Learning from a Legend: What Gardner C. Taylor Can Teach Us about Preaching
Ebook
Overview
In April 2015, America’s last pulpit prince died. When Gardner C. Taylor (1918-2015), former senior pastor of Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, departed this life at the age of ninety-six, the United States lost one of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, not enough preachers today know his name or why his preaching can enrich and bless the church today. Learning from a Legend: What Gardner C. Taylor Can Teach Us about Preaching provides Christian preachers with much-needed lessons, wisdom, and insights from Dr. Taylor, the dean of American preaching. It highlights six lessons that Dr. Taylor can teach preachers in the twenty-first century about pain, redemption, eloquence, apprenticeship, context, and holiness. Not only did Dr. Taylor teach and preach these lessons, he lived them. Those wanting to learn more about Dr. Taylor’s preaching while also sharpening their own preaching ought to read this book.
”Rare it is that while blood is still running warm in the human
body that a preacher already belongs to the ages. Only a few names
belong in that pantheon of pulpit royalty. Spurgeon, MacLaren,
Chrysostom and a small coterie of Christian preachers belong to
those stamped with pulpit immortality while yet living. Alongside
those names firmly fixed forever is that of Rev. Dr. Gardner C.
Taylor. Now he has joined that great cloud of witnesses up there
somewhere. His name was already mentioned with their names. The man
who loved to read MacLaren has now joined that Scott in heaven.
Wouldn’t you like to hear that conversation?
Dr. Alcantara offers here not an encomium of praise only but also a
way for us mere mortals to relate to this pulpit paragon. The
mighty peal of the concerto that was Gardner C. Taylor’s life can
set chords vibrating in our own lives. Alcantara has let us into
the concert hall so that somewhere in the gallery we feel the
floorboards rattling in our lives with the thunder of Taylor’s
preaching."
--Joel C. Gregory, Professor of Preaching and Evangelism, Truett
Theological Seminary, Waco, TX
“April 5, 2015 for me, like most preachers of the gospel; black or
white, male or female, young or old was a difficult day as news
began to spread throughout preaching circles and around the nation
that on Resurrection Sunday Gardner C. Taylor had slipped into
eternal life. It was hard then and it is hard now. For years, I
have wondered what would become of the preaching methodologies of
the great preaching giants whose pulpit habits and practices,
preparation and delivery, should be replicated in every age.
In this companion piece to Crossover Preaching, Jared E.
Alcantara has provided a most valuable resource on Gardner C.
Taylor for those unfamiliar with him and for those who knew him
well. For those unfamiliar, you now have a most practical, fitting,
and insightful introduction to the man, his message, ministry, and
method. For those who were blessed to know him well, we now have a
treasure that soothes the ache his passing caused and infuses our
preaching with fresh information, inspiration, and insight.
I will never forget the melody in that voice, the attention to
‘lofty’ pulpit language, the reverence for the sacred space of the
pulpit whenever Dr. Taylor preached. As I read Dr. Alcantara’s
important work, I smiled and nodded my head and said to myself ‘I
remember’ as I heard Dr. Taylor’s voice on every page. I am sure
you will as well. This volume will serve as an indispensable
resource to the ongoing necessity to preserve the legacy of this
preacher without peer: Gardner Calvin Taylor."
--Carolyn Ann Knight, Evangelist; Founder and President, Can Do!
Ministries
"Gardner C. Taylor was the epitome of great preaching! This book is
an instant classic that should be mandatory reading for all
preachers. You will be inspired, challenged, and equipped in a
fresh way as a preacher of the gospel. Dr. Alcantara not only
introduces us to how Taylor models vital preaching habits, but he
also gives us tools for incorporating them in our sermons. The
preaching community is truly enriched by this seminal work."
--Bryan Carter, Pastor, Concord Church, Dallas, TX
"Like an archaeologist unearthing historical treasure, Jared
Alcantara unveils to a wider audience one of the world’s most
hidden preaching gems: Gardner C. Taylor. His practical yet
substantive excavations into Dr. Taylor’s life will help all of us
enlarge our gospel reach, enabling us to preach a multiethnic
gospel, one big enough for the Presbyterians and the AME’s. This is
such a prophetic and timely book, I’m making it required reading
for every preacher I train."
--Bryan Loritts, Pastor, Abundant Life Christian Fellowship,
Mountain View, CA; Author, Saving the Saved
"The scales by which we measure preaching are imbalanced. We
consider width over depth, size over weight. This book has come
just in time. It gives a new generation access to the mind,
ministry, and heart of Dr. Taylor. It is a compass for those at
risk of losing their way. In these pages are principles that never
go out of style, matters that elevate preaching from that which
moves men’s ears to that which moves their hearts."
--Charlie Dates, Pastor, Progressive Baptist Church, Chicago,
IL
"It is the elder’s voice that is little consulted by young
preachers in our times; as a result, the signs of African American
preaching’s sacred historical and cultural legacy are increasingly
disappearing. But there’s hope for today’s journeying preacher. In
his timely work, homiletician border crosser Jared Alcantara proves
why the sagely life of Gardner C. Taylor--the unequaled pulpit sage
of the modern age--still speaks from the grave. Not only is it
evident that Alcantara sat at Taylor’s bedside, but this work also
reveals that he has placed flowers at his grave. Taylor’s life and
work epitomized faithful globe-trotting on the blessed but uneven
homiletical road. For pastor and teacher alike, this
boundary-crossing book offers readers an updated roadmap for
preaching the timely and timeless gospel of Jesus Christ
authentically, biblically, imaginatively, and contextually, in
partnership with the community. How shall we preach? With the Holy
Bible in one hand and this travel companion in the other."
--Kenyatta R. Gilbert, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Howard
Divinity School; Author,A Pursued Justice: Black Preaching from
the Great Migration to Civil Rights
Product Details
- Title : Learning from a Legend: What Gardner C. Taylor Can Teach Us about Preaching
- Author: Alcántara, Jared E.
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Publication Date: 2016
- ISBN: 9781498226103
Jared E. Alcántara (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is professor of preaching and occupies the Paul W. Powell Endowed Chair in Preaching at Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University, in Waco, Texas. His recent publications include Let the Legends Preach (2021) and The Practices of Christian Preaching (Spanish: 2020; English 2019). Alcántara 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.