Casket Empty Bible Seminars help people learn the redemptive story of the whole Bible using the memorable acronym CASKET EMPTY, along with our well-known visual Bible timelines. Taught by engaging speakers, Dr. Kaminski (Old Testament) and Dr. Palmer (New Testament), these Old and New Testament seminars help people see the Bible as one story with Jesus at the center. People attending a Bible seminar come away with an in-depth understanding of how the Bible fits together theologically and they learn the “big picture” of the Bible’s storyline. It is not uncommon for attendees to say, “Finally, I understand the Bible!” In the Old Testament seminar, Dr. Kaminski takes people through the redemptive story of the Old Testament, walking them through each major period of the Old Testament (Creation, Abraham, Sinai, Kings, Exile, Temple) and showing how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises. In the New Testament seminar, Dr. Palmer walks people through each major period of the New Testament (Expectations, Messiah, Pentecost, Teachings, Yet-to-come), showing that the coming Messiah is the climax of the Old Testament promises and expectations. With Jesus’ death and resurrection at the center of the Bible, David shows how the story continues as the exalted Jesus establishes his church, and mission continues with the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. People come away with a fresh vision of who Jesus is, and they are inspired to share the gospel and be part of God’s mission in the world.

The Old and New Testament seminars are typically offered on a Saturday morning, 9:00am-1:00pm. We recommend doing the Old Testament seminar in the fall, and the New Testament seminar in the spring, but these seminars are also “stand alone” events, so your church can offer a seminar at any time, including in the summer, depending on your church calendar. Full-day seminars on either Old or New Testament are another option, but we’ve found that the shorter time of four hours works best for most churches. The Saturday morning timeslot provides a solid block of teaching (attendees will learn the entire Old Testament in 3 ½ hours, and the entire New Testament in 3 ½ hours), while also allowing people to enjoy their weekend (and begin processing what they have learnt). Below is a typical Saturday morning schedule:

8:30am - 9:00am          Coffee & Registration

9:00am - 10:30am        Session I

10:30am -10:50am       Coffee break

10:50am-11:50am        Session II

11:50am-12:00pm        Short coffee break

12:00pm-1:00pm          Session III

If your church is hosting a Saturday morning seminar, it is helpful to review the schedule with the speaker ahead of time. If you plan on selling timelines or other Casket Empty material at the conference, this is usually done during the Coffee/Registration period, and during the morning coffee break.

You simply need to fill out the Speaker Request Form on our website. You will receive a response from the speaker within 5-7 business days. If the requested Casket Empty speaker is not available for your dates, we have other experienced and well-qualified speakers we will recommend. Our seminar teachers all have doctorates in either Old or New Testament, teach at major institutions, and they are good communicators. You are also free to seek alternative dates with the speaker you are requesting once the speaker has responded to your request.

The quick answer is no. The Old and New Testament seminars are “stand alone” events. They are a great way to increase Bible knowledge in your church and get people excited about studying the Bible, but your church is not required to offer a follow up Casket Empty Bible study. Our experience is that since people will leave the seminar excited about studying the Bible, it is not uncommon for people to ask: “What do I do next?” The seminars provide a great opportunity to launch a Casket Empty Bible study so that your church can build on the momentum already present at the seminar. The Old Testament Bible study is 18 weeks, and the New Testament Bible study is 14 weeks. Some churches have done the two Bible studies back-to-back over the course of a year (taking a break during Christmas, Easter, and the summer). Some churches have done a companion preaching series, which takes the entire church through the Bible in 32 weeks.

Yes! We recommend that your church sets up a registration page on your church website or on an event hosting site such as Eventbrite. Registering people ahead of time (whether you decide to charge a small registration fee or not) will help your church estimate how many people will be attending, but it also helps with catering, room set up, printing handouts, and bulk ordering of timelines (every attendee will need a timeline). We recommend setting up a registration page no later than six weeks before the event but posting it eight weeks prior to the seminar is ideal. Casket Empty will post your seminar on our website and if there is sufficient lead-time, we will include it in our newsletter.

We strongly recommend that you charge a small registration fee, although this is entirely your decision. Casket Empty does not receive any commission or compensation from registration fees, as all registration fees are paid directly to your church. Since every attendee will need a timeline (Old or New Testament, depending on the seminar), and a hard copy of the handouts (usually about 25-30 pages), a small registration fee (such as $20.00 or $25.00) will cover the cost and leave additional revenue for other expenses. Your church should expect to pay between approximately $7:00-$10.00 for a timeline (depending on quantity ordered), and you’ll need to add printing costs for the handouts (done at your church). A small registration fee will help reduce the “out of pocket” expenses for your church. For example, if your church has 100 people attending the seminar, a $25.00 registration fee will generate $2,500 income. The cost for 100 timelines and printing of handouts is approximately $1,000.00, giving your church $1,500 toward seminar expenses. If your church partners with one or two other local churches and can increase the number of attendees, this has the potential to cover the full cost of the seminar (larger churches with attendees of 200 or more have been able to cover the full cost of the seminar when charging a small registration fee).  

Yes! It is highly recommended that your church purchases Old or New Testament Timelines for every attendee at least three weeks ahead of time. During the conference, the speaker will ask attendees to take out their timeline, and it will be referenced throughout the seminar. Bulk discounts are available on the Casket Empty website for timelines, maps, and other Casket Empty products. It is helpful to let participants know what is included in the registration fee (such as, “An Old Testament Timeline and Handouts are included in your registration fee.”). We recommend also purchasing our Old or New Testament maps (the same cost as the timeline), but this is optional. If your church is launching a Casket Empty Bible Study, you may want to consider charging a higher registration fee for the seminar (such as $35.00-$40.00) and then include the Casket Empty Bible study “bundle” (includes a Bible Study, Timeline, and Maps) in the registration fee. Bulk orders are not returnable due to the discounted rates, so we encourage you to order only what you need based on registration numbers. 

Yes, depending on the availability of the speaker. Some churches decide to host a weekend Bible conference, especially if your church has a history of hosting weekend conferences. A weekend conference typically begins on Friday night (3 hours of teaching) and continues all day Saturday (usually 9:00am-4:00pm with lunch and coffee breaks). The weekend conference provides extended time for in-depth teaching, but our experience is that unless your church has a history of hosting weekend conferences, this format usually has lower attendance since it requires a significant time commitment that can be difficult for families. We’ve found that Saturday morning is the ideal time for our Bible seminars, and it will garner the highest attendance. If your church already has a schedule in mind, or if you would like to host a two-night event during the week, feel free to discuss options with the speaker.

Absolutely! Since Drs. Kaminski and Palmer have been teaching seminary students for decades, their students are pastoring churches all over the country, and they are well-equipped to teach this kind of seminar! Dr. Kaminski also offers an online course, and this is another way that pastors and ministry leaders can be equipped to teach the Old Testament using Casket Empty. But your pastor or ministry leader does not need to have taken one of our courses to host a Casket Empty seminar.  If your church decides to host a seminar to launch a Bible study, please let us know! Your church can make use of our free downloadable artwork, purchase the PowerPoint slide set, and buy Casket Empty resources for your church at bulk rates. The only thing we request is that you give credit to Casket Empty and our authors, and the best way to do this is to refer your congregants to our website (www.casketempty.com).

Casket Empty posts upcoming seminars on our website’s Events page. Once your church has set up the registration page, you’ll need to email us the information (casketempty@gmail.com) so that we can post it on our website (we encourage you to set up a registration page at least six weeks before your event). This is a great way to promote your church, and since our speakers have a limited capacity, we like to let the Casket Empty community know when a Casket Empty seminar is being offered in their area. Our experience is that if your church can partner with one or two other local churches, this helps to promote the seminar more widely in your local community, and it can help to share some of the costs. If there is sufficient lead time (at least eight weeks), we will include information about your seminar in our monthly newsletter.

Yes! The Casket Empty website has free downloadable artwork that can be used to promote your event. Feel free to use our downloadable artwork, and it can be adapted for use on your church website. Casket Empty also has promotional videos available that can be showed at your church ahead of time and posted on social media. If you would like us to send you  a video that you can post on your website, please email us at casketempty@gmail.com, and we will send you the link.

As you plan for your Casket Empty Bible seminar, feel free to use one of these descriptions:

In this seminar you will learn the storyline of the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi through the memorable acronym CASKET EMPTY. This seminar will help you see that the Bible is one redemptive story with Jesus at the center.  

Or:

In this seminar you will learn the storyline of the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation through the memorable acronym CASKET EMPTY. This seminar will help you see that the Bible is one redemptive story with Jesus at the center.  

You’ll also find pictures of Drs. Kaminski and Palmer that can be downloaded from our website, along with a short bio for each speaker.

Casket Empty does not have a “set fee” for a seminar, as churches pay the speaker directly, but we do provide a list of “suggested honorariums,” which takes into consideration the number of teaching hours, the time spent at the church, and the time spent on travel. Bear in mind that our speakers have spent over decade each studying the Bible in its original languages, and they bring their expertise and decades of teaching experience when they teach at your church. Some organizations and speakers will require high honorariums ($4,000-$5,000 for a full day), but this makes it unaffordable for small or medium sized church. In one study, it is estimated that 7 in 10 US congregations have 100 or less weekly church attendees, and the average US congregation has 70 people gather each week with an annual budget of $100,000. Our goal is to make the Casket Empty Bible seminars available and affordable for all churches. This is possible because of our reasonable honorarium structure, and because of our “registration fee model” that has proven to be an effective way for churches to offset the cost of the seminar. More specific information about honorariums will be sent to you directly after you fill out the Speaker Request Form, but in general, if your church charges a small registration fee, this will significantly reduce “out of pocket” expenses, making the seminar affordable. Partnering with other local churches is another way to reduce the cost and increase the number of attendees, but once you have filled out the Speaker Request Form, you’ll have a better sense of the cost. Since every church is different, we recommend confirming the honorarium directly with the speaker ahead of time, along with flight arrangements. Since your church will be paying the speaker directly, you will need to request W-9 information from the speaker prior to the event. Flight reimbursements are paid directly to the speaker (unless you book the flight) and are usually processed prior to the event. It is best to confirm the honorarium and travel costs/accommodation with the speaker ahead of time and budget accordingly.

We do not have a minimum number of attendees, but we anticipate that most churches hosting a Bible seminar will have 100 or more attendees; larger churches will have between 200-400 attendees. If your church is a smaller congregation, one of the ways to increase the number of attendees is to partner with two or three other local churches. We highly recommend this, as it will help with expenses by sharing costs and by increasing the revenue received through registration fees. If Casket Empty has a church contact in your area, we will provide this information to you so that you can promote the event more widely. Another way to offset the cost is to see if several church members are willing to co-sponsor the event.  

Every attendee will need a copy of either the Old Testament or New Testament timeline (depending on the topic of the seminar), which your church will need to purchase ahead of time (at least three weeks prior to the event). Discounts are available for bulk orders. The speaker will also be using PowerPoints for the presentation. The speaker will email you the PowerPoint handouts several weeks ahead of time, but it is best to request them from the speaker ahead of time. We recommend that the handouts be printed and made available to those attending the conference. Due to copyright issues, they are not to be posted on the internet or emailed to attendees, but you are free to copy them for every attendee. These handouts will be useful for notes and for future reference. Some churches have them in a spiral bound booklet with their church information on the front page. Casket Empty bookmarks (Bible readings guide) are also available for bulk purchase, and we recommend that one bookmark be given to each attendee.

Yes! Once you have a sense of how many people will be attending your conference, we recommend that you purchase a bulk order of the timelines at least three weeks prior to your event. Casket Empty offers discounts for bulk orders (up to 35% discount) on our website, depending on the quantity ordered. Since bulk orders are heavily discounted, we do not offer a refund, so please ensure that you do not order more than needed. In addition to the timeline, your church may decide to order a small quantity of Casket Empty Bible Studies and Study Guides to sell at the conference, which your church can be purchase ahead of time at discounted rates for bulk orders (people would pay your church directly for these products). Bible studies and study guides need to be ordered at least four weeks prior to the event. Casket Empty can also provide your church with a coupon code that gives participants a conference discount. You will need to request this coupon ahead of time. This means that if you have more attendees than expected (and you run out of timelines), attendees will be able to receive a conference discount when they buy the products on the Casket Empty website.

Depending on your church facility and the room used, speakers usually like to have the large Casket Empty Banner on display (Old Testament or New Testament, depending on the seminar), either behind the podium or somewhere to the side of the speaker. This 15 ft banner is an effective teaching tool for Casket Empty Seminars, as it is identical to the smaller timeline which attendees will have. If your church is hosting a Casket Empty Seminar and doing the Bible Study, we recommend that you purchase the large banner. You’ll use it throughout the year and it’s a great way to promote the Bible seminar leading up to the event. A coupon code is available upon request, but if you prefer to borrow a banner from Casket Empty for the seminar, you will need to contact Casket Empty (casketempty@gmail.com) four weeks prior to your event,  and we will arrange for the banner to be sent to your church. Your church will then be responsible for returning the banner to Casket Empty the week after the seminar, and cover shipping costs. The 15ft banner has a series of grommets that can be attached to a wall or stands. If your church is within driving distance of the speaker, the speaker may bring the banner and easels, or you will be asked to pick them up ahead of time so they can be set up for the seminar, but this needs to be arranged several weeks ahead of time. The speaker will also be using PowerPoints. Please discuss with the speaker ahead of time if you prefer to have the PowerPoint files on a church computer for the event or if the speaker should bring his or her laptop.

We highly recommend this! Casket Empty has two Bible studies that take people through the entire Bible in 32 weeks. The Old Testament Bible Study is 18 weeks, and the New Testament Bible Study is 14 weeks.  Some churches use the Casket Empty Seminar to launch a Casket Empty Bible study. This is a great way to build momentum at your church, since people will be excited about studying the Bible after they have been to the seminar. Information about the Casket Empty Bible studies is available on the Casket Empty website, and there are videos about how to lead a Bible study in your church (by Pastor John Moser). We also have companion Bible Study videos on our website. There are 18 short videos on the Old Testament (by Carol Kaminski) and 14 short videos on the New Testament that can be viewed on our website and on YouTube (Youtube.com/@CasketEmptyBible).

Step 1:

The first thing to do is fill out a Speaker Request Form. Once the speaker has confirmed the date, the next thing to do is discuss flights and accommodation. We recommend having one contact person who will be overseeing the event. This makes it much easier with logistics closer to the event. Sometimes a church books the flight, but it is usually easier for the speaker to book the flight once times/dates are confirmed (please discuss options with the speaker). Your church will then reimburse the speaker after the receipt has been sent to you.

Step 2: The next thing to do is set up a registration page on your church website or on an event hosting site, such as Eventbrite, and decide if you will charge a registration fee or not. After this has been set up, your key contact person needs to email Casket Empty (casketempty@gmail.com) to let us know this is live, and we will post your event on our website and include it in our monthly newsletter (this should be done at least six weeks prior to the event, but it is best to complete this eight weeks prior to the event).

Step 3: Four weeks prior to the event, your contact person should request the handouts from the speaker, so they are ready to print. At this time, you will also want to order any Bible studies or Study Guides you will be needing for your event (this is optional, as not all churches order books) from the Casket Empty website. At this time, you’ll also want to either buy a large banner (please request a coupon code), or email Casket Empty about sending a banner for your event (casketempty@gmail.com).

Step 4: Three weeks prior to your event, you will need to place a bulk order of timelines for your event. You should plan on every attendee having a timeline, but since bulk orders are not returnable, please plan accordingly.

Step 5: Two weeks prior to your event, please contact the speaker, confirming any last-minute details such as lodging, person who will be picking up the speaker from the airport, tech needs or questions, and any other final items. You are now ready to host your Casket Empty Bible seminar!

If unforeseeable circumstances occur that require postponing or canceling a seminar due to inclement weather or a family emergency, it is helpful for a church to know Casket Empty’s cancelation policy. If inclement weather causes flight delays or flight cancellations that prohibit the speaker from arriving at the seminar on time, Casket Empty will share the cost of the flight with the host church up to $300.00, and we recommend that the church reschedule the seminar for the next earliest date. If the speaker needs to cancel the seminar due to a major family emergency (such as the passing of a loved one, or a major health emergency), Casket Empty will reimburse the cost of the flight up to $500.00, and bulk order timelines can be returned in sellable condition for a full refund.

Drs. Kaminski and Palmer regularly teach online courses at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and they have taught online courses at other institutions. Each January they teach in-person Old and New Testament courses to YoungLife staff as part of their staff training program. The speakers have limited capacity (especially Dr. Palmer, who serves as senior pastor), but if your organization or institution is interested in discussing course options, please fill out the Speaker Request Form.

Yes! Mission organizations and missionaries use Casket Empty throughout the world, and our material has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Thai, and some of our resources have been translated into Spanish. Our speakers have taught Casket Empty outside the US, in countries such as Australia, Argentina, Lebanon, Taiwan, and Thailand. If your mission organization or institution is interested in hosting a Casket Empty seminar or a weeklong course, please fill in the Speaker Request Form. Flights and accommodation are covered by the host organization, and there is usually an honorarium paid directly to the speaker, but this is negotiable, depending on the mission and circumstances. Casket Empty is committed to sharing our Bible resources globally, and we have supported mission organizations over the years by providing Casket Empty resources and by contributing to translation projects.