Doctor of Philosophy
Princeton Theological Seminary

Master of Divinity
Princeton Theological Seminary

Master of Arts
Princeton Theological Seminary

Bachelor of Arts
Trinity Lutheran College

Samantha Gilmore

Assistant Professor of Homiletics

Samantha is the Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Wartburg Theological Seminary. She previously taught homiletics at the General Theological Seminary (New York, NY) and speech communication in ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton, NJ). She holds a Ph.D. in Practical Theology focusing on Homiletics, an M.Div., and an M.A. in Christian Education focusing on Spirituality and Missional Formation from Princeton Theological Seminary.

 

As a Designated Linklater Teacher (a certification in an internationally recognized embodied voice method), Samantha taught voice and speech at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and the Tom Todoroff Studio (New York, NY). She is integrating this expertise as a practical theologian to develop practices for preachers to become fully present, connected, and receptive to God and people, and to help them foster their embodied voices for proclamation that corresponds to the freedom and abundance of the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified.

 

In her spare time, Samantha enjoys the sounds and smells of rain, backyard birding, yoga, cooking and eating new recipes, scouting out the best coffee shops in town, and taking lazy walks along the Mississippi with her husband, Lance, and their dog, Driscoll.

Preaching

The Preaching Body

Word, Image, Imagination

The Living Word: A Theology of God’s Present Tense Activity

Lutheran Confessions (preaching component)

Spiritual Practices

Articles/Essays

“Preaching and Performance Studies.” In Oxford Handbook of Christian Homiletics, edited by Carolyn Sharp. Oxford University Press. (forthcoming)

“Christ for You and Me”: A Lutheran Theology of Proclamation and the Presence of the Preacher.” Religions 15.3 (2024).

 

Text to Sermon/Preaching Helps

“From a Scholar” in Sundays and Seasons: Preaching

2026 –

Ash Wednesday

First Sunday of Lent

Lectionary 30

All Saints.

 

2025 –

Lectionary 22

Lectionary 23

Holy Cross Day

Lectionary 24

Working Preacher Commentaries

2025 –

· Psalm 51:1-10

· Psalm 113

· Psalm 146

· Psalm 37:1-9

 

2023 –

· Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

· Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

· Psalm 126

· Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26

https://www.workingpreacher.org/authors/samantha-gilmore

 

“Preaching Helps” in Currents in Theology and Mission

52.4 (2025) – (forthcoming)

· Reformation Sunday

· All Saints Sunday

50.3 (2023) –

· Fifth Sunday After Pentecost

· Sixth Sunday After Pentecost

50.1 (2023) –

· Fourth Sunday After Epiphany

· Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

“Between Text and Sermon: John 10:1-10.” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, 77.3 (2023).

Book Reviews

“Sacramental Presence: An Embodied Theology of Preaching” by Ruthanna B. Hooke Kerygma, Spring 2025.

“The Gifts They Bring: How Children in the Gospel Can Shape Inclusive Ministry” by Amy Lindeman Allen Lutheran Quarterly 39.1 (2025)

Preaching and embodiment, presence, and imagination

Preaching and spiritual formation

The Linklater Voice Method