Reverend Larry J. Morris III is the Executive Director/Lead Pastor of the Inclusive Collective,  Co-Planter of Communion Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and owner of Larry J. Morris III, LLC. His areas of study include homiletics, rhetoric, and theology. Specifically, he’s focused on the contributions of Black LGBTQIA+ communities to these fields. For his dissertation, Larry is focusing on the intersection of Blackness, Queerness, and Sacred Rhetoric, particularly the contributions of the Black LGBTQIA+ community to the tradition of Black Sacred Rhetoric.

He chose the PhD Program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at CTS because he wants to study the genius of Black preaching and sacred rhetoric with the intention of making a contribution to the field. Additionally, he wants to study under the direction of Dr. Frank A. Thomas and with the Christian Theological Seminary community.

Some of his recent contributions include:

• Being named the Managing Editor of Homiletic, The Journal of the Academy of Homiletics
• Providing a book review of Lisa Cressman’s The Gospel People Don’t Want to Hear: Preaching Challenging Messages: Fortress, 2020. Homiletic, 46(1), 91-92.
• Receiving William Gilbert and Florence Jones Scholarship 2021
• Being accepted into the David G. Buttrick Certificate Program in Homiletic Peer Coaching Cohort IV at Vanderbilt