MBTS enters partnership to republish Spurgeon sermons
By Michaela Classen, MBTS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) — The Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) has established a partnership with Reformation Heritage Books to republish Charles Spurgeon’s 63 volumes of sermons.
The partnership will produce five sets of volumes containing sermons preached by Charles Spurgeon in his church and originally published from 1855 to 1917. The first set was released in August 2024.
“I am thrilled at the Spurgeon Library’s new partnership with Reformation Heritage Books to republish Spurgeon’s sermons,” said President Jason Allen. “Reading Spurgeon’s sermons was immensely helpful for me when I was discerning my call to ministry and especially during my early years of vocational ministry. Even today, I am frequently reminded just how helpful Spurgeon’s sermons are for the modern Christian. And now, with the republication of his sermons, more people will have even greater access to the timeless preaching of the Prince of Preachers.”
The partnership grew out of a conversation between Geoff Chang, curator of the Spurgeon Library, and Joel Beeke, editorial director of Reformation Heritage Books and chancellor of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, during Beeke’s visit to the Spurgeon Library.
“Reformation Heritage Books is so good about publishing books that they believe are going to be useful for pastors, ministers, and theologians,” Chang said. “They have an amazing catalog of edifying books.”
Beeke expressed encouragement from the partnership, saying, “I am grateful for how the Lord has used the Spurgeon Library to preserve the legacy and writings of ‘the Prince of Preachers’ for future generations. I am also excited about the possibility of cross-fertilization between our ministries through our partnership. I trust that people who are already familiar with Reformation Heritage Books will grow to love the Spurgeon Library — and vice versa — and that the Lord will use our work to stimulate a new generation of pastors and laymen to read, study, and spread the writings of Spurgeon in the 21st century and beyond.”
Referring to the 63 sermon volumes as Spurgeon’s “magnum opus,” Chang said, “For every pastor who loves Spurgeon, this is what they want — to own Spurgeon’s sermons.”
In 1855, while pastoring the New Park Street Chapel in London, Spurgeon began selecting one of his sermons each week to edit and print in a weekly pamphlet. He continued this practice throughout his ministry at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London.
The first boxed set, “C. H. Spurgeon’s Sermons: Revival Years – New Park Street Pulpit 1855–1860,” is now available for purchase.
Seminary essential for two Cincinnati church planters
By Travis Hearne, SBTS
CINCINNATI (BP) — The first public Sunday of The Oaks Church was April 17, 2017, but the story began long before.
Terry-Lee Kirkland moved his family to Louisville, Ky., in 2012 so he could pursue his M.Div. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS). Their church family at Highview Baptist Church affirmed that God was leading them to plant. So, during that time, Kirkland began researching “Send” cities — 32 cities the North American Mission Board (NAMB) has selected as strategic cities for church planting.
When they moved to Cincinnati in 2016, only 14% of the population identified with an evangelical church. As they prepared for the difficulties ahead and the official launch in 2017, Kirkland prayed that God would provide another staff member to partner with.
He knew exactly where to look.
“Jimmy and I had known one another from seminary and serving on staff together at Highview,” Kirkland said.
Sitting in the same classrooms as Kirkland at Southern Seminary, Jimmy Funchess, now executive pastor at The Oaks Church and a three-time graduate of Southern Seminary, was an obvious choice.
Kirkland knew Funchess valued the same convictions for church planting. They would each take leadership, membership, and discipleship seriously from the beginning.
“My wife and I invited Jimmy and his wife, Katelyn, to Cincinnati for lunch,” Kirkland said. “Sitting at the Incline Public House overlooking the city, I asked if they would be willing to pray about making Cincinnati their home and The Oaks their place in God’s mission. They agreed. In May of 2017, the Funchess family moved to Cincinnati.”
However, Funchess and Kirkland knew there was more than just a need for additional churches. The city (and world) needs biblical churches committed to truth.
“The need for gospel-preaching churches was clear, and the missional opportunities in Cincinnati were abundant,” Funchess said. “Like most cities all around our country and the world, Cincinnati needed pastors and church planters who were serious about the gospel and serious about the mission of God.”
The Oaks has grown from community gatherings of 30 people to a healthy church with over 350 members — a bright spot in a city that is secularizing at an increasing pace. But Funchess and Kirkland never considered measuring the church’s success by its reach or influence. Instead, theological faithfulness and total submission to the authority of Scripture and the Great Commission were the ultimate standards. Pleasing God, not man.
Funchess and Kirkland both credit their time at Southern Seminary for instilling a commitment to evangelism and theological faithfulness.
“At Southern Seminary, you don’t just gain information,” Kirkland said. “What seemed theoretical at the time became very real in the early days of The Oaks. I remember asking Greg Allison questions in his ecclesiology class that have been fleshed out in our church planting journey. I use the principles of hermeneutics and homiletics every week when I study a text. The careful teaching of Dr. Plummer, Dr. Pohlman, and Dr. York is reflected throughout my sermons. I also seek to emulate Dr. Pierre’s care for his classmates in counseling our church members. The theological training at Southern is unmatched and has proved practical every step in this journey.”
