Logos Bible Software amplifies black church voices through new collective
Logos, one of the best-known Scripture software packages, has attracted a notable contingent of African American theologians to inform its offerings.
The Kerusso Collective — named after the Greek word for “preaching” that the apostle Paul often used in the Bible — includes familiar names such as Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, pastor of Faithlife Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California, and the Rev. Charlie Dates, pastor of Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago.
“There is a large population of Black church leaders using Logos, yet we realized their voices are not fully represented in the digital Bible software,” said Chauncey Allmond, Kerusso Collective member and Logos Bible Software national presenter.
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Allmond said Faithlife, which produces Logos, has been working on forming the group for a year. The Logos Twitter account has nearly 100,000 followers and on Thursday promoted the collective for the first time.
“The Kerusso Collective is a group of African-American scholars, pastors, and theologians in partnership with Faithlife that aims to ensure all groups can appreciate, and learn from the rich history and scholarship of the Black voice,” the tweet read.
Logos has Greek and Hebrew lexicons, Bible commentaries, integrative study tools and other assets in its offerings. Among users are high-profile pastors/teachers Tim Keller, Matt Chandler, Kay Arthur, Beth Moore and John Piper.
"The launching of the Kerusso Collective by Faithlife and Logos introduces the witness to the Gospel by African-American scholars and pastors to a wider audience," Church of God in Christ Education Bishop David Daniels, a professor at McCormick Theological Seminary, told The Christian Post. "This Christian witness has defended the integrity of the Gospel throughout the history of Christianity in the United States."
The collective’s members won’t rest on their laurels. They will meet to provide input on a new library of black-oriented resources for release by spring 2021.
Logos stated that the Kerusso Collective has a long-term goal of establishing, procuring and licensing thousands of African American theological resources to equip predominantly black churches with content reflecting its own voice. Once licensed, there will be African American libraries for lay, pastoral and academic markets.
There will be specific workflows for African American resources. With Logos, these are intended to be clear, step-by-step instructions to begin varying studies of the Bible. The user can select inquiries for personal devotions, sermon preparation or exegesis, and Logos in return relates the books and tools needed.
Most Kerusso Collective members have agreed to host webinars to highlight new technologies and resources created and licensed for Logos. They also are entertaining proposals for instructing professional courses on black preaching and teaching plus receiving resource and book recommendations.
The group’s work will not be strictly segregated for African Americans, however. Logos stated that changes for base packages are being finalized but may include an increase in black authors and scholars and their views. There may also be a “bundle” option for African American resources.
There also could be more members of the Kerusso Collective in the future. Logos listed seven members but said up to 15 can serve.
Rounding out announced Kerusso participants are Ralph West, pastor of Church Without Walls in Houston; Cynthia Hale, senior pastor of Ray Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia; Esau McCaulley, assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College; and Bishop Joseph Walker, senior leader of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and international presiding bishop in the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship.
