Styberg Preaching Workshop: The Exquisite Challenge of the Every Sunday Preacher

For the seasoned and new preacher there is a unique challenge of preaching every Sunday. This workshop will explore how to best craft sermons without getting stuck in a bland routine. Finding new ways to create thoughtful and provoking sermons is a disciplined art. This workshop will invest in the every Sunday preacher to help her/him reach their potential as a weekly preacher and is led by Dr. J. Ellsworth Kalas

Dr. J. Ellsworth Kalas served as a pastor for 38 years in The United Methodist Church and five years as an associate with the World Methodist Council. He has been instrumental in the administration of the Beeson International Center for Biblical Preaching and Church Leadership at Asbury Theological Seminary where he currently serves as the Senior Professor of Homiletics.  Kalas has served on the Asbury Theological Seminary faculty since 2000. 

Schedule of Events

April 10
4:00 p.m.                      Keynote Lecture, Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful

April 11
11:15 a.m.                    Chapel Sermon, Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful
1:30 - 3:00 p.m.           Interactive Lecture, Room 205
3:00 - 3:30 p.m.           Break
3:30 - 5:00 p.m.           Interactive Lecture, Room 205

Registration and Accomodations

There is no cost for this two-day workshop but registration is required using the form below. Parking is available at $7 per day and may be purchased on the day of the event.

A select number of rooms are available at Loder Hall, on the campus of Garrett-Evangelical, for $75 a night. To inquire, contact Diana Ahn in the Housing Office at 847.866.3950.  For a list of hotels in the Northwestern University/Evanston area click here.

A 0.5 CEU credit is available for people who attend all of the sessions of this workshop. The cost for the CEU certificate is $25.00 and can be purchased at the end of the workshop.

Styberg Workshop

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Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events

Dr. Neil Messer

Stead Center for Ethics and Values Presents:

Dr. Neil Messer, University of Winchester

Guest Lecture: "Respecting Life"

The Stead Center is pleased to host a guest lecture from Dr. Neil Messer, Professor of Theology at the University of Winchester in Winchester, UK.  

Wednesday, November 30

• 4:00 PM - Public Lecture

Thursday, December 1

• 11:30 PM - Symposium, available to Garrett-Evangelical Ph.D. students.  To RSVP, please e mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Dr. Messer read Biochemistry at Bristol University, gained a PhD in Molecular Biology at Cambridge and studied Theology at Cambridge and King’s College London. I was ordained as a minister of the United Reformed Church in 1993, and worked in pastoral ministry and clergy training before moving to an academic post at the University of Wales, Lampeter, in 2001. I came to Winchester in 2009 as Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, and became Professor of Theology in 2011.

Super Sunday XV

This event, co-sponsored by the Styberg Preaching Institute, will be a life-changing afternoon of equipping for effective ministry inspired by Jesus’ great commission to make Disciples. Get help for ministry places that matter with the help of world class leaders.

Click here for more information, including schedule, location, and speaker!

2013 Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, the Center for the Church and the Black Experience (CBE) and Garrett-Evangelical Black Seminarians (G-EBS) are sponsoring a variety of events and worship opportunities during the month of February. All events are open to the public and we welcome your participation. 

For further details on any of the following events or services contact Angela Cowser, CBE Director, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or by phone at 847.866.3984.

February 2013 - Black History Month

All Month
Photo Exhibit: Children and Youth of the Civil Rights Movement
Pembroke Room located on the first floor of the Main

February 5, 2013 - 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
CBE Worship Service with President Philip Amerson Preaching
Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful, Main Building

February 5, 2013 - 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
A Pastor's Reflection on the Freedom and Justice Struggles of the 1960s and 1970s with President Philip Amerson
President's Dining Room, Loder Hall

February 6, 2013 - 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
A Celebration of the Publication of Dr. Larry Murphy's New Book, Sojourner Truth: A Biography
This lecture is sponsored by CBE and will be take place in room 205 in the Main Builing

February 14, 2013 - 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
CBE Worship Service
Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful, Main Building
Featured Preacher: Rev. Telley Gadson of St. Marks United Methodist Church in Sumter, South Carolina

February 27, 2013 - 6:00 p.m.
CBE Worship Service
Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful, Main Building
Featured Preacher: Rev. Mark Dennis of the Second Baptist Church in Evanston, Illinois

Support CBE

For over 40 years the Center for the Church and the Black Experience (CBE) has  empowered and trained persons to be prophetic "leaders of leaders" for the African American religious community and society-at-large. Still, our work is only beginning. The need for CBE as a space of hospitality and of educational support, pastoral consultation, solace, and re-affirmation of the personhood of people of color remains. This can only happen because of the vast network of alums and friends who financially support CBE and its mission.  

Your help is needed. Currently Garrett-Evangelical is seeking $1 million to fully endow CBE. In addition, operational expenses (annual fund) for the center continue to increase. We encourage you to consider a gift to help financially secure CBE's future for years to come.  To make a gift today, go to www.garrett.edu/giving.  Checks are payable to Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and should be mailed to:

Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
ATTN: Development Office
2121 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60201.

Whether making your gift online or by check, please be sure to designate your gift for CBE.  

Did you know you can make a monthly gfit or set up a five-year pledge to support CBE?  For more information and to discuss the number of ways you can support CBE financially, please contact David Heetland, vice president for development, by email or 847.866.3970.

Welcome to CBE!

The Center for the Church and the Black Experience (CBE) is an academic initiative focusing on church life as experienced by Black people. From its inception in 1970, CBE has prepared graduates of Garrett-Evangelical to be "leaders among leaders!"

In 2010, we celebrated our 40th anniversary.  CBE’s past is a rich one—embodied by students, staff members, and faculty of Garrett-Evangelical, by pastors, parishioners, and community leaders in Evanston, metropolitan Chicago, and beyond, and by  supporters and partners from many places.  Each of these persons contributed to a history centered around teaching and learning, activism and service, research and publishing—and, at the end of the day, centered on transforming and being transformed.  Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary became a different place because of CBE.  Evanston became a richer place because of CBE.  And many students, staff, and faculty came to Garrett-Evangelical because of CBE.

CBE’s present builds on its past, but against a very different backdrop of political, sociological, and theological challenges than those faced forty, thirty, twenty, or even ten years ago.  Today, the dominant narrative as it relates to racial justice and equality is how far we’ve come—not how far we’ve yet to go.  So if the question previously was should we start something like CBE, the question now is should we keep it?   If the question previously was why do we need something like CBE, the question today is why do we still need something like CBE? 

Over this past three years, CBE has convened panels that have brought leading scholars and thought leaders to campus to talk about the unfinished business of civil rights, the growing distance between churches and the urban poor, the increasing perceptual differences across generational lines, and the inattentiveness of our churches to forces of globalization.  CBE has taken faculty and students to South Africa to look comparatively at challenges to the theological formation of public leaders, and CBE has brought to campus scholars from South Africa and from the UK to reflect on religion and race in the racialized West. CBE has joined hands with congregations in Evanston in promoting community service in response to social needs within Evanston and metropolitan Chicago, and it has convened dialogues between leaders of the Chicago police department and seminary professors across the Chicagoland area to discuss ways seminaries can assist in responding to Chicago’s youth violence crisis. CBE is embracing its present context with vigor, and through a critical lens.

CBE has offered a vantage point on the experiences of Black people and their relationship in a broader sense to what it means to be human and to be made in God’s image and for God’s purposes. But it has also offered an opportunity for building solidarities across racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic boundaries. CBE still offers this, and we invite your participation and partnership.  We invite you to enter into dialogue with us about the challenges and needs of our communities and to participate with us programmatically as together we attempt to respond to our present context.  And we invite you to partner with us financially as we attempt to build our capacity and extend our contributions.

Yours truly,

Angela Cowser
Director, Center for the Church and the Black Experience

CBE Alums

Since its founding in 1970, the Center for the Church and the Black Experience has empowered and trained persons to be prophetic "leaders of leaders" for the African American religious community and society-at-large. Today, CBE alumni continue to greatly impact the church, the academy, and the world.

CBE alums who have received Garrett-Evangelical's Distinguished Alum Award include:

• Ann E. Streaty Wimberly (G-E 1993)
• Julius Trimble (G-E 1983)
• Darrell Lamar Jackson (G-E 1981) 
• Beverly J. Shamana (G-E 1980)
• Jonathan Keaton (GTS 1971 and G-E 1979)
• James Cone (GTS 1963)
• Charles Wesley Jordan (GTS 1960)
• Edsel Ammons (GBI 1957)

As CBE looks to its future we look forward to strengthening our partnerships with the vast network of CBE alums.  We welcome your stories, reflections, and suggestions on ways we can work together. Please take a moment and update your contact information in the form below and use the comment box to share your latest updates and news. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Academics and Resources

Concentrations Tailored to African-American Seminarians

Garrett-Evangelical recognizes the distinctive history and culture of the African-American Church and offers students an opportunity to enhance their capacity to engage effectively in ministry within this context.  The Master of Divinity program offers ten concentrations including African-American Church Leadership and Urban Ministry.  The Doctor of Ministry offers a specialization in African-American Congregational Leadership.

Students in these concentrations will address issues such as how to approach biblical studies, theological reflection, church administration, and evangelism from an African-American perspective. The courses are taught by one of the largest cohorts of African-American faculty at a United Methodist seminary. The program compliments the faculty with a cadre of highly accomplished African-American alums of Garrett-Evangelical.

To learn more, go to www.garrett.edu/programs. 

About CBE

Founded in 1970, The Center for the Church and the Black Experience (CBE) is committed to empowering and training persons to be prophetic "leaders of leaders" for the African American religious community and society-at-large.

As part of its academic mission, CBE offers the seminary and the broader community opportunities for understanding Christian faith via interracial and cross-cultural perspectives.  It also seeks to facilitate greater understanding of religious leadership dynamics, organizational change, and public outreach and witness of black churches in relation to the broader religious and social context.  Black faculty members and other scholars operating through CBE provide research, mentoring, and training via classroom teaching, publishing, seminars, workshops, and consultation to churches, community agencies, and the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary community.

Courses taught by CBE faculty are open to all students and are designed to be fully integrated into the overall curriculum of the seminary. CBE recognizes a responsibility to highlight the richness of the African American religious experience while at the same time enabling students, and church leaders in general, to maximize their broader theological learning and equip themselves for effective professional leadership in increasingly multi-cultural ministry contexts.

Further, given the seminary's commitment to recruit students of African descent, there is need for CBE as a space of hospitality and of educational support, pastoral consultation, solace, and re-affirmation of the personhood of people of color.

• About the Director
• CBE Faculty
• CBE Board of Visitors
• Past CBE Directors

About the Director

 

Angela Cowser
Director of the Center for the Church and the Black Experience 
and Assistant Professor of Sociology

Beginning October 2012, Angela Cowser was appointed assistant professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Church and the Black Experience (CBE). Dr. Cowser will concentrate on building a strong financial and programmatic foundation for CBE. An experienced fundraiser, Cowser has previously worked with The Industrial Areas Foundation, a national community organizing network; The Fund for Theological Education; and Lilly Endowment, and will aim to leverage these strengths on CBE’s behalf. Partnering with the CBE faculty at Garrett-Evangelical, Cowser will continue to explore relevant issues for the Black church and our communities. “My aim in directing CBE will be to find joyful and creative ways of working toward justice. CBE is a great vehicle to show faithfulness to Jesus. Whether it is fundraising, teaching, or building programs, it is all about expressing faithfulness to Jesus by working toward justice.” 

“I am extremely excited to welcome Angela to Garrett- Evangelical,” stated President Philip Amerson. “Her vision for CBE is inspiring, and we all are anxious to see her successes in the coming years. Her remarkable gifts as director will be a great compliment to her instruction in the classroom.” Having recently completed her dissertation at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Cowser will also serve as assistant professor of sociology. “Teaching at Garrett-Evangelical and directing CBE is a great vocational opportunity for me,” said Cowser. “I am excited to join such a distinguished faculty and look forward to working with them.”

Dr. Cowser received her bachelor of arts in political science in 1982, a master of arts in international relations from The University of Chicago in 1988, and a master of divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2006. She completed her doctor of philosophy in ethics and society in May of 2012 from the graduate department of religion at Vanderbilt University. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships, honors and awards including most recently, the William J. Fulbright Foreign Scholarship in 2009 and The Fund for Theological Education Doctoral Fellowship in 2006 through 2008. 

CBE Faculty

 

		Cheryl Anderson Associate Professor of Old Testament This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
		Reginald Blount Associate Professor of Formation, Youth, and Culture This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
		Gennifer Brooks Ernest and Bernice Styberg Associate Professor of Homiletics This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
		Angela Cowser Assistant Professor of Sociology This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
		Larry Murphy Professor of the History of Christianity This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
		Stephen G. Ray Neal F. and Ila A. Fisher Professor of Systematic Theology This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CBE Board of Visitors

Paula Banks is an experienced Change Agent and Human Resource professional with documented successes in organizational, communication and problem solving.  She has led numerous strategic operating, merchandising, diversity and inclusion planning initiatives, and has held numerous senior leadership positions at industry-leading corporations, Sears, Amoco, BP, and PepsiCo.  Her experience is complimented by more than thirty years of non-profit volunteer work and fundraising.

Beverly Calender-Anderson has over 20 years experience in not-for-profit fund development, public relations and volunteer management.  She currently serves as Safe and Civil City Director for the City of Bloomington, Indiana.  A lay member in the Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church, Beverly serves on the Indiana Conference Transition Committee. Beverly holds a B.A. in Human Relations (sociology, psychology and anthropology) from Judson University, Elgin, IL and an M.A. in Criminal Justice from DePaul University.

Mark Andrew Dennis, Jr. is the Senior Pastor of the historic Second Baptist Church of Evanston. Previously he served as: President, The Alford Group (a national consulting firm to the not-for-profit sector); Interim Director, University Development, Howard University; Assistant Professor, Pastoral Theology and Associate Dean for Development/Institutional Advancement, Howard University School of Divinity; Associate Pastor, Third Street Church of God; and Instructor, Music Theory and Composition, Bowling Green State University.  He is a graduate of several institutions of higher education:  (B.A., Morehouse College '71; M.A., Bowling Green State University, '73; M.Div., Howard University School of Divinity '80; and (A.B.D.), University of Maryland.

Nazim B. Fakir is the Senior Pastor at Celia Gregg African Methodist Episcopal Church in Calumet City, IL.  Originally from Detroit, he graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy summa cum laude with a B.S. in Business Administration and earned an M.Div. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.  At Garrett-Evangelical, he served as a member of the Student Council, a student member of the Board of Trustees, and as Student Coordinator of the Center for the Church and the Black Experience.  He previously served as Vice President of Marketing and Community Relations with a Mortgage firm in Detroit he founded with three colleagues.

Trunell D. Felder is the Senior Pastor of New Faith Baptist Church International in Matteson, Illinois, a thriving worship center with over 6,300 members, and eight churches and two Christian schools in Ghana, West Africa. He earned a B.A. in Marketing from Michigan State University and an M.Div. from Candler School of Theology at Emory University with a concentration in Pastoral Care in May of 1993.  In 2000, he graduated summa cum laude from the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, Georgia with a D.Min.  His thesis was entitled, "An Inward - Outward Journey: A Paradigm for the Spiritual Formation of the African American Male Disciple."

Walter Earl Fluker (Chair) is executive director of the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, Coca-Cola Professor of Leadership Studies and Professor of Philosophy and Religion.  He was recently appointed as Interim Director of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, a 10,000-piece collection of handwritten notes and unpublished sermons.  He also serves as director and senior editor of a multi-volume series entitled, The Sound of the Genuine: The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman. His publications include Ethical Leadership: the Quest for Character, Civility and Community (2009), The Stones that the Builders Rejected: Essays on Ethical Leadership from the Black Church Tradition; co-editor with Preston King of Black Leaders and Ideologies in the South: Resistance and Non-Violence; co-editor with Catherine Tumber of A Strange Freedom: The Best of Howard Thurman on Religious Experience and Public Life. Dr. Fluker has held academic positions at Vanderbilt University, Harvard College, Dillard University, and Colgate-Rochester Divinity School. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Ethics from Boston University, an M.Div. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and a B.A. in philosophy and biblical studies from Trinity College.

Jon McCoy has been the Senior Pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Chicago, IL since 2004.  He is a graduate of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Clinical/Community Psychology and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Jackson State University in Jackson, MS.  He is particularly interested in the role of the church as a critical institution in the community that provides opportunities for the transmission of spiritual, academic, vocational, and familial values.

Sharon Zimmerman Rader is the Ecumenical Officer of the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church and Bishop in Residence at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She is the retired Episcopal leader of the Wisconsin Annual Conference. Prior to her election to the episcopacy, Bishop Rader served as the District Superintendent of the West Michigan Annual Conference, having previously served pastorates in Battle Creek, MI, East Lansing, MI, and Chicago, IL. She received a B.A. from North Central College, an M.Div. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and pursued additional graduate studies at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University.

Pier C. Rogers is Director of the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management at North Park University where she also teaches in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management.  Prior to her 2007 appointment at North Park, she served as the Associate Executive Director of the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.  She has also served as an Assistant Professor of Nonprofit Management at the New School University in New York City, an Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer at Yale University's Divinity School and Program on Non-Profit Organizations, and has held management positions in organizations including United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Associated Black Charities, and New York University.  She received her Ph.D. in public administration from New York University's Wagner School of Public Service, an M.A. in African American Studies, an M.S.S.S. in social work from Boston University, and a B.A. in philosophy and political science from Wellesley College.

Tracy Smith Malone is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church and has served as Senior Pastor of the Gary UMC in Wheaton, Illinois since 1989.  Having also served in several other parishes including Wesley UMC in Aurora and Southlawn UMC in Chicago, her ministry has been shaped through her relationships with people of diverse backgrounds and her involvement with missions around the world.  She serves additionally as Adjunct Professor at Aurora University and Northern Seminary.  She holds a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary, an M.Div. from Garrett-Evangelical, and a B.A. from North Central College. 

Rosalyn D. Wesley joined Fortune Brands in September, 2002, and is responsible for developing and delivering strategic initiatives and solutions in all areas of Human Resources.  Prior to this, she was with Motorola for thirteen years, functioning mostly with global operating divisions providing Human Resources solutions and strategies in the areas of Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership Development, Recruitment and Selection, and Employee Relations and Wellness. Throughout her career, and currently at Fortune Brands, Rosalyn has also been responsible for developing and implementing global diversity strategies which include work/life initiatives, launching networks and affinity groups, and other diversity strategies. Rosalyn has also held Human Resources roles with Kraft General Foods, Nicor, Inc., Gould Electronics, ImCera Group and United Airlines. She has had numerous articles published, has appeared on television with noted national and local anchors,  discussing workforce and workplace issues, is a much sought-after lecturer, keynote speaker and workshop leader, and has won several awards, two from U. S. Presidents for her work launching creative labor and workforce initiatives. She holds a B. A. from Knoxville College and has graduated from numerous executive development programs.

Ex-officio Members:

Dr. Philip Amerson, Garrett-Evangelical President
Dr. Lallene Rector, Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Reginald Blount, faculty
Dr. Larry Murphy, faculty
Dr. Stephen Ray, faculty
Rev. Michele Watkins Branch, Ph.D. Student

Past CBE Directors

 

		BISHOP EDSEL AMMONS, CBE FOUNDING FACULTY MEMBER, G-ETS FACULTY, 1960s-‘70s "Garrett's black faculty and students have not conceived of nor designed a plan for creating two racially distinct communities within the seminary. Our concern, consistent with the faith which roots in the gospel, is to prompt, to prod, to engage us all in a uniquely different approach to the shared goals of an inclusive community. To call it by another name, what we seek is a healthy and legitimate cultural pluralism which allows for a black presence at Garrett which is not defined (and thus delimited) by whites and which confirms the justice of group equality and not simply individual equality. The goal is not new. What is new --and very likely the focus of much, if not most, of the anxiety now felt - is the initiative of black faculty and black students who insist that the goal must begin to become a reality in the life of the school, that the old definition of community in Garrett is invalid and deserves to be discarded, and that the structures of valid community can emerge only out of the agonies we are experiencing" (1971).
		DR. HYCEL B. TAYLOR, FIRST CBE DIRECTOR, 1970s "It is my opinion that if Garrett is to make a significant contribution toward the resolution of race problems in its life and that of the larger world, it must not merely recognize and speculate about the evident racial attitudes and actions of it constituents. The critical task for Garrett is to deliberately, systematically, and creatively work to make of its own life a microcosm of the kind of world of racial interaction which Christian faith demands at this point in history."
		DR. CARL H. MARBURY, G-ETS ACADEMIC DEAN, LATE-1970s "It would appear to me that Black religious groups and/or Black churches should be in the vanguard of society as we are compelled to consider new exigencies for the twenty-first century. After all, Blacks have had more existential experience at adapting to hard realities than anyone else in this country. . . . Black theologians, preachers and Black leaders in general must take the lead in making a commitment to the quality of life, to humaneness, and to human welfare" (1980).
		DR. PHILIP A. HARLEY, CBE DIRECTOR, LATE-1970s "The decade of the ‘80s is opening before us, and CBE faces probably its greatest challenge since its birth at G-ETS. It looms as a time of crisis. One may perceive that the world, our country, is seemingly disintegrating before our eyes. Crimes of violence against hopeless victims (poor and defenseless), growing hunger in the midst of plenty, decaying cities, schools failing in their mission and in an arrogant and contemptuous manner turning out functional illiterates, rising costs and inflation reflecting an oppressive and runaway economy, creeping malaise of moral sickness and ethical irresponsibility-all these are signs of a troubled age and a despairing and hopeless people. . . . Who is to address the eschatological questions voiced by an angry GOD who hears the cries of His people and would save them?" (1980)
		DR. LARRY MURPHY, CBE DIRECTOR, EARLY-1990s "The major impact (of CBE) was the integration of the black experience into the life and learning of the seminary as part of the normative force of human life. The goal was not to set aside a program for African-Americans, but to integrate it into the everyday seminary experience and provide a distinct enrichment for all members of the Garrett-Evangelical community" (1990).
		DR. LINDA THOMAS, CBE DIRECTOR, LATE-1990s "In 1997, when I arrived at Garrett to teach theology and anthropology and direct the Center for the Church and the Black Experience (CBE), I knew I entered an institution that had a checkered history in relation to African Americans. CBE developed out of African Americans' struggle to have a voice and intellectual space in the institution. James H. Cone, the first African American to graduate with a Ph.D. from Garrett/Northwestern Graduate School, experienced explicit incidents of racism there. . . . Thus, in my second year, I decided that CBE would invite James H. Cone back to his alma mater (for a conference) to honor him and to examine the future of black theology (2003).
		DR. JEFFREY L. TRIBBLE, SR., CBE DIRECTOR, EARLY-2000s "Dr. King warns us to continue to fight against America's interrelated structural flaws of racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism. Unfortunately, this prophetic challenge rings all too true today. . . . These are ethical issues that we do not have the luxury of simply thinking about and going to sleep. These are important issues that result in life and death, inclusion and exclusion, enlarged freedoms or restrictions of freedoms" (2003).
		DR. REGINALD BLOUNT, CBE INTERIM DIRECTOR, MID-2000s "The African American Experience continually evolves and the Black Church finds herself continually seeking understanding about how to effectively minister in the midst of ever-changing currents. CBE is well positioned to bring attention to the changing dynamics of the African American experience and is further positioned to empower and equip emerging leaders to provide prophetic and transformative leadership to 21st century needs."
		DR. R. DREW SMITH, CBE DIRECTOR, 2009-2012 "The public leadership of black Christianity, and of liberal mainline Christianity, both gains and loses momentum with the election of Barack Obama as President. It gains momentum from the fact that we have not before had an American President who so clearly personifies Civil Rights Movement ideals related to racial equality, human rights, poverty alleviation, and Biblical faith as a resource for liberal social activism. On the other hand, it loses momentum because people concerned with the relation between political life and Christian faith look not to official church leaders but, rather, to a U.S. President who, while shaped by faith and traditions of black church activism, is accountable and beholden to forces that may run counter to convictions held by many progressive Christians. Black church leaders have a strategic role to play in maintaining the independence and the incisiveness of the church's theological critique of society-especially when that critique runs counter to the positioning of a President admired so greatly by those of us who are social progressives" (2009).

 

Dr. Gennifer Brooks

Gennifer Benjamin Brooks is the Director of the Styberg Preaching Institute and the Styberg Associate Professor of Homiletics. She is an ordained elder and full clergy member of the New York Conference of the United Methodist Church.  She has served local churches in the New York conference in rural, suburban, urban and cross-racial settings. She was the Assistant Dean of New Brunswick Theological Seminary from 1996-2000 and an adjunct professor in the area of Preaching and Worship at New Brunswick Seminary from 2001-2003.

Gennifer holds a Bachelor of Business, cum laude and a Master of Business Administration from Pace University, a Master of Divinity, summa cum laude, and a Doctor of Ministry from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Liturgical Studies from Drew University.

She is the author of Good News Preaching: Offering Good News in Every Sermon (Pilgrim Press, 2009), and Praise the Lord: Litanies, Prayers and Occasional Services (CSS Publications, 1996). She has been a contributor to the following texts: Companion to The Africana Worship Book (Discipleship Resources 2007), Zion Still Sings: For Every Generation (Abingdon Press, 2007), The Africana Worship Book for Year C (Discipleship Resources, 2008),Those Preaching Women: A Multicultural Collection (Judson Press, 2008), Handbook of Methodist Studies (Oxford Press, 2009).

She has also contributed to several publications including Homily Service (The Liturgical Conference), and The African American Pulpit (Generis).  She is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, the North American Academy of Liturgy, and the American Academy of Religion.

Ernest and Bernice Styberg

The Styberg Preaching Institute was established at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Semi­nary by Ernest and Bernice Styberg of Racine, Wisconsin.

The institute helps to recognize and celebrate the important part that the church has played in their lives. "We feel strongly about the future of the United Methodist Church," Ernest states. "As committed United Methodists, we want to make sure that the church has strong leadership in the future - leaders who appreciate the liturgical tradition of the church and who are grounded in solid Biblical preaching and in traditional worship. If we can help prepare such leaders, it will give us much satisfaction."

Their endowment of the preaching institute supports their commitment to the church but and helps to provide a means for Garrett-Evangelical to continue its mission of preparing leaders for the church by providing resources for improving the church's preaching ministry.

Styberg Preaching Institute

Named for its benefactors, Ernest and Bernice Styberg, the Styberg Preaching Institute resolves to assist Christian leaders in the development of theological and practical disciplines necessary to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully to contemporary cultures.

It represents the seminary's partnership with the church by preparing persons for vital, effective Christian preaching.

The programs and resources of the institute strengthen the church by focusing on the continual development of the preaching ministry.

The institute also helps Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary fulfill its core purpose of preparing spiritual leaders for the church.

The institute work of the institute will influence the future of ministry as it addresses the central mission of the church, namely the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The resources and programs of the institute are available to students, alums, pastors and the church at large.

Past events have featured:

• Dr. Charles Cosgrove - In Other Words: Incarnational Translation in the Process of Sermon Preparation 
• Rev. Zan Holmes - Shaping and Re-shaping the Sermon
• Dr. Jeremiah Wright - Prophetic Preaching
• Dr. Heather Elkins - Women's Ways of Preaching and Worship
• Dr. Ronald Allen - Listening to Listeners
• Dr. Ralph Watkins - Preaching in the Hip Hop Culture
• Dr. Valerie Bridgeman - The Poetic Nature of Good Preaching.

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Center for Wesleyan Studies

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