Sacred Synergy: A Grounded Theory of African American Women Preacher-Scholars' Proclamation, Pedagogy, and Transformational Leadership Restricted; Files Only
Palmer, Shanise (Spring 2026)
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to explore how African American women preacher-scholars employ rhetorical, theological, and pedagogical strategies to challenge the patriarchal gaze of Black preaching and reshape religious and academic spaces. This study addresses a two-fold problem: limited scholarly attention directed towards Black women who teach preaching in seminaries and divinity schools, and continual barriers to ordination in many Black churches that hinder Black women’s proclamation and their pathway from formal theological education to homiletical scholarship. These challenges reinforce patriarchal Eurocentric silos in the African American preaching tradition and homiletical instruction.
Few studies examine the experiences of Black women who identify as both preacher and scholar or have theorized how this synergistic vocation functions as a means of transformation. This study highlights the lived experiences of ten African American women preacher-scholars and examines their interpretations of how they navigate patriarchal religious and academic spaces.
Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology, this qualitative study utilizes semi-structured interviews and focused sermon analysis to examine preacher-scholars’ strategies for preaching, teaching, and leading. The study is informed by three theoretical lenses relevant to the emergent data: womanist theology and ethics, intersectionality, and bell hooks’ guiding definition of patriarchy. The study’s Afrocentric methodological orientation, drawing on Molefi Asante’s concept of nommo, “the generative and productive power of the word,” resists Eurocentric claims to universalism, honors Black women’s epistemologies, and positions preacher-scholars as reliable sources of theological reflection and knowledge construction.
Six themes emerged from the data: 1) “Awakenings” and Altar-ed/Altered Paths of Vocational Formation; 2) “Dangers Seen and Unseen”: Contextual Confrontation of Black Homiletical Patriarchy in the Church and Academy; 3)“Expansive Sacred Sounds”: Reimagining Proclamation; 4) Pedagogy as “Co-Creation and Encounter”; 5) Institutional Navigation through “Velvet Brick” Transformational Leadership; and 6) “How We Got Over”: Sustainability through an Ethic of Communal Care. These six themes form the connective strands of the emergent grounded theory Sacred Synergy, a process model that describes preacher-scholars’ proclamation, pedagogy, and transformational leadership as partnering expressions of a singular divine calling, with implications for homiletical discourse, formal theological education, Black faith communities, and leadership in religious and academic contexts.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Statement of the Problem
Research Questions
Purpose and Significance of the Study
Theoretical Framework
Definitions
Organization of the Study
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Part One: Marginalization of Black Women in the African American Preaching Tradition
The Patriarchy the Church Built: A Guiding Definition of Patriarchy
The Gendered Pulpit and Patriarchal Constructions
Patriarchal Landscape of African American Preaching
Expansiveness of African American Women’s Proclamation
Part Two: The Patriarchal Gaze of Homiletical Instruction and Black Women’s Scholarly Interventions
Historical Context and Effect of Underrepresentation of Black Female Homileticians Upon Homiletical Scholarship and Discourse
Theoretical Landscape of Study on Black Women’s Proclamation in the Church and Academy
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
Afrocentricity as a Methodological Approach
Research Method and Design
Positionality Statement
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Participant Selection
Limits of Research Design
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
Introduction
Theme 1: Awakenings and Altar-ed/Altered Paths
“I Didn’t See Any of It Coming”: Diverse Entry Points to Role as Preacher-Scholar
Instrumental Influences
Divine Direction
Theme 2: “Dangers Seen and Unseen”: Contextual Confrontation of Black Homiletical Patriarchy in the Church and Academy
Illogical Commitment to Patriarchy
Twoness and the Threat of Excellence
Economies of Visibility and Aesthetic Expectations
Economic Precarity and Inequitable Compensation
Theme 3: “Expansive Sacred Sounds”: Reimagining Proclamation
Engagement with Womanist Homiletical Practices
Expansive Modes of Sermon Delivery
Preaching Dexterity
Theme 4: Pedagogy as “Co-Creation and Encounter”
Centering Marginalized Voices
Cultivating “Rhetorical Confidence”
Pedagogical Innovations – How Preacher-Scholars Practically Approach Homiletical Instruction
Theme 5: Institutional Navigation through “Velvet Brick” Transformational Leadership
Leadership Styles
Justice as Institutional Transformation Through Curriculum Change
Creating Safety for Marginalized Voices
Theme 6: “How We Got Over”: Sustainability through an Ethic of Communal Care
Self-Care and Communal Care
Sacred Synergy: A Grounded Theory
Overview and Emergence of Sacred Synergy
Facets of Sacred Synergy
CHAPTER 5: IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Implications for Homiletical Scholarship
Implications for Homiletical Pedagogy
Implications for Black Faith Communities
Implications for Transformational Leadership in the Church and the Academy
Recommendations for Future Research
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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File download under embargo until 27 May 2028 | 2026-04-06 12:39:19 -0400 | File download under embargo until 27 May 2028 |
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