The proposed theme of this writing project: “When The Saints Go Marching In--Homegoing Traditions and Trajectories in the African American Church.”

The proposed outline for this writing project is as follows:

The Last Miles of the Way: Personal and Pastoral Reflections of the Journey of a Black Christian Preacher

The Last Enemy: The Socio-Theological Dynamics of Death and Dying in the Prophetic Imagination of Black Folks

If This Earthly Tabernacle Be Destroyed: The Business of the Burial and the Politics of the Body

When The Saints Go Marching In: Traditions and Trajectories in the Homegoing Worship Service

Is There A Word From the Lord? The Preacher As Exegetical Escort in the Cosmology of Funeral Preaching

When We All Get To Heaven: Black Eschatology, Hope and Last Things

This proposal will examine an emerging perspective on Black Homegoing Traditions by examining the socio-theological trajectories that inform, inspire, institutionalize, and gives life to this crucial aspect of the African American religious experience. “When the Saints Go Marching In” will focus on current research from the academy, effective pastors, congregants, morticians, and social thinkers, coupled with my personal and pastoral reflections of “dying and rising with Christ” after 30 years of ordained ministry as a practicing pastor who has stood with bereaving families, congregations, and communities in a time of sorrow and grief.