● Preach Like the Greats · 34 of 87
Preach Like C.L.
Franklin.
Head first, heart second: reason it plainly, then sing the same truth home.
- ✓7 of his sermons, studied start to finish
- ✓Ten steps to preach the way he did
- ✓A fill-in outline in his shape, 9 pages
Where should we send it?
Fill this in and the PDF is yours on the next screen.
— Why he’s one of the greats
Head first, heart second: reason it plainly, then sing the same truth home.
C.L. Franklin came out of the Mississippi Delta, pastored in Memphis and Buffalo, and became pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit in 1946. Live recordings of his sermons were sold in record stores across the country, and his Sunday radio broadcasts made him the best-known Black preacher of his generation. His secret: he preached the head first and the heart second, and he never let the second cancel the first. Each sermon opened in plain, reasoned speech. Then, at the story’s emotional turn, he moved into the whoop, a chanted, musical delivery, and used it to restate the lesson rather than abandon it. As the chant rose, he narrowed the sermon to one phrase the people could carry home.
- 70+Albums of recorded sermons
- 1946He became pastor of New Bethel in Detroit
- 1953The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest, now in the National Recording Registry
What makes his style unique
“When it comes to the world of black preaching, all roads go back to C.L. Franklin.”
— Who wrote this
We’re pastors. We’ve had your Monday.
Pastor Center is built and written by pastors — a lead pastor who planted churches, and a church planter who grew one to 4,000 in four years. The same team teaches 9 free courses and 164 lessons. This guide is the short version.
- 9free courses
- 164lessons, all free
- ARCChurches partner
— What you get
What’s inside
Preach Like C.L. Franklin — Head first, heart second: reason it plainly, then sing the same truth home..
- 01Why he’s one of the greatsThe story, the numbers and what made his style his own.
- 02What he does7 of his sermons, studied start to finish, and the shape they share.
- 03How he does itTen steps to preach the way he did.
- 04His outlineWhere the time goes, movement by movement.
- 05Write one like C.L. FranklinA fill-in outline in his shape, ready for your own text.
- 06SourcesEvery quote and number, cited.
— The plan
Three steps. Starting today.
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One short form. The PDF is on the very next screen — no trial, no card, nothing to wait for.
Study him in one sitting
9 pages: 7 of his sermons studied, ten steps, and an outline you fill in with your own text.
Preach it Sunday
Fill in the outline with your own text and preach your next sermon the way C.L. Franklin would.
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