Xavier Johnson Appointed as 2025-26 Homiletician in Residence for Grant Project
Contact: Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade, Lexington Theological Seminary • lschade@lextheo.edu • 610.420.6861
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Rev. Dr. Xavier Johnson, Assistant Professor in the Practice of Preaching and Black Church Studies at United Theological Seminary in Ohio, has been appointed as Homiletician in Residence for the 2025-26 program year of the grant project “Compelling Preaching for a Climate-Changed World,” a partnership of Lexington Theological Seminary (LTS), The BTS Center, and Creation Justice Ministries.
The project, funded by a $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of their Compelling Preaching Initiative, aims to equip preachers with training, resources, support networks, and research for addressing the urgency of the climate crisis and other environmental issues. The purpose of the initiative is to foster and support preaching that better inspires, encourages, and guides people to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully.
Dr. Johnson teaches in the areas of homiletics and Black Church studies. He is also the pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio. His research interests converge at the intersection of clergy leadership, Black religion, social justice, environmental issues, and preaching.
Says Johnson: “I am delighted to deepen my connection to this project and contribute to it in a more substantive way. Given the current climate crisis, this is important and necessary work! I look forward to helping to equip preachers with the tools they will need to address it in their contexts.”
Grant Director, Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade, Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at LTS, notes that Dr. Johnson is “well-respected as a scholar and professor with incredible breadth and depth. His commitment to environmental justice and Black preaching represents the best of what this up-and-coming generation of homiletical scholars and practitioners has to offer. We are grateful to have Dr. Johnson’s academic and pastoral expertise to guide our program.”
Dr. Johnson served as one of the Kinship Circle Facilitators for the grant’s 2024-25 EcoPreacher Cohort, a monthly online gathering of preachers for education, collegial support, and skill-building for preaching in a climate-changed world. He also served as one of the Coaches for the EcoPreacher Sermon Coaching Groups in the grant program. At LTS, he will also be teaching a course on “Preparing Sermons for a Climate-Challenged World” as part of their 2025-26 certificate program, Pastoral Ministries Amid Climate Challenges.
Lexington Theological Seminary is one of 142 organizations that are receiving grants through the Compelling Preaching Initiative. Reflecting the diversity of Christianity in the United States, the organizations are affiliated with mainline Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox Christian and Pentecostal faith communities. Many of the organizations are rooted in Black church, Hispanic and Asian Christian traditions.
Those interested in applying for the next EcoPreacher Cohort can click here to learn more.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.
About Lexington Theological Seminary
Lexington Theological Seminary is an accredited graduate theological institution of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Consistent with the Disciples’ historic commitment to Christian unity, the Seminary is intentionally ecumenical with students, faculty, staff and trustees of various denominations. The mission of Lexington Theological Seminary is to prepare faithful leaders for the church of Jesus Christ and, thus, to strengthen the church’s participation in God’s mission for the world.
About The BTS Center
The BTS Center is a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation in Portland, Maine, building on the legacy of the former Bangor Theological Seminary. Today BTS seeks to catalyze spiritual imagination, with enduring wisdom, for transformative faith leadership.
About Creation Justice Ministries
Creation Justice Ministries is a fiscally-sponsored project of Disciples Home Missions of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ. With ecumenical roots in the National Council of Churches, CJM’s mission is to educate, equip and mobilize communions and denominations, congregations, and individuals to protect, restore, and rightly share God’s creation.