The service begins with the reading of excerpts from Psalm 95 (00:00-00:49) and prayer (00:50-03:04). No introduction was given for the speaker, Dr. Denton R. Coker, but he was Professor of Religious Education at SEBTS. He begins by reading from the preface to Martin Luther’s shorter catechism (03:05-04:20), and his message is directed towards the need to have teachers in local churches, not just executives to keep the organization to function smoothly (04:21-05:04). First, we must accept positively that the church has, of necessity, a teaching function; also, in relinquishing the responsibility of the family unit in teaching their children at God from home, the church suffered loss in three areas: neglect in homely religious instruction, little influence with catechumens, and teachers with little theological education (05:05-11:52). Second, the minister, of necessity, has a teaching responsibility (11:53-19:18). In conclusion, he points out two implications of this view: it is not a question of whether a church teacher is a theologian or not but of what kind of theology he will teach, and churches must be transformed into centers for genuine theological equipping (19:19-22:45). He closes in prayer (22:46-23:15), and the service ends with instrumental music (23:16-24:18).
