Mixed Methods Preaching Conference

MAY 2 – 5, 2022

We are proud and excited to present this second conference in a virtual format as a recipient of the Transformative Grant from the Gilead COMPASS Faith Coordinating Center at Wake Forest School of Divinity. This Transformative Grant Initiative highlights the intersection of HIV-AIDS and communities of color, striving to “educate congregations in order to dispel the stigma and support communities of color who are touched by the aids epidemic.”
REGISTER

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANT MATERIALS

Please watch this space as we post materials to download and read prior to attending the conference. We look forward to seeing you soon.

MIXED METHODS PREACHING CONFERENCE GROUP NORMS & AGREEMENTS

1. Confidentiality is important. 

  • Honor intellectual property, including dissertation/book ideas. Site your sources.
  • Use care with how we post on social media. Please feel free to post an idea, inspiration or gratitude, but ask permission before posting personal pictures.
  • Please do not record or disseminate Mixed Methods Preaching Conference content. All sessions, excluding the preaching labs, will be available for playback for 30 days post-event.

2. Commitment to Shared Success is important. 

  • We want to see everyone win!
  • Inclusion! We want to create an inviting space for everyone to have a voice.

3. Distributive Leadership is important. 

  • Humility.
  • We are all on an equal level here.
  • Let’s not participate in celebrity culture. (Breaks are for personal renewal.)

4. We will CARE for each other, mindful of how people prefer to be cared for/supported.

5. We will address CONFLICT compassionately and search for deeper truth.

6.  Accountability. We will be accountable for time, each other and start and stop times.

7. We agree that Scripture, Christian tradition, and collaboration with stories of the African Diaspora are foundational to this Ph.D. Program and our working together. 

8. We are committed to using inclusive language, not legalistically, but rather as language representative of the whole human community in respect to gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, and physical and intellectual capacities.

9. We offer each other culture of generosity. 

Conference leaders, presenters, faculty, staff, contractors, and volunteers will seek to exceed the expectations of Conference participants, and Conference participants will seek to exceed the expectations of the Conference leaders, presenters, faculty, staff, contractors, and volunteers.

10. We operate in grace. 

In this virtual experience, we know that there will be opportunities for grace, growth, and elevated implementation of visionary ideas. We invite everyone to extend the benefit of the doubt and operate in the grace we each need in our daily lives.

If you have an experience that is inconsistent with your expectations, please tell a person with the capacity to respond to your concern. Social media and technology are tremendous. Humans are the best resource to be genuinely heard.  

Resources and Tools

Preaching As Celebration

Dr. Frank A. Thomas, Preaching As Celebration
Dr. Frank A. Thomas, Lecture on Preaching as Celebration
Preaching As Celebration Digital Lecture Series and Workbook

American Dream 2.0, A Christian Way Out of the Great Recession
Abingdon Press 2012 (attend to pages 51-69)

How to Preach a Dangerous Sermon
Abingdon Press 2018

Introduction to the Practice of African American Preaching
Abingdon Press 2016

They Like to Never Quit Praisin’ God: The Role of Celebration in Preaching
Chalice Press 1997

Hybrid Open House

The CTS Ph.D. Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric is hosting an open house and information session on March 22, 2022, for prospective students who want to learn more in anticipation of applications open to joining its third cohort. Hear from program directors Prof. Frank A. Thomas and Prof Courtney Buggs, students, and admissions officers about the structure and details of the degree program. Learn more.

 

 

Christian Theological Seminary is a fully accredited ecumenical graduate school located in Indianapolis, Indiana related to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Learn more.

 

 

As the world’s first Ph.D. Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric, we are on a mission to establish African American preaching as an academic discipline in its own right. Through our program, we develop preachers, and teachers of preachers, who stimulate and provoke a renaissance by preaching their very best and causing others to do the same. The program emphasizes cohort-centered learning, where students progress through the academic program together, creating a deeper and more fulfilling educational experience. Learn more.

FAQ: THE VIRTUAL PLATFORM AND YOUR CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE

We’ve gathered some FAQ to ensure you have the best experience possible during the conference. What better way to help you grow comfortable with the platform than to let you navigate the questions, answers and demonstrations on the platform itself.

Explore how to navigate the Bizzabo platform (including logging in!), how to network with other attendees before, during and after the event, and how to get technical support and troubleshoot challenges.   

Let’s Go!

The Mixed Methods Preaching Conference will help preachers discover true joy, passion, enthusiasm, and fun through concrete instruction in homiletical method. You’ll learn how to establish practical and achievable goals for preaching, and correct any perceived deficiencies in preaching training. You’ll gain enhanced preaching fundamentals such a centrality of the Biblical text, sermon structure, delivery of the sermon, and the ever important close of the sermon.