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: 2026
Note: All classes run from 10:00 am-1:30 pm Central Time
January 15, 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 23, 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 9, 2026: “Preaching and Spirituality”
This seminar will take a pneumatological approach to the ongoing discussion about race and racism in the church by focusing on the Holy Spirit. The overarching question we will consider is, “How does the Spirit move us through and beyond racialization toward humanization, and what does this mean for preaching and ministry today?"
This course is taught by Dr. Luke Powery, Dean of Duke University Chapel and Professor of Homiletics, Duke Divinity School
October 5, 2026: “Preaching as 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 –