Business Meeting
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March 1, 2025
1. Minutesa. 2024 Business Meeting
2. President’s Report
3. Ballot
a. First and Second Vice-President
4. a.Treasurer’s report (2024) – Brent Peterson
b. Proposed budget (2025) – Brent Peterson
5. a. Update from Wesleyan Theological Journal –Jason Vickers
b. Journal and paper/article submissions
6. Reports from Affiliated/Auxiliary Groups
a. Wesleyan-Holiness Women Clergy
b. Ecumenical Involvements
c. Wesleyan Dogmatics Working Group
d. Wesleyan Historical Society
e. Wesleyan Liturgical Society
9. 2026 meeting information and call for papers – Jennifer Woodruff Tait
March 19-21, 2026 Seattle Pacific University
10. Other Business
11. Adjournment
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Wesleyan Theological Society
Business Meeting Minutes
March 1, 2024
Trevecca Nazarene University
James Pedlar, WTS President, Presiding
1. 2023 Minutes
Acceptance of the 2023 Business Meeting minutes (below) was moved and seconded from the floor. Carried.
2. Ballot
· The Executive presented the ballot, with Jennifer Woodruff Tait and Karen Strand Winslow for the 2nd VP position. Members voted electronically. Jennifer Woodruff Tait was elected.
· Steve Hoskins and Brent Peterson were approved for another three-year term as, respectively, Promotional Secretary and Secretary-Treasurer.
3. Treasurer’s report (2023-24)
· WTS Secretary-Treasurer Brent Peterson presented the attached financial report for the 2023 financial year (see below). Some items noted:
o Registration numbers for this meeting are strong.
o WTS’s two main sources of income are membership dues and annual meetings. Our goal is to break even.
o The donor to the Doug Strong scholarship gave over $4,000 last year. All students who presented received $400. All students who attended received $200.
o The WTS investment CD will mature in December 2024. This will add $4,000 to the $45,000 investment. We are considering investing in a new CD going forward.
o Membership numbers are the lowest they’ve been in the last 10 years. 100 to 150 don’t renew each year, probably because they forget to.
o WTS has more funds than ever in our history.
o $8,800 net positive because of scholarship and CD.
o $89,634 total balance.
o Dues haven’t been raised or cost of attending meetings or officer honorariums.
o The Promotional Secretary has never been offered an honorarium. BP proposes to change this.
· It was moved that the treasurer’s report be received. Seconded from the floor. Carried.
· It was proposed and seconded from the floor to ask the executive to approve an honorarium for the Promotional Secretary. Justus Hunter proposed an amendment that
Promotional Secretary and Secretary-Treasurer, receive honoraria raised by 50% from what the Secretary-Treasurer currently receives, and that the honoraria for the Journal Editor and Assistant Editor are also raised by 50%. The amendment was approved and the proposal received unanimous approval. Carried.
4. Proposed budget (2024-25)
· Brent Peterson presented the attached budget for the 2024 financial year.
· It was moved that the budget be approved. Seconded from the floor. Carried.
5. Update from Wesleyan Theological Journal
· Editor Jason Vickers delivered a report on the WTJ.
· JV expressed thanks for Steve Hoskins’ work as Promotional Secretary.
· JV expressed gratitude to Laura Garverick, assistant editor and book review editor.
· The last Spring and Autumn issues were a little delayed due to delays from the publisher. LG had to spend three days with the publisher correcting numerous faults with the proofs. We are looking for new publisher and several journal publishers have been spoken to. Issues such as cost provide challenges.
· The WTJ is now averaging eight articles per issue. This is a reduction from the past, partly because this number is closer to the industry standard and it helps us to prepare for the expectations of a new publisher. The reduction to eight articles means more submissions are being turned down than in the past. One result of this is that we’re giving feedback to all who submit articles.
· JV asked section chairs to encourage presenters to submit to the WTJ.
6. Website Update
· Steve Hoskins noted the need for a new website and Laura Garverick gave a preview/presentation on this:
o The site will launch in 2024. The goal is to streamline things. It will streamline registration and journal processes. The website is the face of society, so we want an industry standard site.
· WTS is working on a 60th anniversary volume of seminal articles from the WTJ to be ready for the 2025 meeting. Steve Hoskins, Jason Vickers, and Laura Garverick are editing it.
7. 60th Anniversary Membership Drive
· Our goal is to increase to 700 to 800 members. Current members who refer a new member can have free membership in the next year, with details to follow (in terms of the referral / free membership process).
8. Reports from Affiliated/Auxiliary Groups
a. Wesleyan-Holiness Women Clergy
· No report given.
b. Ecumenical Involvements
· Don Thorsen continues to represent Holiness churches at the National Council of Churches. Speak to him if you want to be involved in this.
· Steve Hoskins represents WTS on the executive board of the Wesleyan Holiness Connection, a network of denominations and schools that includes Pentecostal representation. It is a successor to the National Holiness Association. Anyone who would like to be involved can speak to him.
c. Wesleyan Dogmatics Working Group
· Justus Hunter reported that he and Jason Vickers gave papers. The group is taking a dialogical approach.
d. Wesleyan Historical Society
· Steve Hoskins reported on the 7th meeting of the WHS. It featured presentations from Randy Maddox, Geordan Hammond, David Bundy, William Kostlevy and Wallace Thornton, and Priscilla Pope-Levison.
e. Wesleyan Liturgical Society
· The WLS met today, led by L. Michaels, with three papers presented. They hope to hold evening prayers at next year’s meeting.
9. 2025 meeting information and call for papers
· The 2025 meeting will take place March 14-15 at Baylor University (Waco, TX), with affiliate groups meeting March 13.
· WTS First Vice-President Justus Hunter presented the theme and call for papers for the 2024 meeting: “Partakers in the Divine Nature.”
· The keynote speaker will be Khaled Anatolios, John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame.
· The call for papers is attached below.
10. Other Business
Steve Hoskins’ Promotional Secretary report is appended below.
11. Adjournment
· Adjournment of the meeting was moved and seconded from the floor. Carried.
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1st VP (yes/no)
Steve Hoskins
Steven Hoskins, Ph.D., is Professor of Church History in the School of Religion and Theology at Trevecca and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. He is the co-author and editor of several books including The 50th Anniversary History of the Wesleyan Theological Society. Dr. Hoskins is a member of the executive board of the Wesleyan Theological Society, the Wesleyan Historical Society, the Nazarene Historical Society, and the Methodist/Wesleyan Studies Section of the American Academy of Religion.
2nd VP (top vote getter)
Brad Kelle
The Rev. Dr. Brad E. Kelle is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew and Director of the M.A. in Christian Ministry program at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA. He holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Emory University, a Masters of Theological Studies from the Candler School of Theology (at Emory University), and a B.A. in Religion from Trevecca Nazarene University. Prior to coming to Point Loma in 2004, his professional background included an academic post at Colorado Christian University, and eight years of church ministry in the Church of the Nazarene, in which he is an ordained elder. Dr. Kelle has authored or edited more than a dozen books and numerous scholarly articles. His publishing endeavors alternate between pieces written for the Academy and those written for the Church and other general audiences. His work focuses on trauma, moral injury, violence, and biblical interpretation, with special emphasis on the Old Testament prophets and Israelite History. His most recent books include The Bible and Moral Injury: Reading Scripture alongside War’s Unseen Wounds (Abingdon, 2020); The Oxford Handbook of Hosea (2024, edited); Telling the Old Testament Story: God’s Mission and God’s People (Abingdon, 2017); and Ezekiel: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition[Beacon Hill, 2013]). His most recent work involves the book of Hosea, with a forthcoming commentary on Hosea in the Old Testament Library series (Westminster John Knox), as well as a new book on Israelite history entitled, A Student’s Guide to the History of Israel and Judah(Eerdmans). He has been a member of the WTS for twenty years and currently serves as co-chair (with Jennifer Matheny) of the Biblical Studies unit.
Jenny Matheny
Jenny Matheny is associate professor of Christian Scriptures (Old Testament). Dr. Matheny has taught Biblical and Theological Studies at the undergraduate level and graduate level for over 14 years. Before coming to Truett, Jenny served as associate professor of Old Testament at Nazarene Theological Seminary and Director of the Wynkoop Center for Women in Leadership and continues to serve on the Center’s advisory council. She is consulting editor for the Stone-Campbell Journal and co-chair of the biblical studies unit for the Wesleyan Theological Society. In the classroom, Jenny seeks to create a safe space for theological dialogue and equip students to engage in the tough questions of the text (and life!). Her desire is that this educational experience in seminary will be a transformative and inspiring space of integration in all contexts that students are called to participate in Kingdom work. Jenny’s family has served for twenty-seven years in ministry, from youth ministry (Kansas, Missouri, California, Oklahoma, Canada) to church planting (Oregon) and church revitalization (California, Kansas). Some of her recent publications include Joshua. Illustrated Hebrew-English Old Testament Series. (GlossaHouse, 2019) and Judges 19–21 and Ruth: Canon as a Voice of Answerability (Brill, 2022). Upcoming publications include Ḥesed, the Seed of the Biblical Story: New Life for Old Testament Theology. (Baker Academic, Fall 2025), Clothing, Dress, and Nudity in the Five Scrolls (Oxford University Press, forthcoming), “Body of Horror in Judges 19-21 and Evil Dead II” Co-authored with Aaron Bohn. Journal of Religion and Film. Vol 28: Issue 2; Article 8. (October 2024) and “Holiness in Ruth” Holiness in the Old Testament: A Textual and Thematic Study (Forthcoming 2025).
Phil Tallon
Phil Tallon (PhD, University of Saint Andrews; MA, Asbury Seminary) is an Associate Professor of Theology at Houston Christian University, where he also serves as Dean of the School of Christian Thought. His work focuses on the intersection between Christian theology and human creativity. He frequently writes about C. S. Lewis, theology and the arts, and the problem of evil. Dr. Tallon is the author of The Poetics of Evil (Oxford, 2012) and The Absolute Basics of the Christian Faith (Seedbed, 2016). He is the co-author of The Absolute Basics of the Wesleyan Way (Seedbed, 2021) and Cinema Inferno: How Horror Movies Can Save Your Soul (Lexham, forthcoming). He is the co-editor of The Philosophy of Sherlock Holmes (University Press of Kentucky, 2011). Tallon has published over thirty essays and articles about theology and the arts. He has served as the chair for the Theology, Culture, and the Arts section of the WTS since 2020. Dr. Tallon lives in Houston with his wife, three younger children, and 70-pound husky. His oldest daughter is away at college. Unfortunately, he is on X and Instagram (@oldhundreth).
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Baylor University
March 14, 2025
With a little bit of surprise this year, we ended up having a very strong year in the black. There have been several creative and bold decisions by both the WTS members and the WTS executive committee that in my opinion have positioned us strongly into the future.
1) 2024 TNU meeting: Steve Hoskins and the TNU community were exceptional hosts. We worked to keep costs down and had a surplus of over 4000. This was made possible by the generous contributions from the Doug and Cindy Strong Endowment where we supported our grad students with over $5000 in travel and lodging assistance.
2) At the 2024 meeting the membership celebrated the work of its permanent officers by moving the honorariums higher and by offering an honorarium to the WTS Promotional Secretary position. In addition, we created a new position for the WTS Website manager. Even with these additions we still found ourselves solidly in the black for 2024.
3) Raising Membership Fees: For the first time in over 20+ years the Executive Committee decided to also raise our membership fees to recognize higher costs.
4) New Website: One of the greatest advancements this year was in the transition to a new website with the assistance of Jonathan Sprang and Laura Dahl. They worked very hard and this new website will position us well into the future. One of the great new features of this website is the ability to have our members receive a discount with an auto-renewal feature. While we will still need a couple of years to see the full fruit of this. I am optimistic that this will be one way to increase overall membership. We have also launched some WTS merchandise which many have found fun. In addition from an accounting point of view the new website’s features are a great help to our Executive Team for accounting and planning annual meetings. Thanks for your patience with the new website and registration process.
5) Lower membership: While our membership continued to decline. I am optimistic that with our new auto-renewal feature it will help us see gains in the coming years. The members should also be prepared that our institutional memberships may be down this year as we have doubled the subscription rates (again for the first time in over twenty years). We will monitor this as well in the coming years.
6) WTJ printing and shipping costs stabilized this year. We had some extraordinary challenges with the Fall 23 WTJ and thus our WTJ assistant had to travel and do a great deal of extra work that was accounted for in our 2024 year.
7) Our AAR dinner in San Diego was a fun even though over budget.
A few financial positives
1) Our CD matured in December 2024 and did provide over $4000 of interest in that two year span. The Executive committee voted to move that money into a new 18% month CD with a 4.09% interest rate.
2) ATLA has become a continual source of income connected to the WTJ.
God has been faithful to the WTS. Our finances have remained solid. In our 60th year it is likely the strongest financial position of our entire history. This is thanks to all of you.
It is a joy to serve.
Brent Peterson
WTS Secretary-Treasurer
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