The Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at SMU
Certificate in Preaching Excellence (CPX)
The Certificate in Preaching Excellence (CPX) provides a series of non-credit classes designed to elevate preaching skills for pastors with experience and formal training (MDiv or equivalent). The certificate is awarded upon successfully completing four virtual CPX classes and three one-on-one coaching sessions. (Preachers are welcome to take any of the classes without pursuing the certificate, but the coaching sessions are only available to those who have completed all coursework required for the certificate.)
Four online classes (3.5 hours each) will be offered per year. They do not need to be taken sequentially or all in one year. After the completion of four classes, participants will register for three one-on-one coaching sessions with an expert homiletician. Each class earns participants .33 CEUs. 3 classes=1 CEU. 4 classes=1.33 CEU’s.
Cost of the certificate:
- $75 per virtual class x 4 courses
- $100 per coaching session x 3 sessions
- Total cost: $600
You may register for a class "a la carte" or take the four classes and then proceed to the coaching to earn the certificate.
Upcoming Classes: 2025
Note: All classes run from 10:00 am-1:30 pm Central Time
April 2, 2025 OR April 24, 2025: “Novel Preaching: What Preachers Can Learn from Creative Writers”
*Due to the overwhelming response, we have added a second date for this class.
Preachers face the daunting task of coming up with inspiring, profound, biblical sermons week in and week out. Sometimes, we feel like the well of inspiration has gone dry, and we don’t know where to look for a re-fill. This workshop trains preachers to take a page out of novelists’ playbook and practice the fine art of noticing what is right in front of our eyes: the characters, patterns, and plots of scripture (textscape), our inner lives (inscape) and life around us (landscape), weaving them into sermons that connect Bible and life in engaging, transforming ways.
This class is taught by Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship, Perkins School of Theology, Co-director of the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at SMU, based on her 2010 book, Novel Preaching.
September 9, 2025: “Preaching the Parables”
This class will explore the difficult task of preaching the parables of Jesus. This workshop will explore a theological approach to proclaiming the kingdom of God for contemporary congregations by reading the parables in the literary context of the different Gospels.
This class is taught by Dr. Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching, Candler School of Theology at Emory, based on his 2024 book, Proclaiming the Parables: Preaching and Teaching the Kingdom of God.
October 21, 2025: “Preaching and Trauma”
How can preachers address issues of collective and individual trauma from the pulpit? This class utilizes insights from scripture, psychology, and trauma studies to equip preachers to address ongoing and catastrophic experiences of individual and corporate trauma in their pulpit ministries.
This class is taught by Dr. Joni S. Sancken, Butler Chair of Homiletics and Biblical Interpretation, Vancouver School of Theology, Vancouver, British Columbia, based on her books, Words That Heal: Preaching Hope to Wounded Souls (2019) and All Our Griefs to Bear: Responding With Resilience After Collective Trauma (2022).
Upcoming Classes: 2026
January 2026 “Experiential Preaching”
This course serves as the foundation for the CPX. For proclamation of God’s good news to be transformative for congregations, sermons must engage not only the mind but also the heart. In this workshop, participants will explore the different tasks of sermon preparation through the lens of inviting hearers to experience the gospel personally instead of only learning about it from a distance.
This course is taught by Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship, Perkins School of Theology, Director, the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at SMU.
April 2026 “Preaching and the Human Condition”
Preachers struggle with how to acknowledge the bad news of a corrupt world but to proclaim the good news that will eventually prevail against it. We can veer between prosperity gospel that ignores the bad news or grace-less preaching that doesn’t do justice to the good news. This course equips preachers to proclaim how God’s good news addresses the human condition, and to preach genuine Christian hope amid the realities of human striving and suffering.
This course is taught by Dr. O. Wesley Allen, Jr. and is based on his 2016 book Preaching and the Human Condition.
September 2026 “Preaching and Spirituality “
This course explores the intersection of preaching and spirituality in the lives of participants, inspired by the example of selected historical figures.
This course is taught by Dr. Luke Powery, Dean of Duke University Chapel and Professor of Homiletics, Duke Divinity School
October 2026 “Preaching and Performance/Embodiment”
Preaching is far more than the “delivery” of content. Creating experiences of the gospel demands the full involvement of the preacher in finding their voice and embodying the good news. This course will explore the literal and metaphorical power of finding one’s voice in proclaiming the gospel with conviction and passion.
This course is taught by Dr. Nancy Lammers Gross, Arthur Sarell Rudd Associate Professor of Speech Communication in Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary and draws on her book Women’s Voices and the Practice of Preaching (2017).
Following the completion of 4 virtual courses, participants will register for 3 one- on- one coaching sessions with an expert homiletician.
Questions or more information –