Introduction to the Practice of African American Preaching

CNLP 826 | How to Preach Through Controversial Topics: Charlie Dates on What White Preachers and Black Preachers Can Learn From Each Other and Preaching So a Dead Room Wakes Up

The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, 27 August 2026. The book comes up at 13 min 42 sec in.

Charlie Dates recounts Frank Thomas's account of attending a teenage friend's funeral as a young man, where Black preaching transformed his grief into joy—an experience Thomas opens what Dates tentatively describes as "the intro to African-American preaching." Dates uses this as evidence for what makes Black preaching multidimensional and experiential rather than merely cognitive.

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