This image is the cover for the book Accidental Preacher

Accidental Preacher

The lively, inspiring memoir of an eminent Christian preacher and leader

In this book one of today’s best-known Christian leaders recounts—with his signature wit and humor—memorable moments from his rich and full preaching life. A personal and vocational memoir, Will Willimon’s Accidental Preacher portrays the adventure of a life caught up in the purposes of a God who calls unlikely people to engage in work greater than themselves. 

Beginning with his childhood in a segregated South and moving through his student years, Willimon gives candid, inspiring, and humorous testimony to his experiences as a seminary professor, rural pastor, globe-trotting preacher, bishop, and popular theologian and writer. Above all, he shows how God has constantly had a call on his life. 

By turns poignant, hilarious, and thought-provoking—but always irresistibly engaging—Accidental Preacher is sure to join the well-remembered, classic memoir of our time.

Will Willimon, Kate Bowler


Will Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Director of the Doctor of Ministry at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. He is an internationally renowned preacher and widely read author noted for his humor, his insight into the Christian faith, and his theological commitment. His many books have sold over a million copies.

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company