Speak, Preach, Teach
The faculty and staff at Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology is available to serve your congregation or organization through preaching, speaking, teaching, and retreat leading. Read below to discover the individual ways each one can support the ministry you are doing. The example topics are not exhaustive, but will give you an idea of the gifts and interests of each person.
C. Greg DeLoach
Dean
Greg is preacher, motivator, and organizational leader. With more than 30 years of experience leading local congregations, Greg now focuses his energy in working with the School of Theology to support students, staff and faculty. He loves discovering how ancient Biblical text can speak with a fresh voice to contemporary challenges. His most recent book, Wanderings: A Pilgrim’s Walk on This Good Earth, is a collection of short essays reflecting on faith, nature, and pilgrimage. Greg also keeps a blog called The Pilgrim’s Walk.
Example Topics:
- Canonical Studies
- Faith and Art
- Wrestling with the Bible
- Leadership Development
- Retreats
- Old Testament Wilderness Narratives
David G. Garber
Carolyn Ward Chair in Theology, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew
An ordained minister, Dave recognizes his scholarship as a service to the Church and its future leaders. His study revolves around making biblical interpretation relevant to the lives of individuals and their communities. Dave frequently teaches on biblical literature as a response to traumatic events and the biblical prophets and their messages for our world. Dave also has developed interests in how popular culture (movies, music, art, and literature) continues to turn to the Bible while also shaping how our culture views the sacred texts. Finally, Dave has discovered a passion for helping students discover their connection with creation by exploring biblical interpretation in nature and expressing themselves through various artistic media.
Example Topics:
- Creation Theology, Spirituality, and the Arts (series or retreat)
- Superheroes, Moses, and Jesus: The Bible and Popular Culture (series or retreat)
- An Introduction to Prophetic Literature (series)
- The Book of Ezekiel (series)
- The Book of Jeremiah (series)
- 8th Century Prophets (series)
David P. Gushee
Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life
Dr. Gushee is the elected Past-President of both the American Academy of Religion and Society of Christian Ethics. He is author and/or editor of 25 books and over 150 book chapters, journal articles, and reviews. His most notable previous books include Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, Kingdom Ethics, The Sacredness of Human Life, Changing Our Mind, and Still Christian.
Example Topics:
- Moral teachings of Jesus
- Christianity and democracy
- LGBTQ+ and Christian ethics
- Moral leaders and leadership
- Christian humanism
- Post-evangelicalism
- Christian ethics and moral theory
- Moral issues of all kinds — war, bioethics, family, marriage, etc.
Leah Jackson
Grant Project Coordinator for the Reimagining Tomorrow Initiative
Rev. Leah D. Jackson, Esq. has been called to minister the Word of God as a preacher, pastor, educator, writer, and dancer. She was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) by Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Hale, where has been a member for over 20 years, served as the Minister of Christian Education for almost 8 years, and is now an Associate Minister. She is also a licensed member of the State Bar of Georgia. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Ministry in Preaching at McAfee School of Theology where she serves as the Grant Program Director for the Reimagining Tomorrow Initiative. She is the proud author of the devotionals, Daily Manna from the Psalms: Nuggets of Hope for the Hungry Christian and If Perish, I Perish, But I Won’t!: Facing Your Fears Through the Study of the book of Esther.
Example Topics:
- Discipleship
- Christian Education
- Church Administration
- Leadership
- Intellectual Property
- Preaching
- Authenticity
Denise McLain Massey
J. Truett Gannon Chair, Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling
Denise is a student and teacher of relationship skills, spirituality, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and self-management. In other words her ministry focus is loving God with all that we are and loving our neighbors while also loving ourselves. Denise is a pastoral educator with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education in which she supervises pastors and other ministers to become more effective in their care for their congregants. She is a life coach, helping people to become more effective in their activities and life choices. She is a spiritual director, guiding people to listen to God and to discern God’s presence with them and God’s love for them. Author of the forthcoming book, CARING: Six Steps to Effective Pastoral Conversations, Denise is available to speak, teach, preach, or lead retreats about topics related to this book or her next project, Emotional Intelligence for Followers of Christ.
Example Topics:
- Listening to God
- Learning to Love Ourselves, Others, and God
- The CARING process: Guiding other people to solve their problems while listening to God (Suitable for groups of ministers, lay leaders, ministry teams, and church members who want to help others)
- CARING for yourself: Guiding yourself to solve your problems while listening to God.
- A Spirituality of Connecting with God, yourself, and other people
- Dreams as a way to listen to God, your own wisdom, and your life
- Emotional Intelligence for Christians (Note: emotional intelligence includes self-awareness, self-management, awareness of other people, and helping other people)
- Emotions as a Gift from God
- What do Cain and Abel teach us about emotions?
- Emotions Tell us that Something Needs Changing: Learning to Listen and Act with Love
Karen G. Massey
Associate Dean; Watkins Christian Foundation Associate Professor for Church Ministry
Karen Massey is a professor, administrator, preacher, and ordained Baptist minister. Prior to joining the faculty at McAfee in 1998, Karen served as a minister in the local church. Her years in ministry prepared her for her multi-layered job as Associate Dean, which includes teaching, administrating, counseling, leading, and fellowshipping with amazing students. One of her greatest joys is traveling the “seminary journey” with students from the first day they enter to the day they graduate. Karen says, “Watching how students grow, learn, mature, and change over the course of three years brings me such fulfillment and joy. It is an honor to play a role in their transformation, and it is exciting to know that the Church will be in such good hands in the future.”
Example Topics:
- Series of sermons for Lent
- Good Friday sermons on the seven last words of Christ
- Lectures on Women in the Bible
- Lectures on forming faith in the lives of children, youth, and adults
- Advent lectures on Christmas carols
- Topics on Women in Ministry
- Discovering Spiritual Gifts
Heidi A. Miller
Associate Professor of Spirituality and Christian Ministry, Director of Doctor of Ministry Degree Program
Example Topics:
Robert N. Nash Jr.
Arnall-Mann-Thomasson Professor of Missions and World Religions
Rob is pastor, scholar, professor, and global mission expert. He has pastored congregations in Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia and has served on the faculty at Judson College in Alabama, Shorter University in Georgia and now serves on the faculty at Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology. He has also served as the Global Missions Coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
Example Topics:
- Moving the Equator: The Church and Mission Now
- Five Faiths We Need to Know Better: Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese Traditions
- Diaspora Mission: The Global Church Comes to Us
Angela Parker
Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek
An ordained Baptist minister, Angela desires the work that she does in the academy to inform the education and growth within ecclesial settings. As a Womanist New Testament scholar, Angela’s reads biblical texts while engaging the real lived experiences of marginalized people in ancient contexts with the real lived experiences of marginalized people in contemporary contexts. Bodies matter to Angela. In her forthcoming book entitled Bodies, Violence, & Emotions: A Womanist Study of the Gospel of Mark, Angela thinks through the issue of imperial violence and its effects on the bodies of Jesus, John the Baptizer, and the woman suffering in a flow of blood in Mark 5. Stemming from her work on Womanist thought and postcolonial theory, Angela also lectures and presents on Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John and the issue of slavery in the Pauline epistles.
Example Topics:
- Paul, Slavery, and 1619
- Jesus in the Gospel of Mark
- What does Postcolonial Thought Say to Contemporary Christianity?
- Womanism and Biblical Interpretation
Graham B. Walker Jr.
John and Julia Zellars Professor of Theology and Philosophy
Graham loves to be engaged with anyone who asks questions about faith and the contemporary world. For more than ten years he has directed the Ginn Lectures on Science and Faith at the McAfee School of Theology and he has worked with the Center For Theology and Natural Sciences (Berkley), the Ian Ramsey Centre at Oxford, and the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (AAAS). He will be happy to introduce a dialogue on where science and faith meet. Graham also leads churches and study groups to examine the way different Christian stories shape our lives. He will lead your community to reflect on their “spiritual worlds” and discover the richness these diverse stories bring to your community of faith. Currently, Graham is writing on the significance of the “Death of Christ for Today.” The Passion stories are central to the four Gospels, what impact do they have on our interpretation of God’s activity in the world today? “Politics and Theology” is a popular course that Graham teaches at the McAfee School of Theology. He will be happy to help your community navigate what often seems like troubled waters!
Example Topics:
- Frontiers of Faith and Science
- Our Five Spiritual Worlds
- These Things We Believe
- The Death of Christ (I can also do a sermon series on the “Seven Last Words”)
- Apocalypse? It’s the End of the World as We Know it
- Our Righteous Mind: Where Faith and Politics Meet
Reference Links:
- Commonwealth Baptist Church, Alexandria, VA– Podcast: Troubling the Division: Faith, Science and the Doubt they share
- Northside Drive Baptist Church – Exodus in Reverse | Wrestling with God
- Northside Drive Baptist Church – Doctrines of Trinity and Atonement
- Johns Creek Baptist Church