CTS Alumni and Students Bring Their Voices to MMPC 2026 

 

When preachers from across the country gather in Indianapolis for the 2026 Mixed Methods Preaching Conference, several of the voices helping lead the conversation will have deep connections to Christian Theological Seminary. 

Three CTS alumni—Rev. Lisa M. Goods, PhD (PhD ’26), Rev. Dr. Anastasia Holman (MDiv ’09, DMin ’25), and Rev. Dr. Milton Keys (MDiv ’17, DMin ’23)—will join current PhD students Rev. Dr. Aisha R. Lovens and Rev. Jason C. Reynolds as speakers at this year’s conference. Together, they reflect the breadth of scholarship, ministry, and lived experience that CTS students and graduates bring to the practice of preaching. 

The Mixed Methods Preaching Conference (MMPC), held October 19–22, invites preachers, ministry leaders, scholars, students, and curious learners into a gathering devoted to the craft, character, and calling of preaching. Directed by Rev. Courtney V. Buggs, PhD, this year’s conference explores the theme Just Preachers, Just Preaching, considering what it means for preaching to be ethical, honest, humane, and rooted in the preacher’s lived witness. 

For the CTS alumni and students participating in the conference, those questions intersect with ministries and scholarship addressing some of the most pressing conversations taking place in churches and communities today. 

Alumni Bringing Scholarship into Practice 

Rev. Lisa M. Goods, PhD (PhD ’26) completed her PhD in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at CTS this year under the mentorship of Rev. Dr. Frank A. Thomas. A pastor, preacher, teacher, scholar, chaplain, womanist, and justice-seeker, Goods serves as Senior Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church of Cleveland, where she is the first woman to serve as pastor in the congregation’s 170-year history. Her ministry has included pastoral leadership, theological education, chaplaincy, youth ministry, and community formation. 

Rev. Dr. Anastasia Holman (MDiv ’09, DMin ’25) brings together spiritual care, theological education, and healthcare leadership. An ACPE Certified Educator and Board Certified Chaplain, Holman serves as Director of Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Education for the IU Health System. She also teaches in multiple theological and medical education settings and serves on the CTS Board of Trustees. Her work reflects the scholar-practitioner model, connecting theological reflection with the lived realities of patients, families, caregivers, and communities. 

For Rev. Dr. Milton Keys (MDiv ’17, DMin ’23), preaching and theology are deeply connected to disability advocacy and inclusion. Keys is founder and executive director of Advocates Embassy, which works with churches to create environments where people with disabilities are welcomed and have access to abundant life. A preacher, teacher, producer, and disability theologian, Keys also released his first book, Finding My Place: A Devotional About Disability and the Human Experience, through Advocates Embassy in 2025. 

Current Students Exploring New Questions in Preaching 

CTS’s presence at MMPC also includes two members of Cohort 3 of the PhD Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric whose research is exploring emerging and sometimes challenging questions for contemporary preaching. 

Rev. Dr. Aisha R. Lovens studies sex rhetoric in Black churches, embodiment, eros, womanist sexual ethics, and the homiletical possibilities found within Black literary and religious traditions. Her scholarship, teaching, workshops, and public engagement seek to create intellectually rigorous and ethically grounded conversations about preaching, sexuality, embodiment, and Black religious life. In 2025, she was named a Sacred Writes Fellow for public-facing scholars, and her forthcoming work includes a quare womanist reading of Juanita Bynum’s No More Sheets. 

Rev. Jason C. Reynolds is examining another rapidly evolving question: the effects of artificial intelligence on Black preaching. His research interests also include ethics, narrative preaching, and rhetorical analysis of scripture and sermons. Reynolds has taught preaching in seminary and community settings, including serving as a teaching assistant for Dr. Buggs at CTS and leading seminars examining AI and preaching. Beyond his scholarship, he serves as Senior Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Jose, California, where his ministry has included education, public health partnerships, community advocacy, and the creative arts. 

Formation That Extends Beyond the Classroom 

The presence of CTS alumni and students throughout MMPC illustrates one of the ideas at the heart of the conference: preaching is shaped not only by what happens in the pulpit, but by the lives, communities, questions, and experiences preachers bring with them. 

It also reflects the continuing relationship between MMPC and theological education at CTS. The conference began in 2019 under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Frank A. Thomas as an extension of the PhD Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric. Today, alumni and current students are helping carry that work forward—bringing their scholarship into conversation with the wider preaching community and inviting others to think deeply about what faithful, ethical, and compelling preaching requires now. 

At MMPC 2026, those conversations will range from disability and embodiment to spiritual care, womanist thought, artificial intelligence, pastoral leadership, and justice. Together, these CTS voices demonstrate that the study of preaching is not separate from the realities facing congregations and communities. It is formed in conversation with them. 

The 2026 Mixed Methods Preaching Conference, Just Preachers, Just Preaching, will take place October 19–22. Learn More: www.cts.edu/mmpc/