14 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY Preaching that Inspired Commitment to Racial Unity and Equality: Learning from the Pulpit Leadership of Gardner Calvin Taylor Bryan R. Price, Ph.D. Dr. Bryan R. Price (Leadership Studies, '19) is Senior Pastor of Love Fellowship Baptist Church in Romeoville, Illinois. With a congregation boasting more than twelve thousand members at its peak, and a ministry spanning 42 years, during his tenure Gardner Calvin Taylor was one of the most influential Black pastors in the nation. He was a prominent leader in the National Baptist Convention, USA, and the second president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, a denomination he helped form for the purpose of providing a platform for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.1 In addition to his local pastorate, Taylor was heavily involved in the civic and political life of Brooklyn, New York. As a highly sought after itinerant preacher, Taylor frequently crossed racial and ethnic barriers with the Gospel, using every opportunity to address matters of race during a time of heightened social unrest. This article focuses on the problem of racial equality in America, a malady that has plagued the nation for centuries.2 Taylor spent his career addressing matters of race from the pulpit, challenging listeners to take ownership of America’s spiritual and moral brokenness and to engage constructively in the work of social change. This article argues that Gardner Calvin Taylor’s approach to preaching was a key factor in his leadership of the pursuit of racial unity and equality. The purpose of this article is not to rehash an old discussion about race relations in America. Nor does it seek to create a new platform for a conversation already in progress. Instead, this article aims at a solution by examining the pulpit leadership of Gardner Calvin Taylor to discover how his homiletic method applied to racism in America. With Taylor’s example,
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