Candler is well-represented on the 2025-2026 list of the 25 Most Effective Christian Biblical Preachers in the Black Preaching Tradition, released in December by the National Black Church Initiative.
Among the 25 honorees is Bandy Professor of Preaching and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Teresa L. Fry Brown. Created in 1986 with a gift from B. Jackson Bandy, the Bandy Chair is considered by many to be the country’s premier chair in homiletics. Fry Brown has served on the Candler faculty since 1994, and in 2010 became the first Black woman to attain the rank of full professor. She is ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and served as the denomination’s historiographer, executive director of research and scholarship, and editor of the AME Review.
The list also includes three Candler alumni: Reginald Sharpe 18T, senior pastor of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois; Charles Goodman Jr. 05T, senior pastor and teacher of the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia; and William E. Flippin Sr. 82T, senior pastor of The Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church in Atlanta.
In addition, four Candler alumni and one current student received an honorable mention:
- Bernice King 90L 90T, CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center For Nonviolent Social Change
- Courtney Buggs 14T 19G, assistant professor of homiletics at Christian Theological Seminary
- Allison Henderson-Brooks 19T, assistant dean of students at Candler and senior pastor of the historic Hill First Baptist Church in Athens, Georgia
- Debra Lynn Haggins 21T, university chaplain and pastor of the historic Memorial Church at Hampton University
- Tamarkus Cook MDiv ’26, pastor of Saint Smyrna Baptist Church in Newnan, Georgia
According to the website of the National Black Church Initiative, the list is not intended to be a competition but rather a recognition of “those who have put in the study and have mastered the scripture to help all of us with the issues of clarity and accuracy.”