Old Testament scholar Dr. Walter Brueggemann drew parallels between the book of Jeremiah and today’s world during a podcast that was incorporated into the 2021 Festival of Homiletics on Thursday.
The Most. Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, told about 1,700 people who tuned in for opening worship Monday at the Festival of Homiletics something of what he learned during a sabbatical spent learning to play the violin and studying both supporters and opponents of enslaving African Americans during the 19th century — especially from Frederick Douglass, who was himself formerly enslaved.
Like great Black preachers from previous generations, including Dr. James Cone and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., modern-day prophetic preachers have two main jobs, Dr. Anthea Butler said Monday during the first day of the Festival of Homiletics: bringing solace to people in the pews in times of trouble and speaking truth to power.
Even though they were recorded months ago, the preaching that was part of the recent Festival of Homiletics touched on topics at the heart of recent days of protests, injustice and anguish.
In what can be the steep learning curve of creating meaningful online worship services, what pastor or worship leader would look askance at tips on making sermon preparation and preaching less stressful?
The Rev. Dr. Neichelle Guidry’s alma mater is Clark Atlanta University, where the motto — attributed to the ancient general Hannibal, who was once asked about the wisdom of crossing a mountain pass on elephants — is, “I shall find a way or make one.”
Author, entrepreneur, election reform advocate and candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams can now add another title to her impressive résumé: Festival of Homiletics lecturer.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exploited wounds we never healed.
Once who knows that truth all too well is the Rev. Dr. William Barber II, president of the group Repairers of the Breach, co-chair (with Presbyterian pastor the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis) of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in North Carolina, where he preached a sermon as part of the Festival of Homiletics.
When a pandemic hits a preacher, “every passage of Scripture sounds different now,” the Rev. Dr. Anna Carter Florence said. “It’s like you never read them before.”
