Dr. Kenneth L. Waters, Sr.
Professor of Homiletics
Dr. Kenneth L. Waters Sr. is Professor of Homiletics. He is Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Azusa Pacific University where he also served as Associate Dean of the Division of Religion and Philosophy; Associate Dean of Personnel, Contracts, and Undergraduate Studies; and University Associate Chaplain. He has served as President of the Pacific Coast Region Society of Biblical Literature and Program Chair of the New Testament Epistles and Apocalypse Section.
He is the author of Afrocentric Sermons: The Beauty of Blackness in the Bible (Valley Forge: Judson Press 1993); I Saw the Lord: A Pilgrimage through Isaiah Six (Nashville: Upper Room Book 1996); and Women, Salvation, and Childbearing: The Mystery of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers 2022). He is also author of the Logos Bible Software Survey of the Pastoral Epistles (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015).
He is published in the Journal of Biblical Literature, Studia Biblica Slovaca, Sage Open, Review & Expositor, the African American Pulpit, the Lexington Theological Quarterly, the North Star Journal, the Quarterly Review, the Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center, and the Christian Scholar Review.
He has articles in the Global Wesleyan Dictionary of Theology and the Global Wesleyan Encyclopedia of Biblical Theology. He has chapters in the books Christian College/Christian Calling, Afrocentric Interpretations (3 vols), the Holiness Manifesto, and The Holy River of God. He has recently completed a chapter for the book Jesus Remembered in the Johannine Situation.
He was a consultant for the Voice Bible project of Ecclesia Bible Society and Thomas Nelson Publishers.
He has led a study tour of Greece and Turkey focused on the travels of Paul the Apostle and the Seven Churches of the Book of Revelation.
He has been a featured guest on The History Channel and It is Written Oceania TV broadcasts.
At Azusa Pacific University he was recipient of the Undergraduate Scholarly Achievement Award and the University Leadership Award. He was the Spring 2022 commencement speaker for the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies at Azusa Pacific University.
He has served 30 years as lead pastor of congregations in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church along with interim pastorates in Lutheran and non-denominational churches. He is licensed and ordained in the Missionary Baptist Church and currently serves as assistant pastor of West Side Baptist Church in Fontana, California.
He is married to the Reverend Deborah Tarver Waters, author of Loving God (Meadville, PA: Christian Faith Publishers 2022). They have four sons and six grandchildren.