Review: The Charles Simeon Trust
The Charles Simeon Trust, simeontrust.org, January 1, 2025.
The Charles Simeon Trust was officially organized in January 2001 by David Helm, John Dennis, Kent Huges, and two silent partners, although that is not its genesis. Built on the echo of Dick Lucas' Proclamation Trust (London), the Workshop on Biblical Exposition was an annual event at Wheaton that grew into the need for something more. Today, that something--the Charles Simeon Trust--provides preaching workshops around the country, online courses, resources, and a resident program called the Chicago Course.
Bible expositors should not only be aware of the Charles Simeon Trust but also attend a workshop and take online courses. Workshop leaders encourage attendees to view their time at the 2-and-a-half-day gathering as a pro baseball player approaches spring training. It's an opportunity to return to the fundamentals and correct bad habits. Yet, it's more than spring training--the Charles Simeon Trust is a robust basket of preaching training that far surpasses seminary homiletical courses.
Strong, time-tested tools explained and wielded by a time-tested cadre of strong leaders bring vibrance and excellence to the lecture portion of the workshop—the same lectures that make up the online courses. Providing ample time for smaller group practice, where each man brings his expositional work for discussion by the group, makes a Charles Simeon Trust workshop unlike any other preaching conference. It also provides a space for the preaching tools taught in the lectures to be placed into the hands of the attendees for supervised practice.
The Charles Simeon Trust offers tremendous value to anyone who opens God's Word and preaches or teaches it to others. However, the organization struggles to get the expositor all the way home. For more than 20 years, David Helm has led his workshop leaders to train preachers in sermon preparation, but they've come up short in sermon delivery.* They've got the work in the preacher's study dialed in but awkwardly overlook what he still needs to do when he steps into the pulpit with his well-prepared sermon outline. That oversight, however, is not enough to steer any preacher away from the Charles Simeon Trust. They remain a must-experience for any faithful expositor.
*At the time of this article, this reviewer is aware of work the Charles Simeon Trust is doing to strengthen this area of its training, having seen and discussed research and experienced experimental cohorts that may become additional tools provided by the Charles Simeon Trust. Let us look forward to this extra help for preachers everywhere!