Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initiative
About the Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initaitive
With the generous support of the Lilly Endowment, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary has launched the Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initiative, which resources preachers from diverse denominations and settings with the tools to address the challenges of presenting the gospel at a time of growing secularization in the United States. We are convinced that the current challenge is an emergent and adaptive situation that requires Christian leaders and congregations to learn something new in response to the call of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initiative facilitates peer education, problem-based learning, and adaptive leadership development for preachers in established congregations and emerging faith communities. Stimulated by decades of conversation and collaboration with the Seminary’s community partners, the Initiative responds to the root cause of the crisis of effective proclamation: the shift from a Christendom context in which a large church-going audience for preaching was taken for granted to a post-Christian context in which preachers must listen in new ways to offer a fresh, faithful, and relevant word.
About the Learning Model
Our Gatherings are typically held twice per calendar year, running Thursday through Saturday so that pastors have time to return for church or work. In terms of pedagogical design, our Gatherings utilize peer education, problem-based learning, and adaptive leadership development methods to foster awareness and dialogue among preachers in established congregations and emerging faith communities, ultimately leading to our capstone research project. In between our on-campus gatherings, preachers will conduct experiments in creative proclamation in their worshiping communities and work with a coach who will provide spiritual guidance, support, and accountability along the way.
Hear from Participants
- “The Gatherings have allowed me to think critically in community about my preaching, and I appreciate that.”
- “Everything was well-planned and organized. Our time on campus was well spent.”
- “I wish our gatherings were longer, but I knew we all had to get back for work and church.”
- “It was so much fun being on campus again and seeing professors who heavily influenced my ministry journey.”
Gathering Dates
The cohort will meet on the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary campus.
- Sept. 24-26, 2026: Listening and Learning
- Jan. 28-30, 2027: The Call to Preach
- April 15-17, 2027: Creative Proclamation
- Bringing It All Together
Regarding program costs, scholarships for your travel are limited, but available.
Who teaches in the program?
.jpg) |
The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Carner is director of the Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initiative and visiting assistant professor of preaching. Her work centers on African American sacred proclamation, folk preaching, homiletic history, and the rhetoric of social movements. Formerly in senior leadership at The Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church (Atlanta, Ga.), she has also served as assistant professor of religion at Barry University. A member of multiple academic societies, Dr. Carner’s scholarship includes defining the homiletical theory of the Africana Folk preaching tradition. She holds degrees from Mercer University, Emory’s Candler School of Theology, and Christian Theological Seminary. |
 |
The Rev. Dr. Donna Giver-Johnston, director of the Doctor of Ministry Program, is an ordained PC(USA) minister with more than 20 years in pastoral ministry. An accomplished theological educator and writer, her expertise includes homiletics, liturgics, practical theology, and feminist scholarship. She holds degrees from Westminster College, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Vanderbilt University, and has earned multiple teaching and preaching awards. Author of Claiming the Call to Preach and Writing for the Ear, Preaching from the Heart, she is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, Society of Biblical Literature, and American Academy of Religion. |
 |
Dr. Scott Hagley is the W. Don McClure Associate Professor of World Mission and Evangelism at PTS. Formerly director of education at Forge Canada and teaching pastor at Southside Community Church in Vancouver, he has also taught at multiple colleges and served as a consultant with Church Innovations Institute. Holding degrees from Bethel University, Regent College, and Luther Seminary, his scholarship explores congregational mission and leadership. Dr. Hagley lectures widely on missional communities and spiritual formation, and his work helps churches build strong neighborhood partnerships. He is author of Eat What is Set Before You (2019). |
 |
The Rev. Dr. Angela Dienhart Hancock serves as the vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty and Howard C. Scharfe Associate Professor of Homiletics. She is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA) and has served as pastor to churches around the country. Dr. Hancock is the author of Karl Barth’s Emergency Homiletic, 1932-33: A Summons to Prophetic Witness at the Dawn of the Third Reich, a contextual interpretation of Swiss theologian Karl Barth’s lectures on preaching in the early 1930s, based on unpublished archival material. Her current research explores Karl Barth’s contribution to the ethics of deliberation in Christian communities and the relationship between political and theological rhetoric. |
 |
The Rev. Dr. L. Roger Owens, Hugh Thomson Kerr Professor of Pastoral Theology at PTS, earned his Ph.D. in theology and M.Div. from Duke University and studied philosophy and Bible/religion at Anderson University. A PC(USA) minister, he has served urban and rural congregations in North Carolina and now co-pastors Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church with his wife, the Rev. Ginger Thomas. Author of numerous books on spirituality, ministry, and theology, Dr. Owens is a sought-after preacher, lecturer, and writer. He also teaches for the Upper Room’s Academy for Spiritual Formation. |
 |
The Rev. Dr. Edwin Chr. van Driel, Directors’ Bicentennial Professor of Theology at PTS, specializes in Christology, ecclesiology, and the intersection of biblical studies and theology. An ordained PC(USA) minister, he is author of Incarnation Anyway, Rethinking Paul (2021 Senior Alberigo Award), and the forthcoming The Firstborn of All Creation. Dr. van Driel has edited major theological volumes, published widely in academic and popular journals, and served on key denominational projects including Glory to God and the Book of Common Worship. His current research explores ecclesiology for a post-Christian world. |
Apply to Join the Next Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initiative Cohort
The Seminary’s Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initiative resources emerging, middle, and late-career pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders with the necessary sense of community, learning space, and tools to ideate about preaching methods for sharing the Gospel in the current Post-Christian age.
If you regularly preach or facilitate proclamation in one ministry context, are eager to be a part of a diverse learning community, and want to try some new things for the sake of more effective preaching today, please apply online for the 2026-2027 cohort. Note, you must be able to attend all the on-campus gatherings (dates above). We can only accept 20 fellows.
Applications are due by Oct. 1, 2025, and will be adjudicated by Dec. 1, 2025. Note: the application will open soon!
Contact the Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initaitive
The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Carner, Director
412-924-1468
Brooke Spencer, Administrative Assistant
412-924-1413