Kingdom Sermon Architect™
Scholarly Influences

Standing on Sacred Shoulders

Two legacies. Two generations. One mission.

Kingdom Sermon Architect did not emerge in isolation. It was shaped by the faithful witness of my father, the theological formation of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, and the sacred responsibility to carry legacy forward with integrity.

The Story Behind This Chapter

A Legacy That Came Full Circle

Kingdom Sermon Architect did not begin with a product idea. It began with a promise—one made across generations, shaped by a father’s ministry, refined inside a theological tradition, and carried forward as an act of stewardship.

What follows is the chapter behind the chapter: the people, the formation, and the calling that made this platform possible.

The Personal Story

It Began Before I Ever Preached

The handwritten dedication · Feb. 14, 1985
“I love her with all my heart. She is the apple of my eye.”
— Rev. Dr. Tony Lloyd Lewis
A father’s dedication · The promise

Long before I ever answered God’s call to ministry, my father, Rev. Dr. Tony Lloyd Lewis, carefully preserved the manuscript of his very first sermon.

Years later, while organizing his library, he rediscovered it, encased it for preservation, and wrote a handwritten dedication to me.

In that note, he entrusted the sermon to me—hoping it would be protected for generations. At the time, I was only a little girl. Neither of us could have imagined where God would eventually lead.

That dedication was the beginning of a promise: to steward what he had faithfully carried.

Samuel DeWitt Proctor Preaching & Leadership Award · 2024
The promise kept · May 2024

Years later, I enrolled at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. Upon graduation, I was humbled to receive the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Preaching & Leadership Award, presented to the graduating senior who demonstrates exceptional promise in preaching and leadership.

For me, the award was not the ending of a chapter—it was the keeping of a promise. The sermon my father had preserved, the pulpit I had watched him steward, and the tradition that had formed me all converged on that day.

Kingdom Sermon Architect is what I built to keep that promise going.

Legacy Timeline

From a father’s first sermon to a Kingdom platform.

  1. 1972
    Rev. Dr. Tony Lloyd Lewis preaches his first sermon at Prosperity Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California.
  2. 1985
    He rediscovers his first sermon while organizing his books, carefully preserves it, and dedicates it to his daughter, Kimberly.
  3. 2008
    Kimberly answers God's call to ministry.
  4. 2009
    Kimberly preaches her first sermon.
  5. 2024
    Graduates from Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology and receives the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Preaching & Leadership Award.
  6. 2026
    Launches Kingdom Sermon Architect, preserving and extending the dialectical preaching tradition for a new generation.
The Theological Foundation

Where Two Legacies Meet

The personal story would not have found its language without two men whose influence continues to shape Kingdom Sermon Architect. One taught me how faithful preaching is formed. The other named the tradition my father had already been living.

The Instructor

Dr. James Henry Harris

Distinguished Professor of Homiletics & Practical Theology

Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology

Under Dr. Harris’s instruction, dialectical preaching became more than a method—it became a framework for listening deeply, wrestling honestly, and proclaiming responsibly.

His teaching gave language to what I had already witnessed through my father’s ministry. The pulpit I grew up watching finally had a vocabulary; the faithfulness I had felt finally had a form.

He is foundational to Kingdom Sermon Architect because the theology of preaching this platform preserves is the theology he taught me to see.

The Legacy

Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor

Preacher, Theologian, Statesman

Namesake, Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology

Dr. Proctor’s prophetic witness, theological rigor, and justice-shaped scholarship formed generations of Black preachers and gave the modern Black Church a homiletical inheritance still bearing fruit today.

Receiving the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Preaching & Leadership Award was the moment my father’s promise came full circle—my own ministry publicly joined to a lineage larger than either of us.

He is foundational to Kingdom Sermon Architect because the tradition this platform stewards is the tradition his life helped shape.

These cards honor formative theological influence and preaching lineage—not participation. Full contributor features are added only with explicit approval.

Standing on these sacred shoulders continues through scholars whose work is helping shape the future of Kingdom Sermon Architect.

Approved Feature

Approved Featured Scholar

Dr. Yung Suk Kim is the first fully featured scholar in this section—honored with his gracious approval. Additional scholars will be added as approvals are extended.

Distinguished Scholar

Dr. Yung Suk Kim

Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity

Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology · Virginia Union University

First Featured Scholar
Portrait of Dr. Yung Suk Kim, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity
Dr. Yung Suk Kim
Scholar · Teacher · Bridge Builder
Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity

Professional Biography

Dr. Yung Suk Kim is an internationally respected New Testament scholar whose work emphasizes rigorous biblical interpretation, justice, community, and transformational engagement with Scripture. He serves as Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University.

His scholarship spans Pauline studies, Christian origins, and cross-cultural biblical hermeneutics, with a particular emphasis on how careful exegesis, historical awareness, and justice-oriented theology form faithful interpreters of Scripture.

Influence on Kingdom Sermon Architect™

Some professors simply teach course material. Others fundamentally shape the way their students learn to read Scripture, ask theological questions, and engage the world.

Dr. Yung Suk Kim has been one of those scholars in the theological journey of Kimberly J. Lewis.

During her studies at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Dr. Kim challenged students to engage Scripture with intellectual rigor, humility, and a deep commitment to justice and faithful interpretation. His teaching encouraged students to move beyond surface-level readings of biblical texts and to wrestle thoughtfully with their theological, historical, and contemporary significance.

As Kingdom Sermon Architect was developed, many of the principles reinforced throughout that theological education became foundational: faithful preaching requires careful study, thoughtful interpretation, and a willingness to engage Scripture with both conviction and humility. The platform was never intended to replace sound biblical scholarship — it was designed to encourage preachers to think more deeply, study more intentionally, and prepare sermons grounded in responsible interpretation.

That vision has been shaped, in part, by educators like Dr. Kim, whose commitment to biblical scholarship continues to influence students, pastors, and scholars around the world.

Thank you, Dr. Kim, for helping shape the scholar, minister, and leader I continue striving to become.
— Kimberly J. Lewis, M.Div.

Dr. Kim has graciously approved being featured in the Kingdom Sermon Architect “Standing on Sacred Shoulders” series.

Mentor Spotlight

A mentor whose shoulders this vision stands upon.

Rev. Dr. Matthew V. Johnson, Sr. — Founding Vision Mentor of Kingdom Sermon Architect
Founding Vision MentorAlso a Founding Contributor

Rev. Dr. Matthew V. Johnson, Sr., Ph.D.

Theologian, Author & Founding Vision Mentor

Samuel DeWitt Proctor Preaching & Leadership Tradition

Long before Kingdom Sermon Architect existed, God placed Rev. Dr. Matthew V. Johnson, Sr. in the founder’s life as a trusted mentor, theological voice, and source of encouragement. A distinguished theologian, pastor, and author standing in the Samuel DeWitt Proctor preaching tradition, his mentorship and theological wisdom helped birth the very framework Kingdom Sermon Architect now embodies.

Some contributors refine a platform. Others help birth the vision itself.

Read Full Founding Contributor Profile
A Growing Hall

More voices to come.

Additional professors, pastors, scholars, mentors, and Kingdom leaders whose ministries helped shape this work will be honored in the seasons ahead. Each will receive a dedicated profile, permanent anchor, and shareable link — a living record of the tradition Kingdom Sermon Architect stands upon.

Additional Scholars & Mentors Coming Soon

Continue the Legacy.

Honor the Voices.

Build the Kingdom.

Kingdom Sermon Architect exists because faithful men and women invested their lives in preparing the next generation.

Their influence lives on in every sermon prepared, every leader equipped, and every life transformed.

Kingdom Legacy CollectionsLegacy AcademyFounding Contributors