wind up wanting to become members of the church, and we end up baptizing their parents.”

Arnelious Crenshaw, minister for the Northeast Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, brought copies of last month’s Christian Chronicle story on that congregation’s housing ministry and distributed the papers to lectureship attendees. Brother Crenshaw, we owe you for that free publicity!

Larry Guidry, minister for the Crowley Church of Christ in Louisiana, also included the Chronicle in his presentation on sports ministry, highlighting last year’s feature on former Arkansas Razorbacks star tight end D.J. Williams, now with the Green Bay Packers. Brother Guidry, we owe you, too!

After hearing such remarkable men of God share lessons from his Word, the audience was in for a real letdown … me.

“You sounded a bit nervous, but you did OK,” said my 14-year-old son, Keaton, who made the 500-mile roundtrip with me and helped pass out Chronicle calendars and coffee mugs sent along by Editor Lynn McMillon.

Actually, I was a whole lot nervous.

But I was humbled and honored that James O. Maxwell, Southwestern’s vice president of institutional advancement, invited me to speak.

Maxwell is the father of James A. Maxwell, minister for the Holgate Church of Christ in Seattle, with whom I spent time this past summer while working on a Churches That Work story. (We also may have enjoyed a Rangers-Mariners game, if you recall my baseball column from a few months ago.)

My topic was “Multicultural Church Membership and Fellowship.” Now, that might sound like a peculiar assignment for a middle-aged white guy who attends a suburban church where most people look just like me, only skinnier and with more hair.

But in my Chronicle travels, I have written about a number of inspiring, multicultural congregations in the United States and Canada, including the Culver Palms Church of Christ in Los Angeles, the Northwest Church of Christ in Chicago and the South Burnaby Church of Christ in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

I was privileged to share some of their secrets. (My thanks to Northwest minister Patrick Odum and South Burnaby minister Kirk Ruch, both of whom provided valuable feedback and biblical insight for my presentation.)

And I made it to the finish line in less than 15 minutes. Did I mention that I'm not a real preacher?

ONLINE EXTRA: Blog post from Southwestern