A lecture by Ted Campbell, Associate Professor of Church History at Southern Methodist University, will be given on Monday 10th May 2010 at 4pm at Nazarene Theological College. The lecture is titled 'John Wesley's Disconnections, 1756-1760'.
We are pleased to announce the following new appointments to the editorial board of Wesley and Methodist Studies.
- The Revd Dr Martin Wellings, Superintendent Minister of the Oxford Circuit and President, World Methodist Historical Society is the book reviews editor.
- Kenneth M. Loyer, doctoral candidate at Southern Methodist University, as assistant editor.
- Joseph W. Cunningham, doctoral candidate at the University of Manchester (Nazarene Theological College), as assistant editor.
- Dr Rachel Cope, editorial research fellow at Brigham Young University, as copy editor.
The second volume of Wesley and Methodist Studies is expected to be published in spring/summer 2010. To view the contents page for the volume, click here.
The MWRC would like to congratulate Junior Fellows in Wesley Studies who completed their doctorates during the 2008-09 academic year. Michael T. Burns and Karl L. Ganske graduated from Nazarene Theological College and Thomas Glenn Jackson 'Jack' graduated from Cliff College.
The Manchester Wesley Research Centre and Didsbury Press are pleased to announce the publication of Wesley and Methodist Studies volume 1 (WMS). For the contents of volume 1 and information on purchasing it, click here.
WMS is a collaborative project of the MWRC and The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History, Oxford Brookes University.
WMS is now accepting essay submissions for future volumes. For further details, including style notes for contributors, visit the WMS website.
For the full length press release, click here.
The One Day Theology Conference will be at Nazarene Theological College on Saturday 6 June from 9.30am-2.30pm. Click here for a conference poster.
The Second Annual MWRC Postgraduate Colloquium will be on Wednesday 10 June 2009 from 9.30am-2pm. The Colloquium will feature three papers from MWRC Junior Fellows and close with a paper from Dr David Rainey on 'John Wesley and the Postmodern Condition'. Click here for a Colloquium poster.
'Religion, gender, and industry: Exploring Church and Methodism in a Local Setting', 16-18 June, an international conference co-sponsored by the MWRC.
The 2009 MWRC Annual Lecture will be delivered on Friday 19 June by Dr Bruce Hindmarsh, James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College, Vancouver. The lecture is entitled: 'Wesley Agonistes and the Calvinist Sublime: The Spiritual Ideals of the Early English Evangelical School.' For a lecture poster which you are welcome to print and distribute, click here. For a short description of the lecture, click here.
This lecture will take place at 5pm at the J. B. Maclagan Chapel on the campus of Nazarene Theological College.
A lecture by Dr Randy Maddox, Professor of Theology and Wesleyan Studies at Duke Divinity School will be given at Nazarene Theological College on Tuesday 4 May 2009 at 4pm. The lecture is entitled: 'Holistic Salvation: A Widening Theme in Wesley's Theology'. For a lecture lecture poster which you are welcome to print and distribute, click here.
The draft conference schedule is now available. The conference fee will be £250 inclusive of accommodation, transportation to conference sessions in Madeley and Coalbrookdale, and meals at the University of Telford (Priorslee) campus. Accommodation will be in single rooms with en-suite facilities. A 10% discount is available to students. Daily non-residential attendance rates are also available from £30 per day. Registration for the conference is now open. Follow this link to dowload a registration form
The Manchester Wesley Research Centre and the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History are co-organizing an international conference: 'Religion, gender, industry: Exploring Church and Methodism in a local setting'. This conference will be held from 16-18 June 2009 in Madeley and Ironbridge, Shropshire (UK). Submissions of short papers are invited for the conference seminar sessions. Any paper proposals should be submitted to the conference organizers by 23 January 2009. Please visit the conference website for further information and feel free to contact the conference organizers. We hope to see you in June!
The MWRC would like to congratulate Junior Fellows in Wesley Studies who completed their doctorates during the 2007-08 academic year. Geordan Hammond and Barbara Prosser graduated from The University of Manchester in July and Greg Crofford graduated from Nazarene Theological College in October. Congratulations are also due to Robert Snow and Mary Spaulding for graduating from NTC in biblical studies.
The MWRC is pleased to announce the launch of the Wesley and Methodist Studies series. This is planned as an annual scholarly series published by the Didsbury Press. We are now accepting submissions for future volumes.
The Fourth Annual MWRC Lecture was given by Dr Isabel Rivers, Professor of Eighteenth-Century English Literature and Culture, Queen Mary, University of London on 23rd June 2008. Professor Rivers spoke on 'John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards' with a focus on Wesley's edition of Edwards' The Life of David Brainerd.
The First Annual MWRC Postgraduate Colloquia in Wesley Studies took place on 20th June and 12th July 2008. Each colloquium featured three papers from doctoral students at MWRC partner institutions. The 12th July colloquium closed with a paper from W. R. Ward, emeritus professor of Modern History at the University of Durham. Some of the presented papers can now be accessed by following this link. 20th June Colloquium Poster and 12th July Colloquium Poster
Two testimonials from MWRC Junior Fellows have been posted on the website. The testimonials from David Wilson, a doctoral candidate at The University of Manchester, and J. Gregory Crofford, Ph.D., Nazarene Theological College, offer a student perspective on their experience of doing research at the Manchester Wesley Research Centre.
Dr Stephen O'Malley, John T. Seamands Professor of Methodist Holiness History at Asbury Theological Seminary, has been elected as a Fellow of the MWRC. An ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, Professor O'Malley has taught church history and historical theology for more than thirty five years. He is a respected authority in post-Reformation and modern Church history, with special emphasis upon Pietism, German-American evangelicalism and the Holiness movement.
Dr Bruce Hindmarsh, James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College, Vancouver will deliver the fifth annual Manchester Wesley Research Centre Lecture in 2009. Professor Hindmarsh has recently authored The Evangelical Conversion Narrative: Spiritual Autobiography in Early Modern England. His MWRC lecture will be on a subject related to his current research project on early evangelical spirituality. The 2009 lecture is scheduled for Friday 19 June 2009 on the campus of Nazarene Theological College, Manchester.
Queries from students interested in the MWRC has alerted me to the need to explain what the MWRC is and what it is not. First of all, the MWRC is not an academic institution. Therefore, the MWRC does not accept applications from potential research students. The MWRC is a resource for postgraduate students and faculty at MWRC partner institutions. Students interested in utilizing the resources of the MWRC should apply for a research degree at any of the partner institutions. All PhD students at partner institutions are Junior Research Fellows and have full access to the research centre. I should add that all interested students and scholars are very welcome to arrange to visit the MWRC. Additionally, students and scholars from any institution may apply to conduct research for an extended period of time at the MWRC.
The Postgraduate Research Students page has been updated to include three Junior Fellows of the MWRC from Cliff College and five Junior Fellows from the University of Manchester. There are currently nineteen Ph.D. students working at MWRC partner institutions.
The Postgraduate Research Students page has now been launched. There are currently eleven students working in the broad field of Wesley/Wesleyan Studies at Nazarene Theological College. On the new webpage, the thesis titles of all students can be found along with a short biography of most students.
To add to our growing collection of Ph.D. theses, the MWRC has recently obtained 19 new theses. This collection has proved to be an important resource for postgraduate students. To see a list of the new theses obtained, click here.
The newest fellow of the MWRC is Dr Elaine Graham, Samuel Ferguson Professor of Social and Pastoral Theology, University of Manchester. Fellows are research degree supervisors from partner institutions who are active in research pertinent to the interests of the Centre. All fellows have been approved by the University of Manchester to supervise PhDs. Therefore, Professor Graham or any other Fellow could potentially serve as a primary or secondary supervisor of a PhD student from any partner institution.
Welcome to the new Manchester Wesley Research Centre (MWRC) website and blog. We've created a collaborative and interactive space for research scholars and affiliates to keep up to date with what is happening at the MWRC. We'd love to hear from you so please check back regularly and feel free to leave your comments and ideas.