KMSI Lecture : Kelly Miller Smith, Sr.: More Than Just A Preacher
About this Event
Vanderbilt Divinity School and the Kelly Miller Smith Institute on Black Church Studies
announces
40 Years of Legacy and Imagination for Beloved Community: 40th Anniversary Opening Lecture
Rev. Dr. Tyshawn Gardner
Associate Professor of Preaching, David E. Garland Chair in Preaching, and Assistant and Director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University
“Kelly Miller Smith, Sr.: More Than Just A Preacher”
October 7, 2027
6:00 pm
Vanderbilt Divinity School
411 21st Ave. S., Room 124
Nashville, TN 37240
“Kelly Miller Smith, Sr.: More Than Just A Preacher”
Kelly Miller Smith, Sr. remains one of the most prolific preachers in American history. Yet, his work in and beyond Nashville, signifies that he was much more than a preacher. Smith, Sr.’s ministry in and beyond First Baptist Capitol Hill stands as a model for pastors who serve amidst the most divisive time in America. An organizer, an educator, and a Civil Rights leader, who possessed an unrivaled dedication to his family and the Body of Christ he served, Kelly Miller Smith, Sr. was more than just a preacher.
In partnership with First Baptist Capitol Hill.
Rev. Dr. Tyshawn Gardner
Reverend Dr. Tyshawn Gardner currently serves as Associate Professor of Preaching, David E. Garland Chair in Preaching, and Assistant Director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University in Waco, TX.
Prior to his appointment at Truett Seminary, Dr. Gardner served as Associate Professor and Director of the Preministerial Scholars Program at Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, Senior Pastor of Plum Grove Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for 19 years (2003-2022), as Vice President for Student Affairs at Stillman College (2019-2022), and as the President of the Tuscaloosa Chapter of the SCLC from 2016-2019.
Rev. Gardner received the Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa and the Master of Divinity degree from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, in Birmingham, where the Dean and faculty selected him as the Most Distinguished Student in 2014. He earned the PhD in Christian Preaching with distinction from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY., where his research interest was the social crisis preaching of Kelly Miller Smith, Sr., prophetic preaching, and the use of rhetoric in the African American preaching tradition. Rev. Gardner is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served in both Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. He has published two books, Sacred Anthropology: Prophetic Radicalism for Pulpit and Pew with Fortress Press (2022), and Social Crisis Preaching: Biblical Proclamation for Troubling Times with B&H Academic (2023) which was named Book of the Year by Preaching Magazine in 2024. His third book, I Heard the Preaching of the Elder: The Life, Proclamation, and Protest of Kelly Miller Smith, Sr. with Baylor University Press was published in April 2026. His fourth book, Pulpits in Protest: African American Preaching Across the Ages will be published in the Spring of 2028.
Rev. Gardner is a sought-after preacher and lecturer. His social and community activism warrants him the opportunity to be visible and vocal in the community and allows him to be actively engaged in intricate events and the affect they have on our community. Rev. Gardner is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. He is also a member of the Academy of Homiletics and the Evangelical Homiletics Society, and the Ministry Collaborative. Rev. Gardner has a heart for social and racial justice and works tirelessly to see reconciliation and unity in the community.
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