Christianity,  Theology/Bible

C. A. W. Clark, 1914-2008 (R.I.P.)

Rev. C. A. W. Clark, pastor of the Good Street Baptist Church here in Dallas, TX, passed away on Sunday. He was 94 years old.

He pastored Good Street for over 50 years and was widely regarded as the master of the “whooping” style of preaching. Whooping is a style of black preaching that begins slowly then builds to a crescendo with fervor and the musical repetition of key phrases and intonations. Rev. Cleophus LaRue, a professor of homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary says that “He did it better than anybody in the 20th century.”

If you’ve never seen whooping before, you really should take a moment and watch the following video. It’s an experience.

Sources:

“Voice of Dallas preacher echoes in pulpits far and wide” – by Sam Hodges (Dallas Morning News)

“Influential black Baptist Rev. Clark dies” – by Adelle M. Banks (USA Today)

“Dallas pastor C.A.W. Clark dies” – (Associated Press)

2 Comments

  • volfan007

    The video was great. Have you ever heard the “Holy Hiccup” preaching that they do in the Appalachian Mountains of TN and Alabama? It’s quite a different style as well.

    David

  • Jen Strange

    Wow. Rather rousing. And now he’s seeing Him face to face. . . .

    Interesting to read in the Dallas Morning News piece that he was born in Shreveport and apparently spent half his childhood here, then studied here again after preaching his first sermon. Particularly interesting since the Shreveport paper does not seem to have covered this man’s life at all.

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