Pulitzer Nomination for Recinos
Harold Recinos’ new book, The Days You Bring (Resource Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers; 2022), was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in poetry and has been officially accepted by the Pulitzer board. The winner in the category will be announced next spring. Recinos will publish another volume of poetry, The Looking Glass: Far and Near, next spring. “For me, this craft of poetry is graffiti on public culture saturated with the mixed feelings of truth that originate in the permanent Spanglish knot in my throat,” he said. Recinos is Professor of Church and Society.
Article Published on The Conversation
An article by James Lee, “The ‘fathers of the church’ died around 1,500 years ago, but these ancient leaders still influence Christianity today” has been published on The Conversation blog. Lee discussed the criteria used to distinguish fathers of the church: orthodox or right theological teachings; the holiness of their life; the church’s recognition of them and their teaching; and antiquity, meaning they lived during the early Christian era that ended around the seventh or eighth century. Lee added that modern scholarship has also drawn attention to the important influence of women on the church during the age of the fathers. “Today, church leaders continue to rely upon the fathers’ teachings as authoritative sources of wisdom,” Lee wrote. “History has shown that Christians frequently disagree on matters of doctrine, and they always will. In those moments, future leaders may look to the fathers as sure-footed spiritual guides.” Lee is Associate Professor of the History of Early Christianity, Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor. Read the blog post here.
Priscilla Pope-Levison Honored by Archives & History
Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison was named the 2022 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award by the General Commission on Archives and History (GCAH) at the agency’s annual meeting on September 15. Each year, the GCAH gives this distinguished service award to a person who has made significant academic contributions to the “ministry of memory” of The United Methodist Church, according to Dr. Ashley Boggan, Archives & History general secretary. Boggan noted Pope-Levison’s ground-breaking research into the lives of the denomination’s pioneers, especially women in evangelism. Pope-Levison is the author of numerous books, including Models of Evangelism; Building the Old Time Religion: Women Evangelists in the Progressive Era; and Sex, Gender and Christianity, which she edited with John R. Levison.
New Book by Robin Lovin
Robin W. Lovin’s new book, WHAT DO WE DO WHEN NOBODY IS LISTENING? Leading the Church in a Polarized Society was reviewed by Robert D. Cornwall on his Word & Way blog. Writes Cornwall: “We can withdraw and let polarization continue on unchallenged by people of faith. We can join the teams and let the teams use us for their own purposes. Or we can choose to take up space and work toward the common good. I would choose the latter, and I believe Lovin provides us with some of the tools we need to pursue that course of action.” Read the review here. Lovin served as the William H. Scheide Senior Fellow in Theology at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, N.J. as well as the Cary Maguire University Professor of Ethics at SMU and dean of Perkins School of Theology. He is the author of several books dealing with Christian ethics.