Mission Statement
The CTS Center for Preaching is committed to serving Jesus Christ by providing preachers and their congregations with resources to faithfully engage critical issues facing the contemporary church and the broader society it serves.
The Center for Preaching seeks to collaborate with clergy and laity to engage regarding the ever challenging, ever expanding role of pulpit proclamation. We will encourage relevant Biblical proclamation which engages and respects all informed Christian beliefs of our congregations, and others serious about the faith.
As preachers, we strive to “listen deeply” to the hopes and fears, dreams and disappointments, possibilities and personal problems of our congregations, clergy, and seminarians, and the community beyond our sanctuaries.
Simultaneously, we seek to follow a more personal path ourselves, namely, to submit ourselves to the judgment of the Word and the mercy of God. This is no easy task for any of us. To accomplish this we who proclaim the Word definitely need to gather regularly with others – clergy and laypersons, from our own congregations and contexts and in other organized learning events - to share insights about ourselves and our preaching . These insights and experiences may challenge our way of approaching the task of preaching, or give us feedback which we may not want to hear. But it is precisely in this dialogue that we see ourselves as members of “the priesthood of all believers” and strive to remain faithful to our sacred calling.
The Rev. Dr. Joseph L. Roberts, Jr. serves as the Wade Huie Professor of Homiletics and Director of the Center for Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is available for teaching and consultation with congregations, administrative boards, judicatories, clergy groups and conferences. Please contact Dr. Roberts at 404-687-4589 or robertsj@ctsnet.edu.