Kelly Miller Smith Institute on Black Church Studies
Vanderbilt Divinity School

and the

 African American Pulpit Journal

Presents the

African American Lectionary Project Homiletics Symposium:
Strengthening the Black Family: An Agenda for Sound Homiletics in Black Preaching
October 15 – October 17, 2008

African American Lectionary Homiletics Symposium Rationale

This symposium on “Strengthening the Black Family: An Agenda for Sound Homiletics in Black Preaching” is a collaborative project between the African American Pulpit Journal and Vanderbilt’s Kelly Miller Smith Institute on the Black Church. This project is supported by a three-year grant from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment, Inc. for the development of a non-denominational, culturally and theologically relevant online lectionary designed to resource black protestant churches in areas of homiletics, liturgics, sacred music, theological knowledge and enhance biblical exegetical skills for social crisis preaching. The first online lectionary for the African American pulpit was launched January 1, 2008. Since its website appearance, the response to the African American lectionary has increasingly gained national and global interest.        

This symposium is the first of several that brings together homiletic scholars and church leaders to create a network for interactive engagement and dialogue between homiletics scholars in the academy with black pastors to inspire a prophetic discourse in black preaching.

One of the most difficult issues facing black preaching is the social breakdown of traditional African American families. Thus the goal of this symposium is:  

• To initiate theological dialogue on the role of prophetic homiletics in addressing social crisis impacting African American families.
• To assist pastors in their role as preacher/pastor/theologian and social justice advocate for empowering African American families.
• To lay the ground work for the planning of a larger national forum on the same symposium theme, “Strengthening the Black Family” An Agenda for Sound Homiletics in Black Preaching.

Symposium Schedule

Wednesday, October 15
Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church

7:30 pm             Worship Celebration: Divine Love and Justice for Black Families
Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry-Brown, Homiletics Professor and Director of Black Church Studies, Candler School of Theology, Emory University

Thursday, October 16
Vanderbilt Divinity School
Divinity Reading Room


9:30 am                       Opening Statements
Forrest E. Harris Sr., Director of the Kelly Miller Smith Institute
Martha Simmons, African American Lectionary Online Lectionary

9:30 – 10:30 am           Plenary Session
Ethical Methods in Homiletics
Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Professor of Christian Ethics, Vanderbilt Divinity School

11:00 – 12:00 noon      Plenary Session  
Historical Perspective of Social Crisis Preaching
Juan Floyd- Thomas, Professor of Church History,
Vanderbilt Divinity School

12:30– 1:45 pm            Luncheon
Luncheon Speaker
Brad Braxton, Senior Minister, Riverside Church,
New York, NY

 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm      Break Out Discussion Groups

Homiletics for Spirituality in African American Families
Tellis Chapman, Galilee Baptist Church, Detroit, MI

Homiletics for Sound Economics in African American Families
Delman Coates, Mt. Ennon Baptist Church, Clinton, MD

Homiletics for Sound Health and Sexuality in African American Families
Dennis and Christine Wiley, Covenant Baptist Church,
Washington, DC

Friday, October 17
Vanderbilt Divinity School
All Faith Chapel

9:30 am                        Laying the Ground for a National Forum on “Strengthening the Black Family: An Agenda for Homiletics in Black Preaching
Forrest E. Harris Sr., Director of the Kelly Miller Smith Institute

Conference Locations

Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church                                   Vanderbilt Divinity School
1203 Ninth Avenue North                                            411 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37208                                                    Nashville, TN 37240

For More Information Contact:
(615) 936-8453
Kelly Miller Smith Institute

The Conference is free and open to the public.