DALLAS (SMU) – Dr. Frank A. Thomas, an internationally renowned author, scholar and preacher, will be the keynote speaker on Monday, Oct. 22 at the second annual ArkLaTex (Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas) Lectures in Preaching. Co-sponsored by the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at Southern Methodist University and Williams Memorial United Methodist Church in Texarkana, Texas, the event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Williams Memorial UMC (4000 Moores Lane, Texarkana, TX 75503).
The conference will focus on practical guidance for preachers seeking ways to deliver God’s message more powerfully, more thoughtfully, and more effectively.
Thomas is a professor of homiletics and director of the Ph.D. program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.
At ArkLaTex, he’ll discuss “How to Deliver a Dangerous Sermon,” a title taken from his latest book. In it, he defines a “dangerous sermon” as one that transcends flawed, idolatrous human ideas and instead strives to inspire the “moral imagination.” He draws on the works and words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, the theologian and civil rights organizer Prathia Hall, and others, including modern-day musicians and artists.
Other sessions will feature distinguished faculty members from the Perkins School of Theology. Alyce M. McKenzie, director of the Center for Preaching Excellence and the La Van Professor of Preaching and Worship at Perkins, will lead a workshop titled, “Holy Boldness! The Four Virtues of the Prophetic Preacher.” O. Wesley Allen Jr., Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics, will lead one titled, “Sermon Series vs. the Lectionary — A False Dichotomy.”
For more information about the 2018 ArkLaTex Lectures, call the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at 214-768-2124, email Sabina Hulem at shulem@smu.edu, or visit http://blog.smu.edu/pcpe/event/arklatex-lectures-october-22-2018/. Online registration is also available through that website. The cost is $75.
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Perkins School of Theology, founded in 1911, is one of five official University-related schools of theology of The United Methodist Church. Degree programs include the Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Ministry, Master of Theology, Doctor of Ministry, and Doctor of Pastoral Music as well as the Ph.D., in cooperation with The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.