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 courses 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 courses and three one-on-one coaching sessions. (Preachers are welcome to take any of the courses without pursuing the certificate, but the coaching sessions are only available to those who have completed all coursework required for the certificate.)
Four online courses (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 courses participants will register for three one-on-one coaching sessions with an expert homiletician. Each class earns participants .33 CEU’s. 3 classes=1 CEU. 4 classes=1.33 CEU’s.
Cost of the certificate:
- $75 per virtual course x 4 courses
- $100 per coaching session x 3 sessions
- Total cost: $600
Registration for full certificate coming soon.
Upcoming Courses: 2025
Note: All courses run from 10:00 am-1:30 pm Central Time
January 7, 2025: “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.
The course will be taught by Dr. O. Wesley Allen, Jr., Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics, Perkins School of Theology at SMU and Co-director, the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence.
Register for the January 7 class with Dr. Allen
April 2, 2025: “Novel Preaching: What Preachers Can Learn from Creative Writers”
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 course is taught by Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie, Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship, Perkins School of Theology, Co-director, the Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at SMU, based on her 2010 book, Novel Preaching.
September 9, 2025: “Preaching the Parables”
This course will explore the difficult task of preaching the parables of Jesus. Reading the parables in the literary context of the different Gospels, this workshop will explore a theological approach to proclaiming the kingdom of God for contemporary congregations.
This course 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 course 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 course 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).
FYI: Courses offered in 2026 will follow the same monthly pattern of January, April, September and October, exact dates TBA, and will include classes in, among other topics, preaching and spirituality and preaching and embodiment/delivery. Questions or more information –