Each spring, Guy Orbison, Jr., minister for the Durango congregation, hosts an annual workshop for preachers. Although directed toward preachers in the Rocky Mountain region, other men from various states come to the annual event.
Primarily the workshop emphasizes expository preaching and how to accomplish it. Each year, Orbison and Denny Petrillo, an instructor at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, take the workshop participants through a study of a New Testament book. Other speakers are invited to present uplifting messages to inspire and encourage those who attend.
Since its beginning in 1995, the Workshop in the Word has been conducted in a rustic lodge some twenty-five miles north of Durango. The men arrive on a Thursday afternoon and leave early on Saturday morning. This allows a preacher the opportunity to come without missing any teaching appointments at his home congregation. Several men from the Durango congregation prepare some five meals for all those who attend each year.
Although directed toward the preaching ministry, many elders and other Christian men have attended to increase their knowledge of God's Word. Information about the workshop is available by contacting the Durango church.
The 2011 Workshop in the Word boasted 134 participants.
Workshop Notebooks
Each year a loose-leaf notebook is prepared by Orbison and Petrillo. These notebooks contain both Exegetical Notes on the text and Sermon Seeds for the preacher. These notebooks are now being used
throughout the world by teachers and preachers of the gospel. These are available to the general public at a cost of $13.00 per notebook (mailing price included). They may be ordered from:
Workshop in the Word
P.O. Box 633
Durango, CO 81302
After 21 years, the 2016 Workshop in the Word will be our last workshop. Let's make this the best one yet. Be sure and get your registration in early to assure yourself of a a reservation.Dates for
the 2016 Workshop will be... April 21-23, 2016 (optional day of Wednesday 20 may be added)
Printable 2016 registration forms:
2016 Registration Form
2016 Indemnification Form