New book—Encountering Pope Leo XIV: Baptist Reflections on the Beginning of a Pontificate

My new book Encountering Pope Leo XIV: Baptist Reflections on the Beginning of a Pontificate is available from Nurturing Faith, the book publishing imprint of Good Faith Media. Here's a description of the book from the publisher's site:

Part journalistic narrative, part diaristic travelogue, and part extended theological rumination on the significance of the papacy for Baptists and other free church Christians, Encountering Pope Leo XIV takes readers along with the author on a journey to Rome to follow the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church in their preparations for the conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis, experience the conclave itself and the election of American Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, observe the beginnings of Leo XIV’s pontificate, and ponder its significance not only for Catholics but for all Christians.

The author of Encountering Pope Leo XIV covered the 2025 papal conclave in Rome as a correspondent for Good Faith Media. A Baptist ecumenical theologian who serves as Professor of Historical Theology at Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, Steven R. Harmon has represented the Baptist World Alliance in ecumenical dialogues with the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, as well as in preliminary conversations with the Eastern Orthodox churches and as a member of the plenary Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches. He is the author or editor of nine other books, including Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church: Partners in the Pilgrimage to Unity (2021).

Here is the book's table of contents:

1. The Theologian Who Became Pope
2. The People’s Pope
3. Arriving in Rome
4. Anticipating the Conclave
5. Who Might Become Pope?
6. Conclave Day One
7. Conclave Day Two: White Smoke!
8. Early Answers to Pre-Conclave Questions
9. Pope Leo XIV’s First Weekend
10. A Theology for Journalists (and Everyone Who Uses Words)
11. Baptists and the Pope
12. What’s Ahead for Leo XIV’s Pontificate?
13. A Prayer for Pope Leo XIV

Endorsements for Encountering Pope Leo XIV:

How fascinating to read a Baptist’s take on one of the most Catholic of all institutions: the papacy. Professor Harmon’s warm, inviting, and engaging book is a window not only into the exciting election of Pope Leo XIV, but also Catholicism and, more broadly, Christianity.  I’m grateful for Harmon’s unique perspective, his insightful comments, and his desire to help others understand more about our shared faith.

 

—Fr. James Martin, S.J., America magazine editor at large, consultor for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, and author of Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone

Harmon combines his roles as on-the-ground journalist at the recent historical conclave, expert Baptist theologian, and seasoned international ecumenical participant to offer an insightful analysis of Pope Leo XIV. The result is a compelling account of why Baptists and indeed all Christians might discover in the new pope a resource for renewal and unity.

 

—Elizabeth Newman, Adjunct Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School and Union Presbyterian Seminary, co-chair of the joint commission for the Baptist-Catholic dialogue (Phase III), and former chair of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity

 

Closely-studied and timely…Harmon’s reporting of the election of Pope Leo XIV evokes the people-filled piazzas and laneways of Rome and invites his readers to consider the significance of the pontificate of the first U.S.-born pope. His honest assessment of responses by Baptists to the death of Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, as well as to the election of this new pope is invaluable…an essential resource for students of Baptist ecumenical engagement.

—Darrell Jackson, Principal, Whitley College, University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia and chair of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity

Encountering Pope Leo XIV may be ordered from Good Faith Media's Nurturing Faith bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Thoughts following actions of the Southern Baptist Convention barring churches that employ women as pastors

It will probably surprise many external observers of Southern Baptists--and probably many contemporary internal participants in Southern Baptist life as well--to learn that while there are no liberals in the SBC today (contrary to what the ultra-conservative faction of today's SBC alleges), once upon a time there was a genuinely progressive stream of Southern Baptist life before it was expunged in a two-decade-long effort than began in earnest in 1979 to wrest control of the SBC away from those whose Baptist respect for the freedom of congregations and consciences had made space for a variety of ways of being Baptist to coexist and cooperate in a common commitment to participating in the mission of God in the world. This genuinely progressive stream was never a majority, but it fully participated in the denominational life of the SBC. It embraced critical approaches to the interpretation of Scripture when others shunned them. It worked for racial justice when others defended segregation in both society and church. It ordained women to the ministry and called them to serve as pastors when others did not. This stream may have been diverted from the SBC, but it did not dry up. It continues to flow elsewhere--in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (my own Baptist communion), in the Alliance of Baptists, in the American Baptist Churches USA, and in denominational traditions beyond Baptist life that have received refugee Southern Baptist members and ministers as ecumenical gifts to their own church life. I am grateful that I have been able to serve as a theological educator in partner institutions of theological education associated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in which that stream continues to flow. And I am proud of the many women I have had the privilege of teaching in those institutions who are now serving as faithful ministers. May God continue to bless their ministries!

New book--Seeds of the Church: Towards an Ecumenical Baptist Ecclesiology

My new co-edited book Seeds of the Church: Towards an Ecumenical Baptist Ecclesiology, co-edited with Teun van der Leer, Henk Bakker, and Elizabeth Newman, is available from Cascade Books. Here's a description of the book from the publisher's site:

The landmark World Council of Churches convergence text, The Church: Towards a Common Vision (2012), which has the potential to become this generation's Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (1982), invites the churches to envision how their own distinctive visions of the church might have a place in the global church's imagination of the ecumenical future. Seeds of the Church: Towards an Ecumenical Baptist Ecclesiology is a collaborative effort by members of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity to respond to this invitation. This book contends that the distinctive Baptist ecclesial vision is best embodied in twelve core practices of Baptist churches and their interrelationship: covenanting, discerning, gathering, befriending, proclaiming, equipping, baptizing, discipling, caring, theologizing, scattering, and remembering. Seeds of the Church opens a window on what is possible when Baptists engage with people of other Christian traditions in the exploration of the common heritage of people belonging to the one household of faith. The global Baptist theological voices represented in this volume offer it as a reading of an ecumenical text in a Baptist key that paves the way for ecclesiological renewal--among Baptists and in the whole church to which they belong.

Here is the book's Table of Contents:

Foreword

Neville Callam

Preface

Teun van der Leer, Henk Bakker, Steven R. Harmon, and Elizabeth Newman

Chapter

1 A Response to The Church: Towards a Common Vision

Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity

2 The Baptistic Ecclesial Voice

Teun van der Leer

3 Covenanting Churches

Paul S. Fiddes

4 Discerning Churches

Henk Bakker

5 Gathering Churches

Jan Martijn Abrahams

6 Befriending Churches

Lina Toth-Andronoviene

7 Proclaiming Churches

Ruth Gouldbourne

8 Equipping Churches

Uwe Swarat

9 Baptizing Churches

Anthony R. Cross

10 Discipling Churches

Marion L. S. Carson

11 Caring Churches

Frank Rees

12 Theologizing Churches

Amy L. Chilton

13 Scattering Churches

Daniël Dros

14 Remembering Churches

Elizabeth Newman

Endorsements for Seeds of the Church:

“Seeds of the Church provides ample evidence that Baptists understand themselves best as they engage in relationship and dialogue with others in the worldwide Christian church. But this is no theoretical exercise. The strength of this book lies in its critical reflection on various actual practices of Baptist ecclesiology and how these can contribute to, and be enriched by, a growing ecumenical consensus around the rich concept of the church as koinonia. I warmly commend it.”
—Anthony Peck, general secretary, European Baptist Federation

“This fine collection of essays represents an intriguing Baptist contribution to ecumenical dialogue, namely, beginning with a recent ecumenical convergence text and following its emphases through the lens of traditional Baptist commitments. The beauty of this collection lies largely in its consistently receptive and generous tone and a posture geared toward giving and receiving as opposed to merely comparing and contrasting. Those of us from neighboring free-church traditions have much to learn from these thought provoking and inspiring essays.”
—Jeff Cary, Lubbock Christian University

Seeds of the Church may be ordered from Wipf and Stock/Cascade Books or via Amazon.

New book—Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church

My new book Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church: Partners in the Pilgrimage to Unity has been released by New City Press. Here's the book description from the publisher:

Within the whole church, Baptists and Catholics might seem to be ecclesiological and liturgical polar opposites. The two traditions are arguably more dissimilar from one another than each is from almost any other Christian tradition. Yet as veteran Baptist ecumenist Steven R. Harmon demonstrates in this book, they share much in common that can enable them to travel together as fellow pilgrims on the journey toward a more visibly united church. Baptists, Catholics, and the Whole Church: Reflections on the Pilgrimage to Unity challenges Baptists, Catholics, and other Christians to envision their own patterns of faith and practice as included in the convergences it presents and to dedicate themselves to deeper involvement in the quest for the unity Jesus prayed his followers would manifest.

And here's the table of contents:

Acknowledgements

Foreword (Fr. John Crossin, OSFS)

Introduction

1. From Anti-Catholicism to Fellow Pilgrims

2. What Do Baptists and Catholics Have in Common?

3. How Baptists Receive Gifts of Catholic (and catholic) Christianity

4. Ecumenical Healing of Ecclesial Memories

5. The Cruciformity of Communion

6. Unity as Christ’s Victory and Our Task

Appendices

1. Envisioning the Whole Church

2. Moral Discernment with the Whole Church

Bibliography

Index of Names and Subjects

If you're interested in ordering the book, here are some sources:

New City Press: https://www.newcitypress.com/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church.html

Amazon (USA): https://www.amazon.com/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/

Amazon (Canada): https://www.amazon.ca/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/

Parasource (Canada): https://www.parasource.com/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church-9781565484979

Amazon (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/

The Book Depository (UK and much of Europe): https://www.bookdepository.com/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Steven-Harmon/9781565484979

Amazon (Australia): https://www.amazon.com.au/Baptists-Catholics-Whole-Church-Pilgrimage/dp/1565484975/

Booktopia (Australia): https://www.booktopia.com.au/baptists-catholics-and-the-whole-church-steven-harmon/book/9781565484979.html

Theological reflections on the U.S. presidential inauguration

 

For those interested, here are the remarks I delivered for today's pre-inauguration panel discussion "Making Sense of Rhetoric and Reality on American Democracy's Big Day" at Gardner-Webb University. I’ve been introduced as a theology professor. I define my discipline this way: theology is thinking with intentionality about God and that with which God is in relationship—which is everything in the universe. There’s nothing that doesn’t have some relationship to God and God’s intentions for the world, and that includes the political order. And since God created us in the image of God as social creatures, created for relationship in community, and politics has to do with the ordering of our relationships in community, politics merits special attention in the task of doing theology. So, let’s do some theological reflection on this momentous occasion for the American expression of the political order. When Christian theologians think intentionally about God and God’s world, they do so in light of the Bible and the Christian tradition. I offer for our consideration a word from each of those authoritative sources for Christian theology. From the Bible, the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah’s words to the people of God living in exile in Babylon. Jeremiah 29:7: “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” From the early Christian tradition, the Epistle to Diognetus written sometime in the 2nd century AD: “[Christians] live in their respective countries, but only as resident aliens; they participate in all things as citizens, and they endure all things as foreigners. Every foreign territory is a homeland for them, every homeland foreign territory.” Both Jeremiah and the Epistle to Diognetus portray the people of God as a community in exile. This suggests to me a few things about my participation in the political order as a Christian. It means that I’m living in exile not only when I think the political order opposes Christian values, but also when I think the political order is more consistent with Christian values. I have opinions about expressions of the political order I believe are more consistent with the way of Jesus Christ. I’ve voted for candidates and donated to their campaigns; I’ve served as a precinct representative to the county convention of a particular political party. But it is not my political home. My political home is the kingdom of God, the community toward which God is transforming the world. If I’m always living in exile in the midst of a particular expression of the political order, it means that I should be a patriot in the sense of seeking the welfare of my country. But it also means that I cannot be a nationalist in the sense of not seeking just as intently the welfare of other countries, which are also places where the people of God are living in exile. “Every foreign territory is a homeland, every homeland foreign territory.” Now some theological reflection on terms in our panel topic, starting with “rhetoric.” We often associate “rhetoric” with heated rhetoric. We’ve certainly had lots of that. But in its more positive sense, rhetoric is simply the means of persuasion. The present political moment is an opportunity for persuasion of a nation instead of power through populist authoritarianism. We’ve elected a politically centrist president with a long track record of working across the aisle. We have an evenly divided Senate and a closely divided House. This state of affairs can invite persuasion toward consensus and power-sharing, involving everyone in finding mutually agreeable solutions instead of a majority dominating and a minority losing out. What does this have to do with theology? The gospel is about persuasion rather than coercion; it persuades rather than coerces people to join God in what God is doing in the world, which is God’s work of persuading the world toward the realization of God’s creative purposes, and it seeks to involve everyone willingly in this work. If this new chapter in the American political order ushers in a politics dependent on persuasion, Christians can celebrate it as something analogous to the persuasion of the gospel. “Reality.” While the intent behind the wording of the panel theme may have been to contrast reality with what is merely rhetorical, the term “reality” is theologically significant in more than one way. Christian faith believes in a reality that is more than meets the eye. There’s more than meets the eye about any expression of the political order. But while Christians believe that ultimate reality is disclosed by Jesus Christ—a belief that requires trust in what cannot be seen or proven with rational certainty—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus at the center of Christian faith happened within “reality” in the sense of what does meet the eye. It happened within the created material order, and it happened in history. This means that Christians of all people should prize the science that helps us understand more fully the workings of the world God created. It means that Christians of all people should earnestly desire to learn from history in all its painful complexity. In the midst of a global pandemic, an ecological emergency, and a racial reckoning, Christians can have common cause with an administration that seems willing to be guided by rigorous science and to acknowledge both the shame and the successes of the American story. “American Democracy.” I’m a Baptist theologian, and Gardner-Webb has Baptist roots. In these connections I note that there are aspects of democracy in the way Baptist churches ideally approach the task of discerning how to be a faithful community of followers of Jesus Christ in a particular time and place, with every member having a voice in this discernment. That may be among the reasons Baptists have tended to flourish under democracies earlier in their history. In the American experiment, Baptists like Roger Williams made significant contributions to shaping a democracy committed to maintaining freedom of religion through a religiously neutral civil order. American democracy has been threatened recently, but it has proven resilient. I hope the new administration will strengthen it. As a Baptist ecumenical theologian involved especially in ecumenical dialogue between Baptists and Catholics, I close by noting that we will have a Catholic President and a Baptist Vice President. President Biden is likely to be the most active churchgoer among presidents of recent decades, and Vice President Harris has a story that includes becoming a Baptist by choice. I hope and pray that their Christian faith will guide their administration.

Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology contents

Here's what's inside Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon, which releases from Mercer University Press on May 1. 

Read about and order the book at https://www.mupress.org/Sources-of-Light-Resources-for-Baptist-Churches-Practicing-Theology-P1052.aspx.

1          Introduction: Imagining Radical Baptist Practices of Local Church Theology

            Steven R. Harmon and Amy L. Chilton

Part I

LIGHT FROM OUR LIFE-IN-CONTEXT

2          Light from Liberative Theologies

            Amy L. Chilton

3          Light from Black Theologies

            Noel Leo Erskine

4          Light from Hispanic/Latin@ Theologies

Nora O. Lozano

5          Light from Asian Theologies

            Atola Longkumer

6          Mistaking White for Light: Awakening to a Truthful Search for the Light

Mikael N. Broadway

7          Light from Modern and Contemporary Women’s Religious Experiences

Courtney Pace

8          Light from Feminist Theologies

Susan M. Shaw

9          Light from Womanist Theologies

Khalia J. Williams

10         Light from LGBTQ+ Lives

Cody J. Sanders

11         Light from Refugee and Immigrant Perspectives

May May Latt

12         Light from People with Disabilities

Jason D. Whitt

13         Light from Interreligious Sources

Raimundo C. Barreto, Jr.

14         Light from Ecological Theologies

Rebecca Horner Shenton

Part II

LIGHT FROM OUR LIFE-IN-COMMUNITY

15         Light from Ancient Confessions of Faith

            Curtis W. Freeman

16         Light from Pre-Reformation Women’s Theological Contributions

Kate Hanch

17         Light from the Confessions of the European Reformations

Rady Roldán-Figueroa

18         Light from Baptist Confessions of Faith

            Stephen R. Holmes

19         Light from Catholic Magisterial Sources

Coleman Fannin

20         Light for Navigating Moral Disagreement

Myles Werntz

21         Light from Saintly Sources

Derek C. Hatch

22         Light from Traditional Liturgical Sources

Philip E. Thompson

23         Light from Contemporary Liturgical Sources

Jennifer W. Davidson

24         Light from/for Ecumenical Convergence

            Steven R. Harmon

25         Conclusion: Light from Converted Listening

            Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon

Nancy Bedford endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Nancy E. Bedford, Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

“The diverse voices in this book come together wonderfully to illuminate the value of taking specific communities of faith seriously as subjects of theology, even while challenging them to look beyond themselves to communities—both past and present—who both shed light and cast shadows on what it means to practice theology. The book is a splendid gift of love from Baptists to all those who care about the church, regardless of confessional leanings.”

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Bill Leonard endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Bill J. Leonard, Founding Dean and Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Wake Forest University Divinity School, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

"This well-organized, well-focused study brings together a diverse group of scholars who address Christian and Baptist identity as a guide for congregations and individuals. These insightful essays cover a wide range of topics and issues confronting the 21^st-century church…a timely contribution to Christian communities."

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Lina Toth endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Lina Toth (Andronoviene), Assistant Principal and Lecturer in Practical Theology at Scottish Baptist College, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

“This book provides a stimulating introduction to a whole range of theological lenses, offering multiple starting points for an in-depth exploration as well as providing an overall ‘map’ of the diversity within Christ’s body. It offers models of healthy theological engagement from a Baptist perspective and will be of help to anyone engaged in guiding theological practice. Every reader (and community of readers) is bound to be surprised and challenged by some unexpected source of light presented here.” 

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Paul Baxley endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Paul Baxley, Executive Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

“For those of us who believe that local congregations are uniquely equipped by the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Risen Jesus to offer a compelling witness to God’s love in this broken world, and who also know that individual congregations deeply need community with the global church in order to flourish through participation in the life of the Triune God, Sources of Light provides both a powerful challenge and significant resources. By inviting congregations and their leaders to a much more substantial theological practice through listening to voices and testimonies from all across Christ’s church, Amy Chilton and Steve Harmon have offered us a way to see difference not as an occasion for fear, but instead an opportunity for discernment, love, and greater faithfulness.”

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Jerusha Matsen Neal endorses Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

Jerusha Matsen Neal, Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Duke University Divinity School, has offered the following words of praise for Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, ed. Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon (Mercer University Press, 2020):

“Sources of Light does more than celebrate the breadth and particularity of the Spirit's work in local congregations. It provides a tool box for robust practices of congregational discernment. The book is an invaluable resource for preachers who want to invite congregations past insular theological cul-de-sacs and into the broad expanse of God's faithful witness. Listening and responding to that witness is the challenge and joy of our Baptist inheritance.”

Order Sources of Light from the Mercer University Press site (or call 478-301-2880) using coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping.

Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology releases May 1

Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, which I co-edited and co-authored with Amy L. Chilton, will be released by Mercer University Press on May 1.

Here's the book description on the publisher's site:

"Baptist theologians Amy L. Chilton and Steven R. Harmon maintain that the congregational freedom cherished by Baptists makes it possible for their local churches to engage in a practice of theology informed by a full range of voices speaking from the whole church beyond the local church, past and present. In their coedited book SOURCES OF LIGHT, a diverse group of twenty-three Baptist theologians engage in a collaborative attempt to imagine how Baptist communities might draw on the resources of the whole church more intentionally in their congregational practice of theology. These resources include theologies that attend to the social locations of followers of Jesus Christ--not only in terms of ethnic and gender identity, sexual orientation, citizenship status, and physical ability, but also in relation to the wider interreligious and ecological contexts of the contemporary church. They also include the church's efforts to bring its life together under the rule of Christ in its practices of confessing and teaching the faith, navigating moral disagreement, identifying saintly examples for living the Christian life, ordering its life as a worshiping community, and seeking more visible forms of Christian unity across the divisions of the church. This book commends listening deeply to these voices as an ecclesial practice through which the Spirit of God enlightens the church of Christ, whose rule draws the church into deeper participation in the life of the Triune God, forming the church for practices that offer the gift of Trinitarian communion to a fractured world. Contributors include: Amy L. Chilton, Noel Leo Erskine, Nora O. Lozano, Atola Longkumer, Mikeal N. Broadway, Courtney Pace, Susan M. Shaw, Khalia J. Williams, Cody J. Sanders, May May Latt, Jason D. Whitt, Raimundo C. Barretto, Jr., Rebecca Horner Shenton, Curtis W. Freeman, Kate Hanch, Rady Roldán-Figueroa, Stephen R. Holmes, Coleman Fannin, Myles Werntz, Derek C. Hatch, Philip E. Thompson, Jennifer W. Davidson, and Steven R. Harmon."

When ordering from the Mercer University Press site, use coupon code MUPNEWS for a 20% discount and free shipping (U.S. continental addresses only), or call toll-free at 866-895-1472 or direct at 478-301-2880 to place your order by phone (Visa or MasterCard only).

Announcing Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology

The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion​ has announced the publication of Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, which Amy L. Chilton and I co-edited and co-authored along with 21 other contributors. The book is the third volume in the Perspectives on Baptist Identities series sponsored by the NABPR and will be released by Mercer University Press​ this May. As the release date nears, Ecclesial Theology will share more information about the book; in the meantime, see the NABPR web site for details.

Receptive Ecumenism and the Reconstruction of Christian Identity in Christian Higher Education

My essay "Receptive Ecumenism and the Reconstruction of Christian Identity in Christian Higher Education” has been published in the Easter 2019 issue of The Cresset: A Review of Literature, the Arts, and Public Affairs. It's adapted from my plenary address for the National Conference of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts at Hope College, Holland, MI, October 13, 2018. The contents of the whole issue are linked here.

Women in the Baptist/Free Church Tradition course

The School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University is offering a new “hybrid format” Master of Divinity course (online delivery plus 3 face-to-face class meetings) in the Summer 2019 term:

Women in the Baptist/Free Church Tradition (3 credits)

Dr. Amy Chilton (Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion, Wingate University and Adjunct Professor of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary) and Dr. Steven Harmon (Associate Professor of Historical Theology, Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity), professors

This course will explore the role of women in the life of the church in the Baptist and broader Free Church tradition, including but not limited to the role of women in ordained ministry. The three face-to-face meetings will be held on Gardner-Webb’s Charlotte Campus on the following three Saturdays, 9:00 AM-noon: June 8, June 29, and July 20. Assignments will include readings, online and face-to-face discussion, written papers, and oral presentations (no exams). The course content will include interaction with the Baptist International Conference on Theological Education (BICTE) on the theme “TogetHER: Re-Imagining, Re-Reading HERstory in the Church” sponsored by the Baptist World Alliance in Nassau, Bahamas, July 5-7, 2019. Co-professor Dr. Amy Chilton is one of the BICTE program personalities.

https://www.bwanet.org/events/upcoming-events/baptist-international-conference-on-theological-education

(Plenary sessions of BICTE will be available via online video; travel to the BICTE meeting is encouraged, but not required—students will have access to presentations online, and no institutional travel funding is available for the course.)

This course satisfies general elective requirements for all M.Div. concentrations and designated elective requirements in historical and theological studies in some concentrations. There are no prerequisites, and it may be taken for credit by “special students” who meet admission requirements but are not yet seeking admission to the M.Div. degree program. Prospective students interested in admission to this course as special students should contact Kheresa Harmon, Director of Admissions: kharmon@gardner-webb.edu, 704-406-3205. The registration deadline is May 20, 2019.

National Association of Baptist Professor of Religion 2018 annual meeting at Gardner-Webb University

The 2018 annual meeting of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion will be hosted by Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, May 21-23, 2018. Below is the latest update to the program for the meeting, with registration and lodging information.

The National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion

Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, NC

May 21-23, 2018

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Greetings from the Executive Secretary-Treasurer

Welcome to the Annual May Meeting of NABPR.

Save the date for 2019:  Campbell University School of Law has committed to host our meeting on May 20 – 22, 2019.  The 2019 meeting will be a joint meeting with the Baptist History and Heritage Society.

The November meeting in Boston was successful.  Mark your calendar for November 17.  Dr. Nancy Ammerman did a wonderful job as our plenary speaker.  We plan to keep the Saturday morning tradition alive in Denver.

Many thanks go to Doug Weaver, our President, and the Gardner-Webb University faculty and staff who have worked hard to bring about another successful meeting.  The online registration and payment portal made the logistics much easier.

I look forward to seeing you in Boiling Springs.

Daniel Mynatt
Executive Secretary-Treasurer 

Greetings from Gardner-Webb University

Gardner-Webb University had the privilege of hosting the Annual May Meeting of the NABPR in 2011, and we are delighted to do so again this year. Welcome to Boiling Springs, North Carolina and the Gardner-Webb campus. We hope you enjoy the conference and your time in our town and the surrounding area in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Steven R. Harmon

Associate Professor of Historical Theology
Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity
NABPR Vice President

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Information

Registration

Registration is now open at: https://nabpr.org/meetings/registration/

Conference Fee:  Before May 1: $95. | After May 1: $125.

All graduate student registration is compliments of NABPR.

Housing

We regret that on-campus housing is not available for this meeting; There are multiple hotel options. The first hotel listed is located near the Gardner-Webb campus and has a block of rooms reserved for our conference at a discounted rate.

Meals

The registration fee covers the conference meetings, the banquet on Monday, lunch on Tuesday, light breakfast on Tuesday and Wednesday, and coffee breaks.

If you wish to bring a guest to Monday’s banquet, the cost is $22.50 per unregistered guest. This option is available through the online registration.

Parking
All conference sessions will take place in the Tucker Student Center, located on Lake Hollifield between the Ernest W. Spangler Football Stadium and the Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center.

Plenty of unrestricted parking will be available adjacent to Tucker Student Center in the large parking lot in front of Lutz-Yelton Convocation Center as well as in other spaces designated for visitor parking in lots throughout the campus.

For those traveling by air, the Gardner-Webb University campus is located 47 miles from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (estimated 55 min. drive) and 47 miles from Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (estimated 59 min. drive).

Questions
If you have questions or concerns, email Danny Mynatt at dmynatt@umhb.edu.  Danny will forward your question to the appropriate person.

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Monday, May 21

• 3:00-6:00 — Registration/Check-in (Faith Hall Foyer, Tucker Student Center)

• 3:30-5:00 — Executive Committee Meeting (Room 353, Tucker Student Center)

• 6:00 — Dinner: Stewart Hall (Tucker Student Center)

  • Program:
    • Joseph S. Moore, Assistant Professor of History, Chair of the Department of Social Sciences, and Special Assistant to the Provost for Academic Enhancement at Gardner-Webb University and author of Founding Sins: How a Group of Antislavery Radicals Fought to Put Christ into the Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2015).

The Break Area for the conference will be located in the Foyer outside Stewart Hall in Tucker Student Center.

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Tuesday morning, May 22

• 8:00-8:30am — Continental Breakfast — Stewart Hall foyer, Tucker Student Center

• 8:30–10:15 — Tuesday, May 22 –Session I

  • Old Testament I — Chapel (Room 228, Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Gerald Keown

    • The Theology of Joel in Aimee Semple McPherson’s Sermons and Writings
      Lacy K. Crocker Papadakis
      Baylor University, Doctoral Student
    • Hawkman, Wonder Woman, and Manasseh: the Contextualization of a Figure
      P. Scott Henson
      Gardner-Webb University
    • The Ascension of Enoch and Muhammad: A Comparative Analysis of 2 Enoch and the Bukhari Hadith
      Zachary J. Dey
      Gardner-Webb University, Master of Divinity/ Master of Arts Student
      

  • New Testament I — Hope Hall (Tucker Student Center) —  Presiding: Jim McConnell

    • Echoes of Exodus in the Epistle to the Hebrews
      David M. Moffitt
      University of St Andrews
    • Mercy as “Clemency”: Paul’s “Mercy” Language against a Roman Imperial Backdrop
      Gregory M. Barnhill
      Baylor University, Doctoral Student
    • A Shift in Eschatological Thought from The Similitudes to Mark 13
      Jeremiah Hamby
      Gardner-Webb University, Master of Divinity/ Master of Arts in Religion Student

  • Church History I — Room 139 (TSC) — Presiding: Glenn Jonas

    • Reclaiming the Bible: Martin Luther and LGBTQ+ Inclusion
      Adam Peeler
      MacAfee School of Theology, Master of Divinity Student
    • Baptist Theological Education and the Politics of Space
      Andrew Gardner
      Florida State University, Doctoral Student

  • Theology I  —  Room 141 —  Presiding: Kent Blevins

    • Watery Vulnerability and Impious Resistance:  Perpetua’s Martyrdom, Our Baptism
      Mark S. Medley
      Baptist Seminary of Kentucky
    • Relational Theopsychology: Trinitarian Theology and Matrixial Anthropology for Psychosocial Transformation.
      Matthew Beal
      Boston University School of Theology, Doctoral Student 
    • Sharing in Salvation: The Ritualizing Martyrdom and Eucharist in Early Christianity
      Kenneth A. Vandergriff
      Florida State University, Doctoral Student

  • Pedagogy I —  Room 353 —  Presiding: Tim Crawford

    • Privilege and “Standard” English:  Reframing Expectations of Student Writing
      Dalen C. Jackson
      Baptist Seminary of Kentucky
    • Which Way has the Pendulum Swung? Exploring Biblical Ignorance vs. a Fundamentalist Shift in Students in Baptist Higher Education
      Amy Stumpf
      California Baptist University
    • The Telos of Theological Education: Knowledge or Formation?
      Seth Heringer
      Toccoa Falls College

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• 10:30-1:15 —  Tuesday, May 22 — Plenary Session I

  • Annual Business Session
  • Lunch

• 10:30-11:45  —    Plenary Session I   —   Room: Stewart Hall (Tucker Student Center) 

A Multi-Disciplinary Response to Ryan Andrew Newson's Inhabiting the World: Identity, Politics, and Theology in Radical Baptist Perspective (Perspectives on Baptist Identities series; Mercer University Press, 2018)
Presiding:  Alicia Myers, Campbell University

• Panelists:
  • Steven R. Harmon, Gardner-Webb University (Historical Theology)
  • Diane Lipsett, Salem College (New Testament)
  • Kristopher Norris, Wesley Theological Seminary (Ethics and Public Theology)
  • Amy L. Chilton, Azusa Pacific University (Systematic Theology)
  • Ryan Andrew Newson, Campbell University (Theology and Ethics)

• 11:50-12:15  — Business Session
• 12:15-1:15 — Lunch — Location: Faith Hall (Tucker Student Center)

• 1:30-3:15 —  Tuesday, May 22 —  Session II

  • Old Testament  II —  Chapel (Room 228, Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

    • Enemies and Evildoers in Book V of the Psalter W. H. Bellinger, Jr.
      Baylor University
    • Violence and Lament in the Digital Age: A Year of Teaching Psalm 137 Online Kim Bodenhamer
      University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
    • Sing It Again, Psalm: The Rhetorical Dynamics of Story and Refrain in Psalm 136 Rebecca W. Poe Hays
      Baylor University, Doctoral Student

  • New Testament II  —  Chapel Room 228 (Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Mitchell Reddish

    • Jesus the Anti-Prophet (?) Cody Carpenter
      McAfee School of Theology, Master of Divinity Student
    • Subjecting and Confining: The Language of Conflict and the Structure of Romans 1–11 Scott C. Ryan
      Baylor University

  • Church History II  — Spectrum Theater, Room 139 (Tucker Student Center)— Presiding: James Byrd

    • The Gospel in Flames: Lynching and Orthodoxy Glenn Jonas
      Campbell University
    • David Gordon Lyon (1852-1935): Forgotten Baptist Scholar, Adopted Harvard Son, Faithful Friend and Colleague Mikeal Parsons
      Baylor University
    • Harry Marsh Warren and the Baptist Roots of Modern Suicide Prevention John Inscore Essick
      Baptist Seminary of Kentucky

  • Theology II — Room 141 (Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Mark Medley

    • Humans as Animal Loquens; or Recovering James McClendon’s Lost Strand Brandon Morgan
      Baylor University, Doctoral Student
    • Recovering the Spirit of Ubuntu: Toward an African Political Theology Jackson Adamah
      Duke Divinity School, Master of Theology Student

• 3:30 – 5:00 — Tuesday, May 22 — Plenary II

• Plenary Session II — Room: Stewart Hall, Tucker Student Center

• Race, Memory, and Violence in the Future of Baptist Studies: Latino/a, Black, and White Perspectives

  • Presiding:  Doug Weaver, Baylor University
  • Panelists:
    • João Chaves, Baptist University of the Américas
    • Malcolm Foley, Baylor University, Doctoral Student
    • Christopher Moore, Catawba Valley Community College
  • Response:  Doug Weaver, Baylor University

• 5:15 — Tuesday Evening, May 22 — Free Time and Dinner on your own

• 8:00-8:30AM  — Wednesday Morning, May 23 

  • 8:00-8:30AM — Continental Breakfast —  Stewart Hall foyer, Tucker Student Center

• 8:30-10:15  — Wednesday, May 23 —  Session III

  • Practical Studies I  — Room 141 (Tucker Student Center)— Presiding: Eric Holleyman

    •  Preaching by Immersion: Homiletics for the Age of Virtual Reality Jennifer Garcia Bashaw
      Campbell University
    • Feeling the Weight: Re-Conceiving a Baptist Theology of Ordination After #MeToo Kathryn H. House
      Boston University School of Theology, Doctoral Fellow
    • Blessing or Blessed? Toward an Ethic of Hospitable Service
      Tom LeGrand
      Gardner-Webb University

  • Old Testament III  — Room Hope Hall (Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Kim Bodenhamer

    • The Makings of a Despondent Queen: An Analysis of Esther 2:12-18 Mariah Q. Richardson
      Gardner-Webb University, Master of Divinity/Master of Arts in Religion Student
    • Comparing Rhetoric in Art and Text: Considering the Rhetorical Function of Images Richard Purcell
      Emory University, Doctoral Student

  • Theology III — Room: Room 228 (Tucker Student Center) —  Presiding: Ryan Andrew Newson

    • Baptists Hearing Voices and Seeing Things: Imagining Radical Practices of Local Church Theology Amy L. Chilton, Fuller Theological Seminary/Azusa Pacific University and Steven R. Harmon, Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity
    • Aquinas on Grace and Altruism Daniel W. Houck
      Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Research Fellow at the Henry Center

  • Church History III — Room 139 (Tucker Student Center) — Presiding: Loyd Allen

    • According to Luther: The Nature, Role, and Purpose of Women Joe Early
      Campbellsville University
    • Martin Luther’s Influence on the Religious Education of Children: The Centrality of the Gospel and Laity Involvement in Faith Development
      Emily Buck
      Fuller Theological Seminary, Doctoral Student

• 10:30-12:00 — Wednesday morning, May 23 – Plenary Session III

  • Plenary Session III  — Stewart Hall, (Tucker Student Center)  —  Presiding: W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

    • Panel: Discussion of Heidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons, Acts of the Apostles Through the Centuries (Wiley, 2016)
    • Panelists:
      • John Essick, Baptist Seminary at Kentucky
      • Alicia Myers, Campbell University
      • Scott Shauf, Gardner Webb University
    • Response: Mikeal Parsons, Baylor University

Save the Date!
2019 Annual Meeting

May 20 - 22, 2019
Campbell University 
School of Law 
Raleigh, NC

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