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Dec 1, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
Here we were at the end of another semester, so I’m thinking about endings. We’ve come out of a holiday and will soon enter another one, but before that, we will have to navigate a series of endings. Maybe there’s a class that has been challenging or invigorating, but either way, how you finish that class will say something about your character. So often, the headline news spotlights start-up companies where the excitement is in the beginning of a new venture.
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Nov 16, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
During this year of celebration of Duke’s Centennial, believe it or not, I have become inspired by the Bylaws of Duke University. Like many universities, Duke has religious roots, which is not necessarily surprising for those who know the history of Christianity and higher education across the world.
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Nov 3, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
With so much having already been said — on all sides — about tomorrow’s election, I am taking my cue for this column from the Irish poet Pádraig Ó Tuama. Also a theologian and mediator, Ó Tuama will lead a poetry workshop for students at Duke and also join me for a public conversation on “Poetry, Prayer, and Public Healing” on November 19.
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Oct 19, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
Political ads are everywhere, so I want to do one, too. However, this advertisement won’t be for a particular party or candidate. When I say, “political,” I am referring to the root meaning of the word. Embedded in the word “political” is the word polis, which is the historical term referring to an ancient Greek city-state. Polis is the broader society in which we live.
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Oct 7, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
My first book, "Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching," was an attempt to fill what I saw as a gap in the scholarly literature in the field of homiletics, which is the academic study and teaching of the practice of preaching. At the time, much of the literature on Black preaching in particular usually only highlighted "celebration" in preaching, where there is often a musical intoned climax near the end of the sermon in antiphony with the congregation.
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Sep 21, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
As I reflect on last week’s Provost Forum focused on “Universities and the Israel-Palestine Conflict: How to Discuss, How to Engage?” and enter this week of the Centennial Founders’ and Homecoming celebrations, I am reminded of the founding of Duke University in 1924, including our institution’s guiding documents.
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Sep 7, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
Discovery is one of Duke University’s . This suggests there are insights and information across the various academic disciplines that we do not yet know. Engaging in research at a major university like Duke is a key mechanism for discovery. Having to do research implies that one doesn’t have all of the information but desires to learn more.
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Aug 22, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
In a severely impoverished community, in one of the largest shantytowns in Nairobi, Kenya, the Shangilia Children’s Home is an orphanage for formerly homeless children. Over twenty years ago, I was there with a group of pastors from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We sat in the courtyard as the children recited scripture, sang religious and cultural songs, played instruments, danced and performed other acrobatic tricks.
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Apr 13, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
In 2000, I received and accepted a job offer to become an associate pastor at the International Protestant Church of Zurich in Switzerland. However, due to delays in paperwork, it wasn’t until early 2001 that my wife and I could move overseas. At the airport, before we flew to a foreign land as newlyweds, my father — an ordained minister — wanted to pray with us. He prayed as we all held hands — my wife, me, my father and my mother. 23 years later, it wasn’t the prayer itself that stood out to me.
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Mar 31, 2024 | 
dukechronicle.com | Luke A. Powery
At an institution of higher education, teaching and learning are critical. There is a kind of teaching through which something happens, confirming what speech-act theorists teach — words do things. This kind of teaching emphasizes action, not just words. Rather than a telling, it is a doing, a showing. I remember — probably like you do — former schoolteachers or professors who ignited a flame in my intellect and heart, captivating my imagination about a subject matter.
