● Preach Like the Greats · 36 of 87
Preach Like Gardner C.
Taylor.
Preach like a poet who never forgets the people in the pews, and land on Christ.
- ✓6 of his sermons, studied start to finish
- ✓Ten steps to preach the way he did
- ✓A fill-in outline in his shape, 9 pages
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Fill this in and the PDF is yours on the next screen.
— Why he’s one of the greats
Preach like a poet who never forgets the people in the pews, and land on Christ.
Gardner Calvin Taylor pastored Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant from 1948 to 1990. He was a friend of Martin Luther King Jr., helped found the Progressive National Baptist Convention in 1961, and became known as the “dean of American preaching.” His secret: he preached like a poet who never forgot the people in the pews. He chose words for their sound as well as their sense, and he painted the biblical scene so vividly that listeners felt they were standing in it. His sermons usually moved inductively, by scenes and “moves” rather than numbered points, toward one big idea. He kept a huge rhetorical range under tight control, so the room felt something was about to break loose, and every sermon landed on the person and work of Christ.
- 42Years at Concord Baptist in Brooklyn (1948-1990)
- 1976Yale’s Lyman Beecher Lectures
- 2000Presidential Medal of Freedom
What makes his style unique
“He whispers it, and then he shouts it; he pats, pinches and probes it.”
— 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 Gardner C. Taylor — Preach like a poet who never forgets the people in the pews, and land on Christ..
- 01Why he’s one of the greatsThe story, the numbers and what made his style his own.
- 02What he does6 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 Gardner C. TaylorA 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: 6 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 Gardner C. Taylor would.
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