Overview
The Rev. Dr. Luke A. Powery is the dean of Duke Chapel and an associate professor of the practice of homiletics at Duke Divinity School. Prior to his appointment at Duke, he served as the Perry and Georgia Engle Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary.
He received his B.A. in music with a concentration in vocal performance from Stanford University, his M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his Th.D. from Emmanuel College, University of Toronto. His teaching and research interests are located at the intersection of preaching, worship, pneumatology, performance studies, and culture, particularly expressions of the African diaspora. He has written two books, Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching, and Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope.
Though nurtured in the Holiness-Pentecostal tradition, Luke was ordained by the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and has served in an ecumenical capacity in churches throughout Switzerland, Canada, and the United States. Luke is a member of the Academy of Homiletics for which he serves as secretary, the American Academy of Religion, and the Society for the Study of Black Religion.
Luke served as a member of the executive lectionary team for The African American Lectionary, an online ecumenical project funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and is the recipient of numerous scholastic fellowships and awards from organizations such as the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion and the Fund for Theological Education. In 2008, The African American Pulpit named him as one of "20 to Watch," an honor given to 20 outstanding black ministers under the age of 40 who are helping to shape the future direction of the church.
He is married to Gail Powery, and the couple has two children, Moriah and Zachary.