Preaching During a Pandemic

Andre E. Johnson is Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Media Studies in the Department of Communication and Film at the University of Memphis. He teaches classes in African American public address; rhetoric, race, and religion; media studies; interracial communication; homiletics; and hip hop studies. He is the author of No Future in This Country: The Prophetic Pessimism of Bishop Henry McNeal Turner (2020). Dr. Johnson is also Senior Pastor of Gifts of Life Ministries in Memphis, Tennessee.Kimberly P. Johnson is Associate Professor in the Communication Studies concentration area at Tennessee State University. She brings to the Department of Communication her areas of specialization: political, religious, and African American rhetoric; rhetorical criticism; cultural criticism; and womanism. Dr. Johnson has presented her research at professional communication associations such as the National Communication Association, Rhetoric Society of America, Southern States Communication Association, and the Tennessee Communication Association. She is the author of The Womanist Preacher: Proclaiming Womanist Rhetoric from the Pulpit (2017).Wallis C. Baxter III is the pastor of Second Baptist Church SW in District Heights, Maryland. He is a 2009 graduate of Duke Divinity School with an M.Div. degree and a 2017 graduate of Howard University with a Ph.D. in African American literature. Dr. Baxter’s research interests include the shape of prophetic ministry from Reconstruction to today, 19th-century African American literature and liberation, ethics in Black and White America, and Black identity and gentrification within capitalistic America. He is the author of You Must Be Born Again: Phillis Wheatley as Prophetic Poet (2022).

• Acknowledgments – Introduction: The Black Pulpit Speaks – Nadine Burton: The Work of Christmas: Matthew 2:13–18 (NIV) – Darryl Warren Aaron: Making an Entrance: Matthew 21:1–12 (NIV) – Tikeisha Harris: Signs of the Times: Matthew 27:36–37 (NLT) – Daryl M. Washington: Trusting When Jesus Sleeps: Mark 4:35–41 (NRSV) – DiArron M.: The Bottom of the Mountain: Luke: 9:28–33 (NIV) – Tori C. Butler: I Can’t Breathe: Luke 23:44–46 (NIV) – Lisa Maxine Goods: Healing for the Soul: Luke 17:11–19 (NRSV) – Kimberly P. Johnson: Stay Woke!: Luke 21:8–9 (NIV) – Clarence E. Wright: Faith When the Worst Happens: John 11:17–22 (NIV) – Kyle Stevenson: The Hope in the Ascension: Acts 1:1–11 (NRSV) – Lauren Harris: Living with the Unknown: Acts 1:1–11 (NIV) – Luc El-Art Severe, J.D.: God’s Promises are "Yes" and "Amen": 2 Corinthians 1:3–6, 20 (NIV) – E. Trey Clark: Crisis Contemplation: Philippians 2:1–13 (NRSV) – Nicole Barnes: Guess Who?: Revelations 5:1–5 (NRSV) – Ayo M. Morton: I AM – Contributors.

Directly in line with the long tradition of African American preaching that brings hope, justice, and healing, these volumes curate sermons that are theologically rich and rhetorically creative, offering insights into contemporary and relevant preaching around social justice, COVID-19, and health disparities in America. An absolute must-read!!!!—Frank A. Thomas, Director of the Ph.D. Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric, Christian Theological Seminary This intergenerational, interdenominational compilation shows forth the multi¬vocality of Black preaching, the vastness of our theological imagination, and the richness of our rhetorical genius. Ultimately, this compilation draws our attention to the greatest powers of Black preaching in times of upheaval: to help God’s people make meaning of our lived experiences, to return to the transgenerational theological truths that have held our people together, and to give voice to the new things that God is saying and doing in our lifetimes. —Neichelle Guidry, Dean of Sisters Chapel, Spelman College Our most elegant preachers and theological thinkers remind us that the Divine exists in community. Likewise, they also remind us that preachers do not pro¬claim the gospel in isolation. What the pandemic(s) of 2020 reminded us of is that we are surrounded by a great cloud of contemporary witnesses whose gifts, struggles, and hermeneutical acumen can strengthen our own. Those who preach and love preaching are presented as colleagues and able craftspersons of sacred rhetoric in this well-curated volume. Preachers, the pandemics are not over. We cannot survive them homiletically by ourselves. Read these sermons. —William H. Lamar IV, Pastor, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, DC The last few years of COVID-19, Black Lives Matter protests, and political upheaval has left Black folx betwixt and between multiple crises in the village, all streaming live for the consumption of a global audience. Yet, beyond a rhetorical geography rifled with strange fruit, this timely text captures the prophetic prow¬ess and anointed adroitness of Black preachers who take up their pulpits to meet their communities where they are—and still find a way to lead them toward hope everlasting. —Dianna Watkins Dickerson, Chaplain, United States Air Force and President of the African American Communication and Culture Division of the National Communication Association