Prophetic Preaching and Praxis

Dr. Robert Walker and Dr. Kenneth Cummings

This Doctor of Ministry Group is designed to enable clergy and faith-based leaders to enhance their ministry effectiveness by becoming more intentional in linking proclamation and praxis. The Prophetic Preaching and Praxis peer will focus on all aspects of preaching with a particular emphasis on addressing the relationship between hermeneutics and Practical Theology. The peer group will function with the understanding that “Praxis” is central to the proclamation and its manifestation of God’s justice in the local church context and the community at large. It is a metaphor for the church’s engagement in the world beyond its walls, the civic society where decisions affecting our common lives are made through government, culture, business, entertainment, etc.

The students will develop projects that demonstrate congruency between proclamation and action/practice in their contexts. The projects will also be informed by prophetic preachers and models from the past and contemporaries (i.e. Harry Hoosier, Samuel DeWitt Proctor, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gardner Taylor, Leonard Sweet).

The peer group will share a common bibliography, engage the principles of hermeneutical interpretation, systemic and institutional analysis and covenant with one another for mutual learning and support. Each student will identify a particular point of convergence where he/she will engage research and project development.