Guest Preachers Fall 2023

The Chapel continues its tradition of stirring preaching with the schedule of guest preachers given below for Fall 2023. All of these preachers will deliver their sermons during the Chapel's weekly Sunday service at 11:00 a.m.

See the Chapel's calendar for a full schedule of worship services, including dates when Chapel Dean Luke A. Powery and other Chapel staff will preach. A recent archive of services is available on the Chapel website and a podcast of sermons is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. For sermons before 2003, see the  Duke Chapel Recordings collection on the Duke Libraries website.

October 1 — Rev. Dr. Jerusha Neal

An assistant professor of homiletics at Duke Divinity School, Rev. Dr. Neal has spent her ministry preaching in cross-cultural spaces and bridging denominational communities. Serving as keynote preacher for such events as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly, the Young Preacher’s Festival and the Homegrown North Carolina Women’s Preaching Festival, she is committed to encouraging the voices of young preachers—and particularly the voices of women—in the risky proclamation of gospel hope. In 2020, she was awarded the Exemplary Teacher of the Year award from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. Professor Neal’s scholarly work examines the action of the Spirit on the performative borders of body and culture. Her most recent book, The Overshadowed Preacher: Mary, the Spirit, and the Labor of Proclamation, received a 2020 Christianity Today Jesus Creed Book Award for the Preaching Life. She is an ordained American Baptist minister with broad ecumenical experience, most recently serving as a Global Ministries missionary to the Fiji Islands through the United Methodist Church. During her years in Fiji, she served as Dean of Studies at Davuilevu Theological College, the oldest theological seminary in that nation.

October 8 — Bishop William Willimon

A bishop in the United Methodist Church, Professor Willimon served as the dean of Duke Chapel and professor of Christian ministry at Duke University for twenty years. He returned to Duke after serving as the bishop of the North Alabama Conference from 2004 to 2012. He has taught in Germany, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia in various seminaries. Professor Willimon is the author of one hundred books that have sold over a million copies and are translated into eight languages. His book Worship as Pastoral Care was selected as one of the ten most useful books for pastors in 1979 by the Academy of Parish Clergy. His Pastor: the Theology and Practice of Ordained Leadership is used in dozens of seminaries in the United States and Asia and Heaven and Earth: Advent and Incarnation will be studied by the Congregation at Duke Chapel this December. His articles have appeared in many publications including Theology Today, Interpretation, Liturgy, and Christianity Today. He is editor-at-large for The Christian Century. Over eight hundred manuscripts and recordings of his sermons can be found in the Duke Chapel Recordings digital archive.

October 22 — Rev. Dr. Neichelle R. Guidry

Rev. Dr. Guidry (she/her/hers) is a teacher, preacher, leader, and commentator, who serves as the dean of the chapel and the director of the WISDOM Center at Spelman College. A womanist homiletician and practitioner, she is the author of Curating a World: Sermonic Words from a Young Woman Who Preaches. She is a member of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, the MLK Jr. International Chapel Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. As a certified coach and the founder of Flourish From Within, LLC, Dr. Guidry walks with Black women of faith as they cultivate deeper spiritual wellness and vocational clarity. For her service and dedication, she has been recognized by media outlets such as Time, Ebony, The New York Times, Vice, and more. She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University (bachelor of arts), Yale Divinity School (master of divinity), and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (doctor of philosophy).

October 29 — Rev. Dr. Brian Konkol

Rev. Dr. Konkol serves as dean of Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University. An ordained Lutheran minister, he is responsible for guiding, nurturing, and enhancing religious, spiritual, moral, and ethical life at the university and across its extended community. As a member of the chancellor's executive team, chancellor's council, and university leadership team, he provides support and input for university-wide strategic initiatives and overall operations. Also at Syracuse, he is a professor of practice in the Department of Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences, a senior research associate in the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC) in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and a co-founder of the Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Ministry through a partnership with Le Moyne College. At the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, he is an honorary associate professor in the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics. Rev. Dr. Konkol has a diverse and global background of leadership and learning, having served at parishes, ministries, and schools in Guyana, South Africa, and the United States. He is a published author and sought-after international speaker on the intersections of leadership, learning, belief, character, discovery, and fulfillment.

December 3 — Beth Moore

An author and speaker, Beth Moore is a dynamic teacher whose conferences take her across the globe. She is a dedicated wife, and mother of two adult daughters and three delightful grandchildren. She lives in Houston, Texas, where she leads Living Proof Ministries. She has written numerous bestselling books and Bible studies, and recently celebrated twenty-five years of Living Proof Live conferences. She can be seen teaching Bible studies on the television program Living Proof with Beth Moore, aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

December 10 — Rev. Dr. Jared E. Alcántara

Rev. Dr. Alcántara is the Paul W. Powell Endowed Chair in Preaching at Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University. His recent publications include Let the Legends Preach and The Practices of Christian Preaching. A professor of preaching, he is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, the Evangelical Homiletics Society, and the Hispanic Theological Initiative. An ordained Baptist minister, he has also served as a youth pastor, associate pastor, and teaching pastor in Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and New Jersey.

December 24 — Rev. Dr. Richard Lischer

Rev. Dr. Lischer is the James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Duke Divinity School. He is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and has pastoral experience in rural and suburban settings. He joined the Duke Divinity School faculty in 1979 and taught homiletics and ministry. In his scholarly work, Dr. Lischer has sought to portray proclamation, ministry, and rhetoric as integrated theological activities. His books include The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America, Open Secrets: A Memoir of Faith and Discovery, and Stations of the Heart: Parting with a Son. His  book Just Tell the Truth: A Call to Faith, Hope, and Courage contains several sermons preached in Duke Chapel.

December 31 — Rev. Molly Brummett Wudel

Rev. Wudel pastors Emmaus Way Church in Durham, an ecumenical community. She is an ordained Baptist minister in partnership with the Alliance of Baptists and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. In addition to pastoring, she serves on Wake Forest University School of Divinity Board of Directors, facilitates Confronting Whiteness cohorts, and writes for the Baptist News Global and the Alliance of Baptists. Her sermons have been featured in The World Is Waiting For You: Celebrating the 50th Ordination of Addie Davis and Believe the Women: A Journey of Liberation With Alliance of Baptist Women. She was a contributing writer for Prayers and Blessings for Healthcare Workers. Rev. Wudel focuses her time on creating space for theological and spiritual formation, cultivating authentic communal relationships, engaging dialogical preaching, and investing in the transformative work of equity and justice, especially through organizing with Durham CAN where she serves as co-chair of the Clergy Caucus and member of the Strategy Team.