Two Atlanta faith leaders have been named among 12 of the most effective preachers “in the English-speaking world” in a survey by the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary.
The Rev. Andy Stanley, founding pastor of North Point Community Church and North Point Ministries; and the Rev. Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, were cited in the highly-respected survey.
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Scholars of homiletics made the selections from more than 800 nominees.
The preachers were chosen based on how well their preaching represented seven criteria determined by members of the Evangelical Homiletics Society and the Academy of Homiletics.
Credit: Jim Galloway
Credit: Jim Galloway
“Of great interest is the diversity represented in the new survey, especially with regards to ethnicity and ministry,” said W. Hulitt Gloer, professor of Christian Scriptures at Truett Seminary and director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching.
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Three of the 12 are African-American preachers. Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, theologian and author, is the only woman included.
The last time Baylor conducted the survey was more than two decades ago. Four of the preachers, including Long, selected in the 1996 survey were also chosen in the new one.
Long is also director of the Early Career Pastoral Leadership Program at Emory's Candler School of Theology. His textbook, "The Witness of Preaching," has been translated into several languages and is widely used in schools around the world.
Credit: Kay Hinton
Credit: Kay Hinton
At least one other pastor who made the list has strong ties to Georgia.
The Rev. Otis Moss III, senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, is a Morehouse College graduate and earned a master’s of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a doctorate from Chicago Theological Seminary.
He’s the former pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Augusta, where he grew the church from 125 members to more than 2,100 members during his tenure, according to his bio on the Trinity website.
For the full list of winners go to the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching web site.
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