Schedule
Annual Meeting
Thursday, March 13
Affiliate Societies
To view the schedules of WTS’ Affiliate Societies, click below:
Friday March 14
Wesleyan Theological Society
8:00-8:30 a.m.
Registration (Piper Great Hall, Truett Seminary)
8:30-9:00 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Worship (Powell Chapel, Truett Seminary)
9:00-10:00 a.m.
Plenary Address: Khaled Anatolios (Powell Chapel)
10:00-10:30 a.m.
Break/Refreshments (Piper Great Hall)
10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions [see below]
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Lunch; Meeting of the Executive Committee (Heritage Room 106, Truett Seminary)
Box lunches available in the Piper Great Hall and Room 107, Truett Seminary
1:30-3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions [see below]
3:00-3:30 p.m.
Break/Refreshments (Piper Great Hall)
3:30-5:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions [see below]
5:00-5:40 pm
WTS Business Meeting (Powell Chapel)
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Banquet (Mark & Paula Hurd Welcome Center, Baylor University)
8:00-9:00 p.m.
Dessert Receptions:
A Foundation for Theological Education (Room 115, Truett Seminary)
Manchester Wesley Research Center (Room 114, Truett Seminary)
Saturday March 15
7:30-8:30 a.m.
Optional breakfast
Sponsored by Truett Seminary and Wesley House (Piper Great Hall)
8:30-9:15 a.m.
Worship with Eucharist (Powell Chapel)
https://www.bcponline.org/HE/he2-altgt.html#Eucharistic%20Prayer%20B
9:30-10:30 a.m.
Presidential Address: Justus Hunter (Powell Chapel)
10:30-11:00 a.m.
Break/Refreshments (Piper Great Hall)
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions [see below]
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Lunch
Box lunches available in the Piper Great Hall and Room 107, Truett Seminary
1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions [see below]
Concurrent Sessions
Friday March 14
10:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
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Biblical Studies I – Powell Chapel
*NOTE: All papers will be 20 minutes in length. The session will conclude with 10 minutes of discussion.Moderator: Jennifer M. Matheny
David Young, “In Many and Various Ways: Clement of Alexandria’s Use of the Epistle to the Hebrews”
Mary K. Schmitt and Timothy L. Hahn, “Race, Intra-Humanity, and Charity in Jesus and the Syrophoenician Woman”
Stephanie Smith Matthews, “Unmasking Angels: Participating in the Disabled Divine Nature”
Discussion (10 min)
-
Historical Studies I – Room 232
Moderator: Priscilla Pope Levison
Richard E. Clark, “Henry Hammond’s Seventeenth-Century Anglican Arminian Ordo Salutis”
Mark Olson, “The Early Wesley on Participation in Christ’s Death and Resurrection”
Allison Shulman, “The Written Word: Mary Fletcher’s Letters as Divine Anointing”
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Intercultural Studies I – Room 313
Moderator: Nell Becker Sweeden
Matthew Friedman, “Missional Theosis and 21st-Century Mysticism”
Kaitlyn Haley Deisher, “Embodying Love in Contextualizing Wesleyan-Holiness Theology”
William Price Payne, “A Reconsideration of Wesley’s Teaching on ‘Keeping the Lord’s Day’”
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Practical Theology & Christian Formation I – Room 309
Moderator: Aaron Perry
Brian Yeich, “The Pursuit of Holiness and Mission”
Lauren Mary Palmer, “Partaking in the Divine Nature Together: John Wesley & NT Wright in Conversation Regarding Sanctification Expressed in Christian Community”
Jeremy Sullivan Height, “A Theology of Human Flourishing: An Application of Holiness Theology on Holistic Poverty Alleviation in the 21st Century”
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Systematic Theology I – Room 214
Moderator:Douglas Koskela, “The Role of Prayer in the Holy Spirit’s Work of Sanctification”
Jonathan Platter, “The Spirit of Glory: Toward a Pneumatological Construal of the Beatific Vision and Theosis”
Brent Peterson, “Eucharistic Presence, Sacrifice, and Mission as Deification: The Mysterious Fruit of the Wesleyan and Orthodox Traditions in Conversation”
-
Theological Education – Room 218
Moderator: Keli Summers Sorg
Wendy Mohler-Seib and Kelli Seiwert, “Holy Bodies and Student Athletes: Exploring the Intersection of Athletics, Holiness, and Formation Among Students at a Christian University”
Samuel Christopher Riedel, “Youth Don't Listen, They Watch: Contemporary Challenges Undermining Holiness-Centered Student Ministry”
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Theology, Culture, and the Arts I – Room 115
Moderator: Philip C. Tallon
Panel: “Wesleyan Perspectives on Aesthetics”
Presenter: Shannon Sigler
Respondents: Steven Vredenburgh, Douglas Strong
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Wesleyan Holiness Connection Address – Room 107
Don Thorsen, “Holiness and Ecumenicity: Past, Present, and Future”
Friday March 14
1:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
-
Biblical Studies II – Powell Chapel
*NOTE: All papers will be 20minutes in length. The session will conclude with 10 minutes of discussion.
Moderator: Brad E. Kelle
Andy Johnson, “Partaking in the Anti-Divine Nature: A Biography of the Beast in Revelation”
Renee Dutter Miller,“Peter as Guest: The Practice of Hospitality in Acts 10”
Alison K. Hawanchak, “Partakers of the Divine through Creation Care: The Biblical Characterization of the Land as an Agent of the Divine”
Reuben L. Lillie,“Dirty Words in the Book of Job: Excavating a Poetic Vocabulary of Divine Participation”
Discussion (10 min)
-
Historical Studies II – Room 232
Moderator: Steven Hoskins
Daniel Flores, “The Rev. Silas Comfort Case Reconsidered”
James Pedlar, “John Scott Lidgett and Samuel Chadwick on Holiness and Social Mission”
Andrew Wood, “Flowers in the Garden: The Evangelical United Brethren Traditions in the Church of the Nazarene”
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Practical Theology & Christian Formation II – Room 309
Moderator: Rob Haynes
Aaron Perry, “How to Wait When You’re Expecting: Pastoral Ministry to the Parishioner Between Consecration and Entire Sanctification”
Dean G. Blevins, “For All the Saints: Sanctification, Autism, and a Rethinking of Sainthood”
Matt Barnes, “Holiness and Kenotic Leadership: A Wesleyan Perspective”
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Philosophy I – Room 218
Moderator: Thomas Jay Oord
Kenny Johnston, “Dancing with God in the Dark, Theosis and Doubt: An Epistemological Analysis of John Wesley’s Post-Aldersgate Experience of Faith and Doubt”
Thomas Jay Oord, “Partakers But Not Duplicates of the Divine Nature”
T. A. Espiritu Barnett, “All the Luster and the Light: Malebranche on the Image of God and the Problem of Moral Evil”
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Systematic Theology II – Room 214
Panel on M. William Ury’s Christology as Theology
Panelists: Thomas Noble, Jonathan Morgan, Jerome Van Kuiken, M. William Ury
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Theology, Culture, & the Arts II – Room 115
Moderator: Philip C. TallonDr. Terry Cokenour, “The Imaginative Reach: C. S. Lewis, Ambiguity, and the Journey Towards God”
David Alan Reed, “‘The Poverty Greater than Any Wealth’ - C. S. Lewis, Joy, and the Center of All Our Stories”
Kent Dunnington and Benjamin D. Wayman, “Running the Race: Sports and the Kingdom”
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Special Panel on the 60th Anniversary of WTS I – Room 107
WTS Officers Reflect on the Past, Present, and Future of the Society
Moderator: Laura Dahl
Panelists: Steve Hoskins, Justus Hunter, Brent Peterson, Jason Vickers, Jennifer Woodruff Tait
Friday March 14
3:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
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Biblical Studies III – Powell Chapel
Panel Discussion: What Does Wesleyan Biblical Interpretation Do? What Are Its Goals? Does It Have an End Goal?This session will be a panel discussion that is part of a yearly working group exploring the general question, “What Is Wesleyan Biblical Interpretation?” This session will consider the questions, “What Does Wesleyan Biblical Interpretation Do? What Are Its Goals? Does It Have an End Goal?” Each panelist will present for ten minutes. Then the presider will facilitate an extended discussion with the panelists and audience.
Moderator: Brad E. Kelle
Panelists:
Jennifer M. Matheny, Truett Theological Seminary (10 min)
Kara Lyons-Pardue, Point Loma Nazarene University (10 min)
Laura C. Sweat Holmes, Wesley Theological Seminary (10 min)
Jamal Dominique Hopkins, Truett Theological Seminary (10 min)
Discussion (40 min)
-
Historical Studies III – Room 232
Moderator: Jim Fitzgerald
Alan Guenther, “Partakers But Not Fully Comprehending: Experiencing Sanctification in 19th-Century India”
William Heise, “A Mistake Touching the Nature of Mortification: John Wesley, de Renty, and Self-Denial”Christy Mesaros-Winckles, “Exploring the Dark Side of Holiness Living: The Pentecost Bands of the World Orphanage 1903-1911”
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Practical Theology/ Christian Formation III – Room 309
Moderator: Josh Sweeden
Kenny Johnston, “Thirteen: Implementing Wesley’s Vision for Small Groups in an Age of Suspicion”
Beverly Hall, “Faith Formation and Morality: The Holiness Connection in the Wesleyan Paradigm”
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Philosophy II – Room 218
Moderator: Thomas Jay Oord
D. Scott Ostlund, ”Troubling Christian Transformation: Wesleyan New Birth, Queer Theory, and the Reproduction of Social Evil”
Sheila M Beckford and Michelle Ledder, “An Ontology of Holiness: How Anti-Racism Work Can Make Holiness Real”
Timothy P. George, “Emmanuel Levinas and the Imago Dei: Holiness as Relationality to the Other”
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Systematic Theology III – Room 214
Moderator:
Petey Bellini, “Maximus the Confessor’s Doctrine of the Logos-Logoi and Deification”
David Alan Reed, “We Shall Be Like Him: The Beatific Vision According to Thomas Aquinas”
Daryl McCarthy, “Partaking in the Divine Nature: Richard Watson’s Robust Vision for Holiness and the Mind”
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Women’s Studies I – Room 115
Moderator: Kimberly Majeski
Kalie Hargrove, “The Exploitation of Innocence: Sexual Trauma in Eve's Story and a Challenge for the Modern Church”
Marie Gregg, “Know the Ways of the Lord: Hildegard of Bingen and a Wesleyan Feminist Political Theology”
Stephanie E. Junker, “Femininity and the Passions as Anthropological Correctives”
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Special Panel on the Asbury Outpouring – Room 107
Book Discussion of Cooperating with the Holy Spirit: Theological and Practical Reflections on the Asbury Outpouring by Suzanne Nicholson
Panelists:
Suzanne Nicholson (Asbury University)
Rachel Coleman (Asbury Theological Seminary)
Douglas Strong (Seattle Pacific University)
Jerome Van Kuiken (Oklahoma Wesleyan University)
Saturday March 15
11:00 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
-
Historical Studies IV – Room 232
Moderator: James Pedlar
David Alan Reed, “Imitation, Discipleship, and the Gospel of Perfection”
Stan Pelkey, “Sanctification and Deification in Charles Wesley’s Poems on the Gospels of John and Luke”
Jerome Van Kuiken, “Theosis, Kenosis, and Charles Wesley’s Lyrical Christology”
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Practical Theology & Christian Formation IV – Room 309
Moderator: Suzanne Nicholson
Austin Lynch, “Entire Sanctification as Western Theosis: A Comparative Study of Wesleyan and Eastern Orthodox Soteriology”
Steve Johnson, “Worship as the Glorification of God and the Edification of the Church: Wesley’s Theology and Practice of Worship and Christian Formation”
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Systematic Theology IV – Room 214
Moderator:
Olga Druzhinina, “Deification in Biblical Perspective: A Consideration of 2 Pet 1:3-4”
D. Brent Laytham (St. Mary’s Seminary and University), “‘Filled … with All the Life of God’: Eucharistic Partakers in the Divine Nature”
Logan Hoffman, “Sanctification, Yes; Deification, No”
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Theology, Culture, & the Arts III – Room 114
Moderator: Philip C. Tallon
Drew McIntyre, “The One the Ring Could Not Rule: Augustine’s Frui & Uti in the House of Tom Bombadil”
Craig Boyd, “Was Gandalf Sanctified? Spiritual and Moral Maturity in Middle-earth”
Haylee Wuensche, “Petrarch’s Canzoniere: A Dialogue with the Divine” (undergraduate student paper)
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Theology & Preaching I – Room 218
Preaching God’s Divine NatureModerator:
Caleb Strickland, “Blurring the Academic and Spiritual Natures in the Act of Preaching”
Ed Williams, “Partakers in the Divine Nature”
Peter J. Smith, “Sanctification, Spiritual Senses, and the Breath of God in the Sermons of John Wesley”
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Women’s Studies II – Room 115
Moderator: Kimberly Majeski
Jason Le Shana, “Sanctification & Vocation: Women Senior Pastors’ Calling Narratives Through a Wesleyan Lens”
Christina Pelisita Pomaama Liu, “Women’s Voice from the Sea of Islands: A Peau-Wave Travels from Insular to Global”
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Special Interdisciplinary Panel – Room 107
Sanctified Justice: Holiness Abolitionism as a Theological ConstructDouglas Strong, Seattle Pacific University, “The Big Tent: Holiness Abolitionism as an Energizing Theological Construct for Its Generation (and for Ours?)”
Sharon Grant, “Texas Lutheran University, Sanctification and Social Activism in Jamaican Revivalism”
Christopher Momany, Dowagiac United Methodist Church. “‘The Higher Law of our Nature’: Slavery and Sanctification in Antebellum America”
Saturday March 15
1:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
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Ecumenical Studies & The Wesleyan Liturgical Society – Room 232
Moderator: Don Thorsen
Stephen B. Sours, paper reviewing Whose Sacrifice is the Eucharist? The Offering of Christ and His Church in Catholic and Methodist Theology
Mark Bird, “The Role of Christ in Liturgical Prayer and the Jungmann Thesis”
Brent D. Neely (Br. Alberic-Bede, OSB), “Wesleyanism and Monasticism: Wesley’s De Facto Mendicant Order”
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Intercultural Studies II – Room 313
Moderator: Nell Becker Sweeden
Mark A. Maddix, “The World is Not My Parish: Toward a Post-Colonial view of Christian Witness”
Courtney Turner, “Seeing the Face of God in the Faces of People: Kosuke Koyama, Wesleyanism, and Encountering the Divine in the Other”
O. Brent Dongell, “Clarifying Characteristics of Effective True Community Toward Spiritual Maturity from Gen Z’s Voice”
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Moral Theology – Room 218
Moderator: Gregory P. Van Buskirk
D. Stephen Long, “St. Paul, John Wesley, and Adam Smith on Human Agency and Economics”
David N. Field, “Participating in Divine Justice, Mercy, and Truth—Theosis, Sanctification, and Political Engagement”
Maureen Knudsen Langdoc, “Stop Putting God First … and Start Living a Holy and Happy Life?”
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Practical Theology & Christian Formation V – Room 309
Moderator: Brian Yeich
Reuben L. Lillie and Charles L. Perabeau, “Interdependence as Participation: An Ecclesiology of District Administration”
Josh Sweeden, “Place as a Means of Grace: Participation and Performance”
Kelli Summers Sorg, “John Wesley’s Theology of New Creation: Creativity as an Expression of the Divine Nature”
Joseph W. Cunningham, “Participation in the Divine: A Theological Motif in the Thought of Frederick Douglass?” -
Science & Theology – Room 115
Wesleyan Theology, Ethics, and Accountability with Artificial Intelligence TechnologiesModerator:
Chris Willard, “The Preacher is Dead: What Happens When AI Writes a Sermon”
Thomas Hermans-Webster, “Technocracy, Plantations, and Ecological Well-being: Becoming a Wesleyan Human Today”
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Theology & Preaching II – Room 214
Dialectical Reflection in the Pulpit
Moderator:
Matt Barnes, “The Quiet Eye of Holiness: Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus in Preaching and Formation”
R. Laird, “Social Holiness in the Sermons of Reuben Welch”
Andra Lauren Neely, “Preaching in Church Closures”