Cohort 7: “A Holistic Homiletic: Toward Access and Disability Justice in Preaching”
September – November 2026
Facilitator: Dr. Sarah Jean Barton, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy and Theological Ethics at Duke University and Duke Divinity School
Dates:
- Monday, September 14, 2026 – Online Session #1
- Monday, September 21, 2026 – Online Session #2
- Monday, October 5, 2026 – Online Session #3
- Monday, October 19, 2026 – Online Session #4
- Thursday, November 5 to Saturday, November 7, 2026 – In-Person Retreat, Durham, NC
(All online sessions for Cohort #7 will be from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm EST. Both the online sessions and the in-person retreat will be conducted only in English. Translation will not be available.)
This cohort will explore how the human experience of disability informs, challenges, expands, and enlivens the practice of preaching. In addition to considering questions of how disability experience might shape the task of preaching toward greater access and disability justice, the cohort will also practice encountering Christian Scripture through a disability hermeneutic. Cohort members will consider their own preaching contexts to explore creative and faithful ways to address themes of healing, lament, and joy in a disability-conscious manner. Learning materials for the online sessions will center the work of disabled Christian preachers and theologians. Leading up to the in-person retreat, cohort members will develop a short sermon to deliver for in-person feedback and potential publication in a future edited volume. The cohort is open to all participants who regularly preach, regardless of previous experience with or knowledge of disability and disability theology—including both lay and clergy people with or without a disability.
Cohort 8: “Preaching as Public Proclamation”*
**for college-aged students only
February – April 2027
Facilitator: Rev. Dr. Chelsea Yarborough, author of “Proclamation Beyond The Pulpit: The Expansive Homiletical Practice of Black Women”
Dates:
- Thursday, February 4, 2027 – Online Session #1
- Thursday, February 18, 2027 – Online Session #2
- Thursday, March 4, 2027 – Online Session #3
- Thursday, March 18, 2027 – Online Session #4
- Thursday, April 9 to Saturday, April 11, 2027 – In-Person Retreat, Durham, NC
(All online sessions for Cohort #8 will be from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm EST. Both the online sessions and the in-person retreat will be conducted only in English. Translation will not be available.)
Cohort 9: “Preaching as Public Proclamation”*
**for college-aged students only
June – July 2027
Facilitator: Rev. Dr. Chelsea Yarborough, author of “Proclamation Beyond The Pulpit: The Expansive Homiletical Practice of Black Women”
Dates:
- Thursday, June 3, 2027 – Online Session #1
- Thursday, June 10, 2027 – Online Session #2
- Thursday, June 17, 2027 – Online Session #3
- Thursday, June 24, 2027 – Online Session #4
- Thursday, July 9 to Saturday, July 11, 2027 – In-Person Retreat, Durham, NC
(All online sessions for Cohort #9 will be from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm EST. Both the online sessions and the in-person retreat will be conducted only in English. Translation will not be available.)
*These are tentative titles that can provide a general idea of what the theme of each cohort will be. The final title will be released once the previous cohort’s term has ended. If you are interested in finding more about one of the cohorts, you can reach to us through the phone numbers and emails provided in the “Contact Us” section.
