The SCBO Annual Preaching Conference is a day set apart to equip pastors for faithful exposition of God’s Word. Join us on August 27th at Violet Baptist Church in Pickerington for encouragement, practical training, and sharpening conversations around best practices in preaching and planning. You’ll hear from national speakers and choose from breakout sessions led by pastors from across Ohio, all designed to help you preach with clarity, conviction, and care for your people.
Whether you’re refining your sermon prep rhythm, strengthening your outlines, or looking for tools to plan ahead with consistency, this conference is built to help you grow in confidence and faithfulness in the pulpit.
Meet the speaker!
Dr. Robert Smith Jr.
Robert Smith Jr. served as professor of Christian preaching at Beeson for more than 25 years and held the Charles T. Carter Baptist Chair of Divinity. Previously, he served as the Carl E. Bates Associate Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Smith is the 2017 E. K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference Living Legend. A popular teacher and preacher, he received Southern’s 1996 Findley B. Edge Award for Teaching Excellence. An ordained Baptist minister, he served as pastor of New Mission Missionary Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio for 20 years.
Greg Gilbert
Greg Gilbert (MDiv, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is senior pastor at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky since 2010. He is the author of What Is the Gospel?, Who Is Jesus? and is the coauthor of What Is the Mission of the Church? and Preach: Theology Meets Practice. Greg and his wife, Moriah, have three children.
Dr. Willy Rice
Dr. Willy Rice, and his wife, Cheryl, are invested in building relationships to bring people to dynamic life in Christ! Willy has pastored churches in the south eastern United States for more than 35 years, and he has a passion for teaching the Word of God in an engaging and understandable way.
Willy was called, licensed and ordained to preach at Calvary under the leadership of Dr. Bill Anderson, who pastored Calvary Church for 27 years. Willy Rice returned to Calvary in 2004 to lead the church he considered his home.
Dr. Willy Rice is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama with a B.A. degree and the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree.
Willy and Cheryl have three children, Amanda, Anna, and Stephen, and six beautiful grandchildren.