Black Church Leadership and Preaching

Program Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Black Church Leadership and Preaching studies a tradition that sustained a people through slavery, segregation, and continuing struggle, and that has given the wider church some of its finest preaching, music, and pastoral wisdom. The Black church is not a variation on a standard model. It developed its own homiletic, its own hermeneutic of liberation and hope, its own institutional forms, and its own theology of suffering and deliverance, and it did so largely without the resources the mainstream took for granted. Students study the tradition's history — the invisible institution under slavery, the independent denominations, the Great Migration, the church in the civil rights movement, and the contemporary megachurch and neighbourhood congregation alike. Homiletics is central: the call-and-response dynamic, the sermon as event, tonal and musical elements, biblical imagination, and the relationship between celebration and lament. Theological study engages Black theology and womanist theology, the spirituals and gospel music as theological texts, the theology of suffering and hope, and the ongoing conversation about respectability, prosperity teaching, gender and leadership, and political engagement. Leadership study addresses the pastorate as a public office, congregational economics, community development, and the formation of the next generation of leaders. The dissertation contributes original research on the tradition's preaching, history, theology, or leadership practice. Graduates teach homiletics and Black church studies, pastor and lead denominations, direct community development work, and train preachers.

Core Courses

• BCH 801 — History of the Black Church (6 credits)
• BCH 812 — Black Preaching: Theory and Practice (6 credits)
• BCH 824 — Black and Womanist Theology (6 credits)
• BCH 836 — Spirituals, Gospel, and Worship (6 credits)
• BCH 848 — Leadership, Community, and Public Witness (5 credits)
• BCH 860 — Research Design in Black Church Studies (4 credits)
• BCH 899 — Doctoral Dissertation in Black Church Studies (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree in theology, ministry, ethics, or a closely related field
• Ministry, advocacy, or teaching experience in the area of specialization
• Statement of purpose naming the community, question, or practice your research serves
• Academic writing sample or substantial ministry portfolio
• Current curriculum vitae or ministry profile
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available