Preston Clegg is pastor of Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.
1. What story, verse or passage from your faith tradition’s sacred texts has significantly influenced / shaped your life?
The Great Commandments, in which Jesus declares that our highest calling is loving God with our whole humanity and our neighbors as ourselves.
This text centers me at the core of our faith, grounds my activity in the primal activity of God, and is the lens through which I make sense of the Way of Jesus.
2. Who are three people (other than your family) who have shaped your life and worldview? And why?
Mary Ann McKinney because she is primarily responsible for me being the pastor of Second Baptist in Little Rock, and she pastored me more than I pastored her.
Hulitt Gloer because he trained me in the fields that most interest me: New Testament, preaching and discipleship. And he teaches all three at the same time in the way he lives his life.
Jemar Tisby because of the way he lives the Christian faith in public.
3. List three of your “desert island” books, movies or TV shows.
Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman, Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf and An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor.
4. What is one of the most critical issues people are facing today?
Moving from a transactional view of religion, in which “belief” resides mostly in the realm of personal ideas to a transformational view of religion, in which “belief” has to do with our communal practices.
5. What are a few of your hobbies?
Reading, running, watching sports and movies, hiking in beautiful Arkansas.
6. If you could freeze your life into an already-lived 10 seconds, what would they be?
Any Sunday morning, in the silence just before the sermon starts, when I look out across the congregation and see my family, my church family and the Christ that lives in these people. Those seconds are holy for me every single week.
7. Our tagline at Good Faith Media is, “There’s more to tell.” What’s your “more to tell”?
Even in our day of cultural chaos and religious corruption, the gospel of Jesus still has a witness, and I want to be a part of that work.
Reflection and resources at the intersection of faith and culture through an inclusive Christian lens.
