Meet Baylor’s expert on preaching to real-world challenges

What is the best prescription for the challenges faced by communities and the individuals that comprise them? Dr. Tyshawn Gardner says the answer is “Christian proclamation” — the preaching that takes place in churches around the world. He has applied his scholarship and experiences toward resources that equip pastors to share the Good News in ways that are “faithful to God, faithful to the Biblical text and [done] in wisdom.”

Gardner came to Baylor’s Truett Seminary in 2024 and serves as the David E. Garland Endowed Chair in Preaching and assistant director of the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching. An ordained Baptist pastor of 20 years and longtime scholar, Gardner is also a decorated U.S. Navy veteran, having served in both Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.

In his academic work, Gardner weaves numerous preaching-related research threads into his work with seminary students and pastors — including “social crisis preaching,” preaching that addresses the real world challenges that people face. In his 2023 book Social Crisis Preaching: Biblical Proclamation for Troubled Times, Gardner expanded his scholarship beyond the classroom to readers grappling with best to serve their communities of faith while addressing real-world needs. Addressing such issues, says Gardner, is a need that stems from a spiritual reality.

“We are social beings. And the Gospel is to be lived out with our neighbor and in relationship. Because sin is a crisis that affects us relationally, that’s why I think that to some degree, every sermon ought to have a social application,” Gardner says. “How I treat my neighbor, how I live as a husband… We don’t live out our faith in some spiritual silo.”

His work has been published in Christian journals and handbooks, and he is the author of two books, with two more underway. But his scholarship has best been lived out in the lives of pastors who seek to balance compassion and courage while addressing community needs in ways that go beyond talking points or their own experience.

“I think it’s very important for pastors to understand the people and get to know them in the crucibles of life,” Gardner says. “I want to teach my students to be faithful to God and faithful to the Biblical text, and to do it in wisdom. We speak the truth in love.”

Sic ’em, Dr. Gardner!