• Academics

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  • Lenny Luchetti

    Associate Professor of Christian Ministry and Proclamation

     

    Dr. Lenny Luchetti presently serves as Associate Professor of Proclamation and Christian Ministries at Wesley Seminary of Indiana Wesleyan University. He is responsible primarily for the development and teaching of the preaching courses the seminary offers. He is the author of Preaching Essentials: A Practical Guide (May 2012), which has been honored by Outreach Magazine and Preaching Magazine as one of the best books on preaching in 2012.

    Awards and Honors  

    Excellence and Biblical Studies Award – Asbury Theological Seminary
    Wilbur Dayton Scholarship – Asbury Theological Seminary
    Beeson Pastor Scholarship Program – Asbury Theological Seminary

    Ministerial and Professional Background

    Lenny's pastoral ministry began when he was a senior in college and it continued in a variety of locations and positions for fifteen years before he joined the faculty at Wesley Seminary. Lenny has served as the solo pastor of a small rural congregation, as the assistant pastor of a large church in a college town, and as the lead pastor of a small church that had a significant turnaround and grew into a large multi-ethnic, inter-generational, economically-diverse, and community-involved church during his tenure.

    In addition to pastoring local churches, Lenny has enjoyed opportunities to preach at camps, colleges, and churches throughout the United States, as well as in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Romania. Lenny teaches courses and leads seminars for ministers on the topics of preaching, leadership, and spiritual formation. He has written sermon series for the Wesleyan Church's Spring Life and Nucleus spiritual growth campaigns which are each used by nearly five hundred Wesleyan Churches annually. Lenny also launched Wesleyansermons.com, a resource designed to encourage, equip, and empower preaches in the Wesleyan movement.

    Lenny describes his testimony, "My parents loved me, but did not raise me to love and serve Christ. I grew up in a nominal Italian-Catholic family in South Philadelphia, PA. I was surrounded by the evils of urban life: drugs, alcohol, violence, poverty, and promiscuity. Some of these vices wrapped themselves around my soul and weighed me down. I was so unmotivated to do anything but party that I dropped out of high school early in my junior year. When my life hit rock bottom and the parties ended, I experienced inescapable emptiness, loneliness, and despair.

    In my drunken stupor I began to cry out to the God I didn't know, but hoped was listening. He was! God heard my cry and, through a variety of circumstances too detailed to chronicle here, he came to me. Life became worth living. Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10b). Since I entered into a relationship with Christ I have found him to be completely true to this promise. It wasn't too long after I came to know Christ that I sensed a call to partner with him in doing for others what he had done for me. And the rest, as they say, is history or, more appropriately, His Story!"

    Personal Information

     

    Lenny has been married to Amy, his partner in life and ministry, since June 13, 1998. They enjoy life and laugh often with their children, Zach, Lia, and Sam. His hobbies include fly-fishing, racquetball, and running on the treadmill.

    Ordination

    The Wesleyan Church, 1997, Penn-Jersey District

    Education

    B.A., Religion, Houghton College
    M.Div., Asbury Theological Seminary
    D.Min., Asbury Theological Seminary, Dissertation:“A Journey in Preaching as a Spiritual Discipline” is designed to merge the task of preaching with the spiritual formation of preachers in order to increase their Christian ethos and preaching joy.

    Presentations

    "The Trajectory of Preaching and Leading in the 21st Century American Church," Iowa-Minnesota District of The Wesleyan Church, Cedar Rapids, IA (July 2012).

    "A Process for Birthing Sermons Today," Chesapeake District of The Wesleyan Church, La Plata, MD (May, 2012).

    "The Stuff I Wish I Knew  Before I Started Preaching," West Michigan District of The Wesleyan Church, Kentwood, MI (April, 2012).

    "Biblical and Contextual Exegesis for the Sermon," Illinois District of The Wesleyan Church, Urbana, IL (March, 2012).

    "A Process for Birthing Sermons Today," Atlantic District of The Wesleyan Church, Sussex, NB Canada (November, 2011).

    "Five Tips for Birthing Sermons Today," Pastor's Day at Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, IN (March, 2011).

    "Principles and Practices of Wesleyan-Methodist Preaching," The African Methodist Episcopal Church, Indianapolis, IN (February, 2011).

    "Developing a Missional Church Culture," First Wesleyan Church, Brooklyn, NY (April, 2010).

    "Preaching as a Spiritual Discipline," Penn-Jersey District Conference, Lewisburg, PA (June, 2009).

    "The Trajectory of Evangelism, Leadership, and Preaching in the 21st Century American Church, Penn-Jersey District Conference, Lewisburg, PA (June, 2007).  

    Publications

    Preaching Essentials: A Practical Guide (Wesleyan Publishing House, May 2012).

    Preaching in the Wesleyan-Methodist Tradition (Seedbed, Asbury Theological Seminary, January 2012).

    NUCLEUS Sermon Series (Spiritual Formation Dept., The Wesleyan Church, Fall 2011).

    NUCLEUS Sermon Series (Spiritual Formation Dept., The Wesleyan Church, Fall 2010).

    SPRING LIFE Sermon Series (Spiritual Formation Dept., The Wesleyan Church, Spring 2010).