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Duke Divinity School will host a worship service and lecture with the Dr. Otis Moss III and senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, speaking and preaching as part of the Gardner C. Taylor Lecture Series.
The annual Gardner C. Taylor Lecture Series sponsored by the Office of Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School seeks to equip ministers and pastoral leaders with new and innovative perspectives to proclaim the Gospel with power and precision in the present age. The series honors the legacy of Gardner C. Taylor, an effective pastor, compelling preacher, and prolific author, and honors the beauty and power of preaching in the Black prophetic Christian tradition. Taylor's written sermons and recordings, with his high capacity to discern the “strange angles” of scripture and spirit, continue to instruct, inform, and inspire. Taylor’s enduring legacy emerges from his fruitful 42 years as senior pastor at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y. During his tenure, he faithfully and effectively served his “present age.”
Upcoming Events in This Series
Mon, Sep 21, 2026 | 6:30 - 8pm
This year's Gardner C. Taylor Lecture Series worship service sponsored by the Office of Black Church Studies will be held at Monument of Faith Church, Durham, N.C. with Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III preaching.
Tue, Sep 22, 2026 | 2 - 4pm
This year's Gardner C. Taylor Lecture Series sponsored by the Office of Black Church Studies will offer a lecture by the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III., senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Dr. Otis Moss III
Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago
Dr. Otis Moss III is a preacher, activist, and author. Over the last two decades, Dr. Moss has practiced and preached a Black theology that unapologetically calls attention to the problems of mass incarceration, environmental justice, and economic inequality. A third-generation warrior for civil and human rights, Dr. Moss is committed to preaching a prophetic message of love and justice, which he believes are inseparable companions that form the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
These very touchstones are taken up in his latest book project, Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times, released in November 2022. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Moss is an honors graduate of Morehouse College, and earned a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, and a Doctor of Ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary. Dr. Moss has a passion for preaching and exercises his homiletical muscle as a professor of homiletics at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University. In this role, Dr. Moss is positioned to help up-and-coming preachers build and strengthen their own preaching ministries. The work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the pastoral ministry of his father, Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. of Cleveland, Ohio, are fundamental in his spiritual formation.