His teaching and research interests are at the intersection of preaching, pneumatology, music, and culture, particularly expressions of the African diaspora. His book Becoming Human: The Holy Spirit and the Rhetoric of Race received the 2023 Book of the Year from the Religious Communication Association and also the Academy of Parish Clergy. He is also the author of Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching; Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope; Ways of the Word: Learning to Preach for Your Time and Place (with Sally Brown); Rise Up, Shepherd! Advent Reflections on the Spirituals; Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals; Getting to God: Preaching Good News in a Troubled World (with John Rottman and Joni Sancken); and most recently, Living the Questions of the Bible. He is a general editor of the nine-volume lectionary commentary series for preaching and worship Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship.

Dean Powery was ordained by the Progressive National Baptist Convention and has served in an ecumenical capacity in churches throughout Switzerland, Canada, and the U.S. He is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, for which he has served as secretary; the American Academy of Religion; the Society for the Study of Black Religion; the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality; and the Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education. He served as a member of the executive lectionary team for The African-American Lectionary and is the recipient of numerous scholastic fellowships and awards. In 2017, he was given the Speakman Chair of Preaching Award at the Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center. In 2024, he received the Raymond Gavins Distinguished Faculty Award from the Samuel DuBois Cook Society; the award is presented to a faculty member whose work has contributed to improving relationships among community members from different backgrounds at Duke and beyond.

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 Bachelor of Arts in music with a concentration in vocal performance from Stanford University, his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his Doctor of Theology from Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto.

He is married to Gail Powery, and the couple has two children.

Another important aesthetic influence has been Paul Soldner, with whom Krabill studied in graduate school at Claremont (Calif.) Graduate University. Soldner’s approach, pace and general philosophy about art were formative. The impact of Japan’s aesthetic on Soldner passed on to Krabill. (Soldner was a presenter at Bethel’s symposium on religion and the arts in 1993.)

In the summer of 2005, Krabill was an artist-in-residence at Togei no mori (Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park) in Koka, Japan. The opportunity to work, travel and visit with artists in Japan has had a lasting impact on his work. Despite the culture being very different from his, many ideas resonate deeply.

Another important, more recent, cultural influence has been ideas associated with rasquachismo, from the writing of scholar Tomás Ybarra-Frausto. These perspectives from a Latine culture feel simultaneously unfamiliar and quite familiar.

Krabill lives in Goshen and is married to Clare Krabill. They have six adult children.

His teaching and research interests are at the intersection of preaching, pneumatology, music, and culture, particularly expressions of the African diaspora. His book Becoming Human: The Holy Spirit and the Rhetoric of Race received the 2023 Book of the Year from the Religious Communication Association and also the Academy of Parish Clergy. He is also the author of Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching; Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope; Ways of the Word: Learning to Preach for Your Time and Place (with Sally Brown); Rise Up, Shepherd! Advent Reflections on the Spirituals; Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals; Getting to God: Preaching Good News in a Troubled World (with John Rottman and Joni Sancken); and most recently, Living the Questions of the Bible. He is a general editor of the nine-volume lectionary commentary series for preaching and worship Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship.

Dean Powery was ordained by the Progressive National Baptist Convention and has served in an ecumenical capacity in churches throughout Switzerland, Canada, and the U.S. He is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, for which he has served as secretary; the American Academy of Religion; the Society for the Study of Black Religion; the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality; and the Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education. He served as a member of the executive lectionary team for The African-American Lectionary and is the recipient of numerous scholastic fellowships and awards. In 2017, he was given the Speakman Chair of Preaching Award at the Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center. In 2024, he received the Raymond Gavins Distinguished Faculty Award from the Samuel DuBois Cook Society; the award is presented to a faculty member whose work has contributed to improving relationships among community members from different backgrounds at Duke and beyond.

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 Bachelor of Arts in music with a concentration in vocal performance from Stanford University, his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his Doctor of Theology from Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto.

He is married to Gail Powery, and the couple has two children.

His teaching and research interests are at the intersection of preaching, pneumatology, music, and culture, particularly expressions of the African diaspora. His book Becoming Human: The Holy Spirit and the Rhetoric of Race received the 2023 Book of the Year from the Religious Communication Association and also the Academy of Parish Clergy. He is also the author of Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching; Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope; Ways of the Word: Learning to Preach for Your Time and Place (with Sally Brown); Rise Up, Shepherd! Advent Reflections on the Spirituals; Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals; Getting to God: Preaching Good News in a Troubled World (with John Rottman and Joni Sancken); and most recently, Living the Questions of the Bible. He is a general editor of the nine-volume lectionary commentary series for preaching and worship Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship.

Dean Powery was ordained by the Progressive National Baptist Convention and has served in an ecumenical capacity in churches throughout Switzerland, Canada, and the U.S. He is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, for which he has served as secretary; the American Academy of Religion; the Society for the Study of Black Religion; the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality; and the Association for Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education. He served as a member of the executive lectionary team for The African-American Lectionary and is the recipient of numerous scholastic fellowships and awards. In 2017, he was given the Speakman Chair of Preaching Award at the Massanetta Springs Camp and Conference Center. In 2024, he received the Raymond Gavins Distinguished Faculty Award from the Samuel DuBois Cook Society; the award is presented to a faculty member whose work has contributed to improving relationships among community members from different backgrounds at Duke and beyond.

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 Bachelor of Arts in music with a concentration in vocal performance from Stanford University, his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his Doctor of Theology from Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto.

He is married to Gail Powery, and the couple has two children.