Exodus Preaching

Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert continues to “raise the bar” for homileticians, pastors and those who take seriously the awesome, frightening, crucial and critical task of speaking a prophetic word from God to the people of God. Gilbert combines his academic skill, his theological and exegetical expertise with the compassionate heart of a pastor whose soul dwells in the presence of God; and with that combination, produces a text which will bless those who preach weekly from a pulpit and those who preach daily with their lives. Exodus Preaching is an easy read and a must read for those who serve the church. Gilbert’s style of writing in this volume gives one the sense of reading a “how-to” textbook in the field of Practical Theology; and in the language of social media, he has not only raised the bar; he is the bar!

Jeremiah Wright, Jr., Senior Pastor Emeritus, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, IL

Kenyatta Gilbert offers a probe of biblical texts that brings freshness, urgency, and specificity to his exposition. His freshness is in his free-ranging perspective that keeps one eye on an interface with hip-hop. His urgency is that he lets the text have contact with the deep issues of injustice we now face. His specificity is evident in his engagement with the important witnesses concerning racism that now requires our full bodily investment for the sake of Exodus emancipation from the heavy contemporary hand of Pharaoh. Kenyatta’s approach will be empowering and enlivening for many interpreter, preachers, and readers as it is for this reader.

Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert invites any preacher seeking to have integrity to the “justice witness” of scripture, to meet him in the most rewarding and challenging boot camp for thinking “all things sermon”, particularly; when faithfulness to the prophetic tradition is the pursuit. If spirituality is a lifetime of conversions, I have been AGAIN converted!!

William H. Curtis, Senior Pastor, Mt. Ararat Baptist Church

I am completely and utterly impressed with the scholarship of Kenyatta Gilbert. This present work, Exodus Preaching, meets and exceeds the high bar established by his previous books. He is the preeminent homiletical mind and voice of a generation that must be read and heard by anyone that values and regards high quality preaching.

Frank A. Thomas, Director of PhD Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana

Kenyatta Gilbert deftly infuses new life into the African American prophetic preaching tradition in Exodus Preaching. The detailed sermon preparation to sermon proclamation “crafting strategies” are essential to the teaching and practice of transformative preaching. Gilbert’s careful analysis of varied sermonic content and contexts exemplified by “a new generation of African American preachers” provides both generational preaching connective tissue and possibilities for construction of new and more viable forms of justice and hope filled proclamation. Exodus Preaching is an essential resource for anyone seeking to faithfully raise a prophetic voice in times like these.

Teresa L. Fry Brown, Bandy Professor of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA