Anna Carter Florence is the Peter Marshall Professor of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She is known for her work on the historical, theological, aesthetic, and performative dimensions of preaching.
Anna Carter Florence received a B.A. from Yale University (1984), an M.Div from Princeton Theological Seminary (1988), and a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary (2000). She was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1988 by the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. She was an Associate Pastor for Youth and Young Adults at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, MN (1988–1993) before becoming a Teaching Assistant in Preaching (1993–1996) and Instructor in Preaching (1997) at Princeton Theological Seminary. Beginning in 1998, Anna Carter Florence became an instructor in Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary, where she has since held the positions of assistant professor of Preaching (2000–2006), Associate Professor of Preaching (2006–2008), and Peter Marshall Associate Professor of Preaching (2008–2016). She currently serves as the Peter Marshall Professor of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary. [1]
Anna Carter Florence has focused much of her research on testimony, feminist theology, and the relationship of preaching to other fields and traditions. [2] In addition to teaching and lecturing around the world on these topics, she has written several books and contributed a number of chapters and essays to others. She is also a frequent contributor to Lectionary Homiletics and other journals.
She is a proponent of preaching as both testimony and witness, as well as a proponent of preaching exegetical sermons based on the texts provided in the lectionary. She believes that "the authority for authentic preaching is based on the depth of the preacher’s engagement with the text. It is the job of the preacher to encounter the text on a personal level and then testify to what he/she has seen and heard." [3] She advocates preachers to think of themselves as "people who have seen and heard something, and who have to tell about it. We are the people who pay attention in the first place: we pay attention to sacred texts and to human life, and then we try to describe what we see, even when it is beyond belief.” [4] Anna Carter Florence has also developed the method of reading biblical scripture by focusing on the verbs that are given and chosen by the characters. She states, " It’s what we do and don’t do that preoccupies human beings. And it’s the verbs we cannot imagine for ourselves (live, liberate, forgive, resurrect) that the church offers, and that we reach for, week after week." [5]
William Henry Willimon is a retired American theologian and bishop in the United Methodist Church who served the North Alabama Conference for eight years. He is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Duke Divinity School. He is former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University and is considered by many as one of America's best-known and most influential preachers. A Pulpit & Pew Research on Pastoral Leadership survey determined that he was one of the two most frequently read writers by pastors in mainline Protestantism alongside the Roman Catholic writer Henri Nouwen. His books have sold over a million copies. He is also Editor-At-Large of The Christian Century. His 2019 memoir Accidental Preacher was released to wide acclaim, described by Justo L. Gonzalez as "An exceptional example of theology at its best."
Walter Brueggemann is an American Protestant Old Testament scholar and theologian who is widely considered one of the most influential Old Testament scholars of the last several decades. His work often focuses on the Hebrew prophetic tradition and sociopolitical imagination of the Church. He argues that the Church must provide a counter-narrative to the dominant forces of consumerism, militarism, and nationalism.
J. Ellsworth Kalas was a president and a professor of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He also served as pastor for 38 years in the Wisconsin and Ohio Conferences of the United Methodist Church and was associated for 5 years with the World Methodist Council.
Fred Brenning Craddock Jr. was Bandy Distinguished Professor of Preaching and New Testament Emeritus in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He was an ordained minister of the Christian Church from rural Tennessee. He was the director of the Craddock Center, a non-profit service group which operates in rural Appalachia.
Brian K. Blount is a Presbyterian minister, New Testament scholar and past President of Union Presbyterian Seminary. He is a preacher and scholar on the Book of Revelation.
Nancy J. Duff is an American professor of theology. Duff worked as the Stephen Colwell Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Princeton Theological Seminary, where she taught from 1990 until 2020. Duff is also a Presbyterian minister in the PCUSA denomination. She is married to United Methodist Minister David Mertz. She has taught courses on the Decalogue, Biomedical ethics, human sexuality, liturgy and the Christian life, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, James Cone, types of Christian ethics, and vocation in Christian tradition and contemporary life.
Richard Finley Ward is an American storyteller and the Fred B. Craddock Professor of Preaching at Phillips Theological Seminary.
James Franklin Kay is the Joe R. Engle Professor of Homiletics and Liturgics Emeritus, and Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Grace Ji-Sun Kim is a Korean-American theologian and Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion, Richmond, Indiana. She is best known for books and articles on the social and religious experiences of Korean women immigrants to North America.
Catherine Gunsalus González is an American historian, theologian, and ordained Presbyterian minister who is professor emerita of church history at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.
David Lyon Bartlett was the J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor Emeritus of Christian Communication at Yale Divinity School, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, and an ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches, USA.
Charles B. Cousar was an American Presbyterian minister and Professor of the New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. He was a writer and a New Testament scholar. He is a recipient of the Alumni Distinguished Service Award from Columbia Theological Seminary.
George W. Stroup is J.B. Green Professor Emeritus of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He is married to Dr. Donna Fox Stroup, a mathematical statistician.
E. Elizabeth Johnson is an American New Testament scholar and the J. Davison Philips Professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. She is widely known for her writings on the New Testament, specifically the Pauline Letters.
Jeffery Tribble is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and a professor of ministry with research interests in Practical Theology, Congregational Studies and Leadership, Ethnography, Evangelism and Church Planting, Black Church Studies, and Urban Church Ministry. Academics and professionals in these fields consider him a renowned thought leader. Tribble's experience in pastoral ministry allows for his work to bridge the gap between academic research and practical church leadership.
Kimberly Bracken Long is currently the editor of Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts, the liturgy journal for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She is also the pastor of two small United Methodist churches: Antioch United Methodist Church and Spedden United Methodist Church. She was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a professor of sacramental and liturgical worship in the tradition of the reformed church at Columbia Theological Seminary. Her work has been influential in turning greater attention towards the meaning and place of sacraments and liturgical language in worship. Her most recent work focuses on the theology and history of marriage, with a particular emphasis on inclusive marriage liturgy. She is married to professor of preaching Thomas G. Long.
Stanley P. Saunders is a New Testament scholar, whose particular research interest includes eschatology, creation and the Gospel of Matthew. He is also involved in issues of social justice particularly pertaining to the American criminal justice system and creation care.
Martha L. Moore-Keish is an American theologian ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Her work is primarily focused on Reformed theology, liturgical theology and ecumenical theology, including engagement with interfaith issues around the world. She currently engages this work as the J.B. Green Associate Professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary.
Beverly Roberts Gaventa is Distinguished Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Baylor University and Helen H.P. Manson Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis Emerita at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Ernest T. Campbell was an American Presbyterian clergyman, theologian, and writer. He is most remembered as senior minister of New York City's prominent Riverside Church from 1968 to 1976. A native of New York City, Campbell previously served as minister at churches in Pennsylvania and the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan. After resigning from Riverside Church, he lectured at various seminaries including his alma mater, Princeton Theological Seminary, and was Professor of Homiletics at Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary between 1982 and 1989.