Brite Divinity School Launches New Fellowship to Foster Innovation in Worship and Preaching
The Gongloff Creative Worship and Prophetic Preaching Fellowship brings together a cohort of innovative practitioners and scholars to reimagine what worship and preaching can look like in these complex times
Gongloff Fellows to play significant role in Brite’s Ministry Week 2027
Read more about the inaugural Gongloff Fellows here
FORT WORTH, TEXAS – Today, Brite Divinity School is proud to announce the inaugural cohort of the Gongloff Creative Worship and Prophetic Preaching Fellowship, a yearlong fellowship that brings together preacher-practitioners and scholars to imagine innovative ways to advance creative worship and prophetic preaching in the Christian church. The Gongloff Fellowship will introduce the Brite community, lay church folk, and ministerial leaders to reimagined practices of worship and preaching at the intersections of faith, context, and justice.
This fellowship was funded by a charitable donation from Nancy Gongloff, in memory of her spouse the Rev. Paul Gongloff, whose innovative approach to ministry addressed social justice concerns through community activism, prophetic preaching, and creative worship. This fellowship continues Gongloff’s legacy.
“We recognize that we are living in a time saturated with conflicting voices—some claiming to proclaim truth while perpetuating harm, distorting reality, or upholding systems of untruth in sacred and secular spaces alike,” said Dr. Oluwatomisin Olayinka Oredein, Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives and Theological Imagination. “Today, cultivating worship and preaching practices that are purposeful, truthful, and creatively grounded is essential and urgent. By bringing together this group of innovative practitioners and scholars, we hope to reimagine and rethink what impactful worship and prophetic preaching can look like.”
During the 2026–2027 academic year, the Gongloff Fellows will lead educational learning labs while also supporting Brite in exploring how worship and preaching can be reinvigorated, deepened, and re-energized through helping co-design Brite’s flagship, three-day conference – Ministry Week, scheduled for February 1–3, 2027.
“This is a moment for prophets. And yet, increasingly, preachers must be creative to be heard,” said the Rev. Dr. Stephen Cady, President of Brite Divinity School. “The Gongloff fellows, named after a dear friend and colleague in ministry, come together to equip contemporary faith leaders for the creative and prophetic work of worship, leadership, and preaching.”
The inaugural Gongloff Creative Worship and Prophetic Preaching fellows include: Dr. Timothy L. Adkins-Jones, Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Boston University School of Theology; the Rev. Dr. Cláudio Carvalhaes, Marylin Seven Endowed Chair in Religion and the Arts at Union Seminary; the Rev. Tisha Dixon-Williams, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton, NY; Dr. Carolyn B. Helsel, Associate Professor in the Blair Monie Distinguished Chair in Homiletics at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary; the Rev. Dr. Mihee Kim-Kort, co-pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis, Maryland; the Rev. Ryon Price, Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas; the Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson, Assistant Teaching Professor of Preaching and Practical Theology at Wake Forest University School of Divinity; the Rev. Dr. Irie Lynne Session, co-pastor of The Gathering in Dallas, Texas; the Rev. Dr. Dawn Darwin Weaks, co-pastor of Connection Christian Church in Odessa, Texas; the Rev. Dr. Reginald W. Williams Jr, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in University Park, Illinois; and the Rev. Dr. Jess Winderweedle, Assistant Teaching Professor of Preaching and Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Drew Theological School.
About Brite Divinity School
Founded in 1914, Brite Divinity School is one of the premier progressive theological institutions in the Southwest. Located on the Texas Christian University Campus in Fort Worth, Texas; Brite Divinity School prepares leaders by focusing on excellent scholarship, pastoral training, and spiritual development through ministerial and academic programs. Led by a transformative calling, Brite Divinity School seeks to educate and inspire people to serve God’s diverse world as leaders in churches, the academy, and public life.