Schaff Lectures 2025

The Rev. Dr. Debra J.  Mumford attended Howard University, where she earned a bachelor's in mechanical engineering. After working with Corning Inc. and the Clorox Company, she began to feel that there was call on her life. In 1994, she answered her call to the ministry and began seminary at the American Baptist Seminary of the West. While in seminary, Debra served a youth minister, assistant pastor, and interim pastor at the Church By the Side of the Road in Berkeley, Calif. Upon graduation from ABSW with a master's degree, she worked as a youth outreach coordinator for the Chaplaincy to the Homeless in Berkeley. Debra subsequently served as the director of operations for the Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, Calif., preacher for youth at the Formosan United Methodist Church in San Leandro, Calif., director of recruitment and admissions at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif., and director of recruitment at the American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, Calif. Debra earned an MA in biblical languages and a Ph.D. in homiletics and New Testament from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She currently serves as the vice president of academics, dean of the seminary and Frank H. Caldwell Professor of Homiletics at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Carner is director of the Preaching in a Post-Christian Age Initiative and visiting assistant professor of preaching at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Her primary areas of study and practice include African American sacred proclamation and the rhetoric of social movements, folk preaching and the practice of a folk ethic in preaching, histories of homiletic theory, and histories of American preaching. Prior to her time at PTS, Dr. Carner ministered at The Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga., where she served as senior manager, executive pastor, preaching assistant, membership care pastor, content creator, and global operations manager. In these roles, Dr. Carner’s work included forecasting church trends, leadership in pastoral care and discipleship initiatives, and online resource management and development, in addition to a variety of editorial, preaching, and teaching projects. In addition to her ecclesial leadership, Dr. Carner has served as assistant professor of religion at Barry University. She holds membership in numerous societies, including the Academy of Homiletics, Rhetoric Society of America, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Academy of Religion. She has produced papers, Bible studies, sermons, and devotionals on topics such as wellness in African American communities, millennial disillusionment due to trauma and natural disasters, and pop culture, including a sermon featured in The African American Pulpit. Dr. Carner holds a B.S. in Christianity/theology from Mercer University, an M.Div. from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and a Ph.D. in African American preaching and sacred rhetoric from Christian Theological Seminary. Her dissertation is entitled: The Contextual Art of the African American Folk Preaching Tradition, in which she defined the homiletical theory and theology of the Africana Folk preaching tradition using nine distinct homiletical markers based upon the rhetorical artifacts of 19^th century African American female preachers. In her most recent academic work, Dr. Carner has also identified a folk ethic in contemporary Africana preaching traditions.

Tues., April 22, 2025
at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
In Person and Online

1:30-3:00 p.m. Panel Discussion on Preaching, Hicks Chapel

• Moderator: Dr. Angela Hancock
• Participants: Dr. Jennifer Carner, Dr. L. Roger Owens, Dr. Donna Giver-Johnston

4:00-5:30 p.m. Schaff Lecture, Hicks Chapel

• “Called to Preach the Totality of American History: The Prophetic Imperative to Embrace DEI”
• Since the beginning of Trump presidency 2.0, the administration has launched an all-out assault on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion otherwise known as DEI. In her lecture, Dr. Mumford will make the case that preachers are called in this moment to affirm the dignity and worth of all of God’s people by preaching the totality of American history.  

5:30-6:30 p.m. Reception

Wed., April 23, 2025
at First Presbyterian Church, Youngstown, Ohio
In Person 

2:00-4:00 p.m. Clergy Workshop

• “The Enduring Power of the Folk Homiletic and Ethic in the Practice of African American Preaching” 
• Since the beginning of Trump's presidency 2.0, the administration has launched an assault on everything that does not support or affirm a monolithic vision of America. Thus, it can be argued that an attack has been launched on African American thought, history, and identity. Dr. Carner will make the case that current and past practices in African American preaching, incorporating a Folk Homiletic or Ethic, help communities in crisis fashion hope toward self-preservation and flourishing.  

5:00-6:30 p.m. Community Dinner

6:30-8:00 p.m. Community Worship with the Rev. Dr. Jennifer Carner Preaching

Please contact Click to view e-mail or call 412-924-1345.