This book exists because voices matter.— especially in times when the world feels fractured, uncertain, and in need of moral clarity.
FiftyTwo Sundays brings together some of the most influential and trusted pastors working in America today. Cynthia Hale, Richie Butler, Mike Walrond, Kevin Murriel, Lovely Haynes, and many other leading voices whose sermons shape communities far beyond their church walls. These are pastors who speak not only to congregations, but to cities, movements, and generations. Their participation is not symbolic— it is intentional. Each voice included here represents a lifetime of faith, leadership, and lived experience.
My contribution here is simple: Access to wisdom usually encountered only in sanctuaries. Access to sermons born of joy and grief, history and hope. Access to messages meant to be heard aloud, wrestled with, and carried into daily life.
This book is designed to be lived with, one sermon at a time. Fifty Two Sundays. A full year of reflection, challenge, encouragement and truth.
What makes this collection different however, is not only the words, but the way their beauty is preserved.
Each pastor is photographed specifically for this project. These are original portraits— created not as publicity images but as acts of memorialization. They are meant to honor presence, character, and gravity. In every photograph, I sought to capture something enduring: the quiet authority, humility, and humanity beyond the pulpit. These images are not illustrations of sermons; they are visual testimonies, standing alongside the words as equal partners.
The inspiration of FiftyTwo Sundays came from an earlier project rooted in loss and urgency. In the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s death, I worked with faith leaders across Los Angeles on a public-health initiative focused on colon cancer awareness for the Black community — an effort that brought together churches, medical institutions, and communities to save lives. Through that work, I spent a great deal of time listening to pastors— not just what they preached, but to why they preach. Again and again I was struck by the depth of their calling and the responsibility they carry to speak truth in difficult times.
This book grew out of those conversations.
It is both an archive and an offering. A record of extraordinary leadership at a pivotal moment in American life- and in invitation to slow down, listen and reflect. Whether you read/look at this book devotionally, occasionally, or cover to cover, it is meant to meet you where you are.
