While numerous surveys and studies suggest that Christianity is declining in the United States, Christian Theological Seminary has launched a novel Ph.D. program focused on a tradition that some hope will reverse the trend – African-American preaching.
The mission of the African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric program – the Indianapolis school’s first Ph.D. degree – is to establish African-American preaching as an academic discipline and to explore, develop and expose such preaching as an indigenous and unique art in hopes of sparking a preaching renaissance that will revive American Christianity.
CTS welcomed the program’s first student cohort in 2017, six men and four women from varied religious backgrounds. Interest in the program has grown so much that the second cohort will begin this August instead of next year, said Dr. Frank A. Thomas, who conceived the program and is the Nettie Sweeney and Hugh Th. Miller Professor of Homiletics and director of the seminary’s Academy of Preaching and Celebration.
“We do African-American preaching, not just one brand such as social justice,” said Thomas. “Our program represents the diversity of preaching in the African-American community and is designed to produce practitioner-scholars. The best preachers lead with theology but have a great understanding of practices.”
The program was shaped by African-American cultural values, which have informed Black preaching since its inception during slavery, but it also incorporates sacred rhetoric from European American and other religious traditions across the country. It includes 14 courses in the first three years followed by one year for comprehensive exams and two years for dissertation completion.
The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and The Higher Learning Commission have granted the program accreditation. ATS executive director Dr. Frank Yamada described it as “intriguing” and noted that the seminary engaged Black churches and gained significant support in developing the program.
Although Ph.D. programs about the African-American church, Black church history or Black theology are not unusual, this program’s focus on African-American preaching makes it unique among ATS-accredited schools, said Yamada.
