Education/Teaching History

Education

• Ph.D., Baylor University, 1999
• M.Div. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1992.
• B.A. Louisiana Tech University, 1988 .

Professional Experience

• Professor, College of Christian Studies, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Belton, TX, 1999-present.
• Lecturer, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Waco, TX, 1998-99

Courses Taught

History of Christianity; Baptist History; American Religious History; Women in American Christianity; Ministerial Practicum; Early and Medieval Church History; Renaissance and Reformation; Old Testament Survey; New Testament Survey; Christianity in the Modern Era.

Area of Expertise

Church History, Baptist Studies, and Women in American Christianity

Publications/Presentations

Publications

• Home Without Walls: Southern Baptist Women and Social Reform in the Progressive Era (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2020).
• “Saving Souls and Society: The WMU and Social Reform in the Progressive Era" in A Marginal Majority: Women, Gender, and a Reimagining of Southern Baptists, ed. Elizabeth H. Flowers and Karen K. Seat (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2020).
• "A Home Without Walls: WMU and the Reinterpretation of Gender Ideology," Baptist History and Heritage, Vol 51 No 1 (Spring 2016): 37-69.
• "Unreliable Allies: Southern Baptist Women and Race," American Baptist Quarterly, Vol XXXIII, No 2 (Summer 2014): 131-157.
• "Building a Publishing Empire: The Annie Armstrong Era of WMU, SBC, " in Baptist History and Heritage, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Spring 2012): 18-38. Winner of the 2013 Norman W. Cox Award for Best Article Published by the Society in 2012.
• "Congregational Polity: A Recipe for Anarchy?" in Brian Brewer, ed. Judson Press, 2011.
• "Where did Baptists Get their Name?" Baptists Today (December 2009), 8-9.
• "Creeds, Chaos, and the Holy Spirit," Baptists Today (July 2, 2007) reprinted in The Whitsitt Journal 15.2 (Fall 2007), 16 ff.
• "Baptist Polity and the Turn Toward National Denominational Organizations: 1792-1814," in Mike Williams and Walter Shurden, eds. Turning Points in Baptist History Macon: Mercer University Press, 2008.
• "Baptist Confessions of Faith," article published in Biblical Recorder, Word & Way, and the Mainstream Baptist Network Journal, (Spring 2005).
• "Blanche Groves Missionary to China," Brief Basics for Texas Baptists, Baptist Way Press, December 2002.
• "Doing Church Baptist Style: Congregationalism," Pamphlet published jointly by the Southern Baptist Historical Society and the Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society, May 2001.
• "The Kingdom at Hand: The Social Gospel and the Personal Service Department of WMU, SBC," in Baptist History and Heritage (Spring 2000): 49-66. Winner of the 2001 Norman Cox Award for the best article published by the Southern Baptist Historical Society.
• "The History of Southern Baptist History," in Baptist History and Heritage (Summer/Fall 1999): 40-48.
• "Coming into a New Awareness: The Election of Women Deacons at Seventh and James Baptist Church, Waco, Texas."Journal of Texas Baptist History (Vol. 18 1998): 1-26.

Book Reviews

• Laine Scales and Melody Maxwell, Doing the Word: Southern Baptists' Carver School of Church Social Work and its Predecessors, 1907-1997 (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2019) in Church History, 90 no 1 Mar 2021, p 249-251.
• C. Douglas Weaver, In Search of the New Testament Church: The Baptist Story, (Macon: Mercer Press, 2008) in Perspectives in Religious Studies.

Professional Presentations

• "Telling the Truth About History," William Pinson Lecture Series on Baptist Heritage and Distinctives, East Texas Baptist University, November 2021.
• "How Far Can you See?" Convocation Celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, August 11, 2021.
• “Salvation for the Soul and Society: WMU and Woman’s Place in the Progressive Era,” Baptist History and Heritage Society, June 2018.
• “Elli Moore Townsend and the Problem of Southern Progressivism,” Keynote Address, Baptist History and Heritage Society, May 2017.
• “Remembering Who We Are: The Importance of History for Life and Faith,” UMHB Honors Day, April 10, 2017.
• “Why Church History Matters in an Undergraduate Curriculum.” National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion, Southwest Region, March 2015.
• “Baptists and the Civil Rights Movement: Reflections on the Readings of Martin Luther King, Jr.” Baptist Classics Seminar, Atlanta, Georgia, September 2015.
• "Building a Publishing Empire: The Annie Armstrong Era of Woman's Missionary Union," American Academy of Religion, Southwest Region, March 13, 2010.
• "Building a Publishing Empire: The Annie Armstrong Era of Woman's Missionary Union," Pruit Memorial Symposium, Baylor University, October 1-3, 2009.
• "Tinkers and Poormen: Baptists and Grassroots Religion 1609-2009," Keynote Address, Baptist History and Heritage Society, Huntsville, Alabama, June 2009.
• "Southern Baptist Women and Southern Progressivism," B.H. Carroll Summer Colloquy, Arlington, Texas, June 2009.
• "Building an Empire: Annie Armstrong and the Publishing Work of WMU," UMHB Ministerial Forum, March 2009.
• "Southern Baptist Women and Southern Progressivism: The Social Reform Vision of Fannie Exile Scudder Heck." Paper read at the American Society of Church History, New York, New York, January 2009.
• "Baptists and the Shaping of American Culture" Presidential Address, Baptist History and Heritage Society, May 2006.
• "Southern Belles and the Social Gospel." Paper read at the Southern Historical Association, Memphis Tennessee, November 2004.
• "Teaching Baptist Classics," Baptist Classics Seminar, Mercer Center for Baptist Studies, Macon, Georgia, September 2003.
• "Vintage Vines: Fannie Heck and Social Service." Texas WMU Associational Summit Meeting, May 4, 2002.
• "Gender, Social Work, and the Second Wave of American Fundamentalism," Paper read at the Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, History of Christianity Section, March 2002.
• "Integrating Faith and Learning in the Classroom," Panel Discussion at the Southwest Regional Meeting of the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion, March 2002.
• "The Kingdom at Hand: The Social Gospel and the Personal Service Department of WMU, SBC," Paper read at the Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, History of Christianity Section, March 2000.
• Panel Discussant of God's Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights by Charles Marsh, (Princeton University Press, 1997), American Society of Church History, Washington, D.C., January 7-10, 1999.
• "Oral History for Baptist Churches." Presentation to Louisiana Baptist Historical Society, May 4,1997.
• "A Perfect Religious Hope: A Comparison of the Social Gospel Movement Among Southern Methodist and Southern Baptist Women. " Paper read at the Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, History of Christianity Section, March 1996.

Service (missions, ministry, etc...)

Preschool Sunday School Teacher, Youth and Children's Committee, Meadow Oaks Baptist Church, Temple, TX; Deacon Chair, Meadow Oaks Baptist Church, 2016-2018.

Professional Societies

American Academy of Religion; American Society of Church History; Baptist History and Heritage Society; Fellowship of Baptist Historians; National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion; Southern Baptist Historical Society; Texas Baptist Historical Society;

Awards/Grants

W. O. Carver Distinguished Service Award, Baptist History and Heritage Society (2017); Norman Cox Award for Best Article Published by the Southern Baptist Historical Society in 2012 (2013); Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship, University of Mary Hardin Baylor (2007); Norman Cox Award for best article published by the Southern Baptist Historical Society (2001); Outstanding Student of the Graduate School, Baylor University (1999); Fourth year doctoral fellowship, Baylor University (1995-96); Robert A. Baker Church History Award, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1991)