My 2025 curriculum vitae:
Benjamin L. Hartley, M.Div., M.S., Th.D.
St. Louis, MO
(484) 680-3286 (cell)
Blog/Websites:
http://missionandmethodism.net;
https://www.eden.edu/eden-faculty/benjamin-hartley/
Primary fields
Global History of Christianity, History of Christian Mission, Methodist Studies, Missiology, Contextual Education, Evangelism, Diaconal Studies
Education
Boston University, Boston, MA. 2000-05. Doctor of Theology Major: Mission Studies, Minor: Church History
Languages: German
Dissertation:“Holiness Evangelical Urban Mission and Identity in Boston, 1860-1910”, Dana L. Robert, Director
- Awarded the 2007 Jesse Lee Prize, given once every four years, General Commission on Archives and History, United Methodist Church
- Awarded the 2007 “Outstanding Dissertation” award, Wesleyan Theological Society
Boston University, Boston, MA. 1997-99. Master of Divinity, Cum Laude Concentrations: Church History, Urban Ministry
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. 1994-96. Master of Science Department of Resource Development, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Concentration: International Development
Thesis: “Leadership Development in Nongovernmental Organizations: Applying Theory to Developing Country Contexts”, R. James Bingen, Director
Wheaton College, Wheaton IL. 1988-92. Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude Psychology; Development Studies Certificate, Human Needs and Global Resources (HNGR) Program
Teaching and Research Experience
Fall 2024 – present
Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis MO
Professor of Contextual Education, Mission, and United Methodist Studies
Courses taught
- Progressive Christian Leadership
- United Methodist Polity and Contemporary Doctrine
Fall 2021 – May 2024
Seattle Pacific University, Seattle WA
Associate Professor of Mission and World Christianity
Courses taught
- Christian Faith (general education survey course)
- Christian Theology (general education survey course)
- Global Christian Heritage II (1452-1850) (seminary course)
Fall 2016 – May 2020
George Fox University, Newberg OR
Associate Professor of Christian Mission
William Penn Honors Program Faculty Fellow
Courses taught
- Medieval Civilizations (Honors Seminar)
- 20th Century Thought and Literature (Honors Seminar)
- I Believe (survey of Christian history, theology, Bible) Christianity in History II: 1452-present
- Christian Foundations (survey of Christian history and theology)
- Spiritual and Religious Diversity in Psychology, a world religions course, (PsyD program)
- Introduction to the World Christian Movement Contemporary Issues in Mission
- Knowing and Being Known (First Year Experience course) Rise of Christianity in Africa
- History and Theology of Christianity
Spring 2020
Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, CA
Adjunct Instructor
Course taught:
- Introduction to Christian Mission and Evangelism (online course)
Fall 2005 – Summer 2016
Palmer Theological Seminary, The Seminary of Eastern University, St. David’s, PA
Associate Professor of Christian Mission
- promoted to Associate Professor in 2009; tenured in 2010
Director of United Methodist Studies (2011-2016)
Courses taught:
- United Methodist History and Early Doctrine
- United Methodist Polity and Contemporary Doctrine
- Missional Renewal in an Age of Globalization (Doctor of Ministry course)
- Rise of Christianity in Africa, Asia and Latin America (also taught at Russia United Methodist Seminary in Moscow, April 2011)
- Christian World Mission
- The History of Christianity in Africa
- The Church in Mission through History (an introductory world church history course for the Christian Heritage and Mission department at Palmer Seminary)
- The Church’s Response to World Poverty (addresses the church’s historical involvement in social welfare and theological reflection upon contemporary international development themes)
- The Church in Holistic Perspective (a congregational studies/practical theology course)
- Speak Until Justice Wakes (co-taught course on social justice and theology with Dr. Loida Martel-Otero in collaboration with the Office of National Ministries of the American Baptist Churches, USA)
- Theology of Poverty, (an introductory course for entering students in Eastern University’s Masters of Business Administration Program in International Development, School of Leadership and Development, Campolo College for Graduate and Professional Studies)
- Church History II, 1440 – present
Fall 2000 – Spring 2005
Boston University School of Theology, Boston MA
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Courses assisted
- United Methodist Polity (Rev. Samuel Johnson)
- History and Doctrine of the United Methodist Church (Professor David Hempton)
- Church History Survey (Professor Carter Lindberg)
Fall 1995 – January 1997
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Human Environment and Design
- Assisted Professor Susan Mireley doing focus group research and co-authoring report for state-funded study addressing homeowner and local government officials’ viewpoints on affordable housing needs
Teaching Assistant, Department of Resource Development
Course assisted
- Community/Economic Development Seminar (Professor R. James Bingen)
Publications
Books / Edited Volumes
Co-editor with Robert Danielson. Transforming Teaching for Mission: Educational Theory and Practice: The 2014 Proceedings of the ‘Association of Professors of Mission. Wilmore, KY: First Fruits, the academic open press of Asbury Theological Seminary, 2015.
Evangelicals at a Crossroads: Revivalism and Social Reform in Boston, 1860-1910.
Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire Press, 2011.
Co-author with Paul E. Van Buren. The Deacon: Ministry through Words of Faith and Acts of Love. Nashville: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, United Methodist Church, 1999.
Published Articles / Book Chapters
“John R. Mott Amidst the Students: Historical and Missiological Gleanings for Today,” Missiology: An International Review, 53(1), (2025): 7-21.
“The Problem and Promise of the Diaconate,” in Diaconal Studies: Lived Theology for the Church in North America, ed. Craig L. Nessan and Darryl W Stephens. Regnum Books, 2024.
“Pragmatic Christian Internationalist: John R. Mott’s Negotiation of nationalisms and Racism, 1895-1925,” in The Young Ecumenical Movement: Explorations in Christian Internationalism, 1895-1920s, ed. Dana L. Robert and Judith Becker. Leiden: Brill, 2024.
“The 1921 Founding of the International Missionary Council in the Life of John R. Mott,” International Review of Mission 111 no. 2 (2022): 253-267.
“Missions,” chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Early Evangelicalism edited by Jonathan Yeager, New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Robert A. Danielson, Benjamin L. Hartley, James R. Krabill, “COVID-19 in Missiological and Historical Perspective,” Missiology: An International Review, 49(1), (2020): 6-20.
“Methodist Missionary Self-Understanding in the Pacific Northwest, 1838-1844,” Methodist History 58(4), (2020): 215-230.
“John R. Mott and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.: Dimensions of an Unlikely Friendship,” Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York. http://rockarch.issuelab.org/resource/john-r-mott-and-john-d-rockefeller-jr- dimensions-of-an-unlikely-friendship.html
“Saving Students: European Student Relief in the Aftermath of WWI,” International Bulletin of Mission Research, 42(4), (2018), 295-315.
“On the Move: 200 Years of Methodist Mission among Migrants and Refugees,” New World Outlook, October 2018, 44-47.
Co-author with Glen A. Messer and Kirsten Oh, “‘Get on the Cart!’: Wesleyan Discipleship in an Age of Endemic Incarceration,” in Thinking Theologically about Mass Incarceration: Biblical Foundations and Justice Imperatives, Edited by Antonios Kireopoulos, Mitzi J. Budde & Matthew D. Lundberg. National Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission Theological Series. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2017.
Co-author with Richard L. Starcher, Philip C. Huber, J. Nelson Jennings, Stan Nussbaum, and William R. Burrows, “Perspectives on the Missiological Legacy of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation,” Missiology: An International Review, 45(4), (2017): 374-395.
Mission: Agnes C.L. Donohugh, early ‘apostle for ethnography’” in On Knowing Humanity: Insights from Theology for Anthropology edited by Eloise Meneses and David Bronkema. New York: Routledge Press, 2017, 137-162.
“Apostle of Ethnology”: Agnes C. L. Donohugh’s Missiological Anthropology between the World Wars,” International Bulletin of Mission Research, 40(2), (2016): 106-118.
“Alexander Crummel,” “David Pendleton Oakerhater,” “George Scott Railton,” “Eugene Stockwell,” “James Anthony Walsh” and “Frontiers [mission agency]” In Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, edited by George Thomas Kurian and Mark A. Lamport. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2016.
“What’s in a Word? Diakonia and Deacons in the Bible and Today.” Published online by the United Methodist Women. http://www.unitedmethodistwomen.org/what-we- do/service-and-advocacy/deaconess-and-home-missioner-office/news- resources/hartleyben.aspx 2015.
“Philadelphia Methodism Walking Tour.” Published on www.philawalk.org in collaboration with St. George’s United Methodist Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2015.
Co-author with Glen Alton Messer II. “Remembering our Ecumenical Heritage.” In Celebrating God’s Love: Living into Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships, ed. Donald E. Messer. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.
“’For the Relief of Human Suffering’: The Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief in the Context of Cold War Initiatives in Development, 1940-1968.” Methodist Review 6 (2014): 27-68.
Co-author with Eloise Meneses, Lindy Backues, David Bronkema, and Eric Flett. “Engaging the Religiously-Committed Other: Cross-Border Conversations in Anthropology.” Current Anthropology 55, no. 1 (February 2014): 82-89.
“Methodist Federation for Social Action,” “The Bethel Ship,” and “Samuel and William Stillwell.” In Historical Dictionary of Methodism, Third Edition, ed. Charles Yrigoyen Jr. and Susan Warwick. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 2013.
“‘That they All May be One’: John R. Mott’s Contribution to Methodism, Inter-religious Dialogue, and Racial Reconciliation.” Methodist Review 4 (2012): 1-30.
“Missiological Imagination as a Pedagogical Tool: 18th Century African and Asian Pioneer Evangelists in Conversation.” Missiology: An International Journal 39, no. 2 (2011): 205-224.
“The ‘Five Points’ of Philadelphia: Evangelism and Social Reform at the Bedford Street Mission, 1850-1900.” Methodist History 48, no. 1 (October 2009): 10-22. Originally printed in Annals of Eastern Pennsylvania 6 (2009): 3-23.
“Pietism.” In Encyclopedia of Mission and Missionaries, ed. Jonathan Bonk. New York: Routledge, 2007.
“The Historians and the Activists.” The Christian Citizen: Voices for Biblical Justice: A Publication of National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA 3, (2007): 10-11.
“Connected and Sent Out: Implications of New Biblical Research for the United Methodist Diaconate.” Quarterly Review 24, no. 4 (Winter 2004-2005): 367-380. Subsequently also published in The Orders of Ministry: Problems and Prospects, Quarterly Review Classics, ed. Hendrik R. Pieterse. Nashville: United Methodist Church, 2007.
“An Empirical Look at the Ecumenical Diaconate in the United States.” Monograph Series No. 16. Providence, RI: North American Association for the Diaconate. Abstract of monograph subsequently published in Review of Religious Research 45, no. 1 (September 2003): 84.
“Salvation and Sociology in the Methodist Episcopal Deaconess Movement.” Methodist History 40, no. 3 (2002): 182-197.
“A Deacon Dialogue: An Interview with Ben Hartley (’99).” Focus, Boston University School of Theology Alumni Newspaper, June (2000): 7-9.
“Deacons as Emissary-Servants: A Liturgical Theology.” Quarterly Review 19, no. 4 (Winter 1999-2000): 372-386.
“The Walk Between.” In Common Passages: Devotions for Seminarians by Seminarians, ed. Brian S. Gerard. St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 1998.
Book Reviews
A Country Strange and Far: The Methodist Church in the Pacific Northwest by Michael C. McKenzie. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2022. Methodist History 60(2): 296-299.
Building the Old Time Religion: Women Evangelists in the Progressive Era by Priscilla Pope-Levison. New York: New York University Press, 2014. The American Historical Review, 119, no. 5 (December 2014): 1703-1704.
Reading a Different Story: A Christian Scholar’s Journey from America to Africa by Susan Vanzanten. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013. International Bulletin of Missionary Research 38, no. 3 (July 2014): 154
Methodist Experience in America (three volume series) by Russell Richey, Kenneth Rowe, and Leigh Schmidt. Nashville: Abingdon Press. Methodist History 51, no. 4 (July 2013): 292-294.
Word versus Deed: Resetting the Scales to a Biblical Balance by Duane Litfin. Prism (March/April 2013): 39-40.
Moral Ambition: Mobilization and Social Outreach in Evangelical Megachurches by Omri Elisha. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2011. Prism 19, no. 3 (May/June 2012): 38, 46.
God and the Atlantic: America, Europe, and the Religious Divide by Thomas Albert Howard. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Journal of American History 99, no. 2 (2012): 605-606.
Holy Jumpers: Evangelicals and Radicals in Progressive Era America by William Kostlevy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Wesleyan Theological Journal 47, no.1. (2012).
For the Love of God: NGOs and Religious Identity in a Violent World by Shawn Teresa Flanigan, Prism (July/August 2010).
The New Shape of World Christianity by Mark A. Noll, Prism 16, no. 3 (September/October 2009): 35-36.
Who Gets to Narrate the World by Robert E. Webber, Prism 16 no.1 (January/February 2009): 35-36.
United Methodism at Forty, Newspirit 8, no. 4 (May 2008): 12.
Blog Posts
The following blog posts (800-1500 words) have appeared first on several other sites but have all been posted to my personal blog site as well: missionandmethdism.net/blog
“UM Deacons at 25: Rethinking Deacons’ Education,” June 2021 “UM Deacons at 25: Claim the name “Deacon!” May 2021
“UM Deacons at 25: Picking up on an Old Conversation,” May 2021 “Ridge Beauty” (a personal essay about my family’s farm), May 2021
“Becoming One, Becoming Holy: A Response to “Sent in Love,” February 2020 “Oregon-Idaho United Methodists Celebrating 200 Years in Mission,” August 2019 “Opening Up the Church So Wide,” August 2018
“On Really Getting Things Wrong,” July 2018 “My hope for United Methodism,” May 2018
“Friendship as Incarnational Mission Practice,” January 2018
“Response to ‘Wonder, Love, and Praise: Sharing a Vision of the Church,’” January 2017 “Trials of Ecumenism,” September 2016
“’They Never Resolved the Chord’: On Using Art to Teach Mission,” September 2015 “Deacon David Pendleton Oakerhater,” August 2015
“On Researching Forgotten Gratitude,” March 2015
“All Saints Day: On ‘The Enormous Condescension of Posterity,’ November 2014 “Friendship,” March 2014
“Epiphany,” February 2014’
“Make Poverty History,” February 2014 “On Church and Mission,” October 2013
“On Living Between Techne and Poiesis,” September 2013 “Cemeteries,” August 2012
Presentations
“On Working with the Problem and Promise of the Diaconate,” presentation for Diaconal Studies Consultation, April 29, 2023. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, online conference.
“The Meaning of Lake Mohonk for John R. Mott,” Invited address for a conference sponsored by the World Council of Churches to commemorate the centennial of the International Missionary Council (now known as the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the WCC), November, 2021.
“Negotiating Nationalism and Internationalism in the Life of John R. Mott, 1895-1925,” Invited address for conference, “Nationalism and internationalism in the young ecumenical movement, 1895-1920s.” October 8-10, 2020, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany.
“Native American History and Life Today,” Panelist for the Mathetes Forum. sponsored by the Intercultural Resource Center, George Fox University, November 12, 2019.
“Crossing Boundaries and Partnerships in Mission: Methodist Mission at 200 in Oregon” Invited keynote address for Oregon-Idaho United Methodist mission bicentennial celebration, October 12, 2019, Tigard, Oregon.
“Eighteenth Century Precursors to Methodist Mission,” Methodist Mission Bicentennial Conference, April 2019, Atlanta, Georgia
“The Cross-Cultural Friendships of John R. Mott,” American Society of Missiology Annual Meeting, June 2018, St. Mary’s University, South Bend, Indiana.
“Early Methodism in Oregon: A Reconsideration,” Oxford Institute for Methodist Theological Studies quadrennial meeting, August 2018, Oxford, England.
“New Metaphors for Thinking about the United Methodist Diaconate based on Re- interpretations of Diakonia,” Invited address for the United Methodist Deacon Dialogue, June 2017, Loyola University, Chicago, IL.
“European Student Relief’s Response to Crises after World War I.” American Society of Missiology Annual Meeting, June 2017, Wheaton, Illinois.
“Diakonia and Mission: Charting the Ambiguity.” Association of Professors of Mission Annual Meeting, June 19, 2015, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.
“Apostle of Ethnology”: Agnes C. L. Donohugh’s Christian Anthropology between the World Wars.” On Knowing Humanity Conference on Theological and Cultural Anthropology. May 14, 2015, Eastern University, St. David’s, PA
“What’s in a Word? Diakonia and Deacons in the Bible and Today.” Invited paper presentation for the Conference on Lay Order sponsored by the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner, Scarritt-Bennett Center, September 2014, Nashville, TN.
“‘For the Relief of Human Suffering:’ Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief in the Context of Cold War Initiatives in Development, 1940-1968,” The Oxford Institute for Methodist Theological Studies, August 2013. Oxford, England.
“Christian Engagement in International Development,” Perkins School of Theology, Dallas, Texas. Association of Professors of Mission Consultation, “The Missional Congregation and the Future of the Church: What Church Leaders Should Know About Christian Mission in the Twenty-First Century.” January 2013, Dallas, TX.
“Contextual Theology from the Margins: Historical and Missiological “Spade Work,” National Council of Churches of Christ, Commission on Faith and Order. October 2012, Seattle, WA.
“Clio in a Pith Helmet: Anthropology and Christian Mission in Historical Perspective,” Eastern University Colloquium on Theological and Cultural Anthropology, April 2011. St. David’s, PA.
“Charles Cullis, Gaetano Conte, and the Reconfiguration of the Evangelical Holiness Movement in Boston, 1860-1905,” Paper presentation, “Strangers in an Ever Stranger Land’: Evangelicals Confront New England, 1834-1934,” American Society of Church History Annual Meeting, January 2001, Boston, MA.
“An Evaluation of John R. Mott’s Contributions to Methodist Mission, Inter-religious Dialogue, and Racial Reconciliation after 1910,” Wesleyan Studies / World Christianity Group, American Academy of Religion, October, 2010, Atlanta, GA,.
“European Student Relief and the Struggle over Holistic Mission in the 1920s: Lessons for today?” Transformational Development Conference, August, 2009, Eastern University, St. David’s PA.
“Panel Presentation: Methodists, Mission, and a Faithful Response to World Poverty,” “In Defense of Creation” Conference, Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference, May 2009, Camp Hill, PA,
“Panel Participant: Partnership and holistic health development efforts,” Human Needs Global Resources Symposium: Enabling Local Vision, Effecting Global Change, February 2009, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.
“Rethinking Biblical, Historical, and Pedagogical Perspectives on Christian Development” Human Needs and Global Resources 30th Anniversary Symposium, February 2006, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.
“Immigrant Christianity: Yesterday and Today,” Windows on the World Lecture Series, Eastern University, October 2006, St. David’s, PA.
“Paper Respondent, Symposium on Ordained Ministry,” General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, United Methodist Church, January 2004, Nashville, TN.
“Ecumenical Perspectives on the Diaconate.” Boston University School of Theology Seminary Scholars Colloquium, October, 2002, Boston, MA.
“The American Diaconate Today and Prospects for the Future.” The Ecumenical Network for the Diaconate, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, November, 2001, Chicago, IL.
“African Ecclesiology and the Non-Governmental Organization Sector: What Can We Learn from Each Other?” Orlando Costas Consultation, Harvard Divinity School, February 2001, Cambridge MA.
Church Service
July 2022 – present
Member of Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, United Methodist Church
Member of District Committee on Ministry, Pacific Northwest Conference
Delegate of the United Methodist Church Council of Bishops to the Wesleyan Holiness Connection Annual Steering Team Meeting, October 26-27, 2023, Wilmore, KY
July 2020 – July 2022
Transitional leave as ordained deacon in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference
2013 – 2020
Clergy (deacon) member of the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference
Deacon appointed to Mountain Home United Methodist Church, Sherwood, OR
Committee member, District Committee on Ministry, Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference (2017-present)
Delegate of the United Methodist Church Council of Bishops to the Wesleyan Holiness Connection
2013 – 2018
Delegate of the United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops to the Faith and Order Table of the National Council of Churches of Christ
2012 – 2013
Delegate of the United Methodist Church to the National Council of Churches of Christ Commission on Faith and Order, Contextual Theology from the Margins Group
2011 – 2013
Member of Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Board of Ordained Ministry
Member of Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Congregational Development Team (for new church start efforts)
2006 – 2016
Deacon, Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Appointed to: Wayne UMC (2005-2011), New Life UMC (2011-2012), Clifton UMC (2012 – 2016)
2005 – 2010
Chairperson (2010) and Member (2008-2009), Mission Committee, Wayne United Methodist Church, Wayne, PA.
Convener for Provisional Deacons (2008-2010), residency in ministry program, Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Member of Conference Committee on Mission Personnel (2007-2010), Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
1997 – 2005
Commissioned Deacon (2001) West Michigan Annual Conference (of the UMC)
Ordained Deacon (2004) West Michigan Annual Conference (of the UMC)
Member of Bethany United Methodist Church, Boston (1998-2001)
1993 – 1996
Member of University United Methodist Church, East Lansing, MI (1993-1996)
Participant in the Three Year Covenant Community for Spiritual Formation, a United Methodist retreat community (1993-1996) modeled after the Academy for Spiritual Formation, General Board of Discipleship, United Methodist Church.
Other Work Experience
2013 – 2020
Guest preacher for congregations throughout the Cascadia District, Oregon-Idaho annual conference of the United Methodist Church
May 1999 – July 1999
Supply Pastor, Bethany United Methodist Church, Boston, Massachusetts
September 1997 – May 1998
Clergy Intern, Roxbury Presbyterian Church, Boston, Massachusetts
August 1994 – May 1996
Youth Ministry Coordinator, Pilgrim United Church of Christ, Lansing, MI
November 1993 – July 1994
Substance Abuse Therapist, Family Service & Children’s Aid, Jackson, MI. Served clients in the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility and clients on parole with the Michigan Department of Corrections
June 1992 – July 1993
Mental Health Counselor, University Hospital, Humboldt Park, Chicago, IL. Served on a “crisis stabilization unit” with persons diagnosed primarily with schizo-affective disorder and substance abuse
June 1991 – December 1991
Community Development Intern, Luke Society-Manila, Philippines
Professional Society Memberships
American Society of Missiology (President in 2024)
Association of Professors of Mission (President in 2014)
Eastern Fellowship of Professors of Mission (President in 2012 and 2013)
Wesleyan Theological Society
American Historical Association
American Society of Church History
Research Grants Received
Franklin Research Grant, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennyslvania. A $6,000 travel grant for remaining archival research work at Yale University, Columbia University, and the University of Minnesota.
Elmer L. Andersen Research Scholarship, University of Minnesota Libraries. A $500 scholarship for research in the YMCA archives at the University of Minnesota, awarded 2019
Research Stipend, Rockefeller Archive Center. A $1,500 grant to do research at the Rockefeller archive in Sleepy Hollow, NY, awarded 2018
Racial/Ethnic History Grant, General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church. A $1000 travel grant for research on Methodist missionaries in the Pacific Northwest, awarded 2018
Project Grant for Researchers, Louisville Institute. A three year, $20,000 grant to do archival research at libraries in the United States, the UK, and Switzerland in order to write a new biography of Nobel Peace Prize laureate John R. Mott, awarded 2017
Honors and awards
Jesse Lee Prize in American Methodist History, General Commission on Archives and History, United Methodist Church, 2007
Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2007. Wesleyan Theological Society
Diakonia Graduate Fellowship, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, United Methodist Church, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05
Th.D. fellowship, Boston University School of Theology, 2000-02
Jacob Sleeper and David H. Tribou Fellowships, Boston University School of Theology, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05
Beacon Trust Essay Contest Award Recipient 1998
Professional and Community Service
President, American Society of Missiology, 2023-2024
1st Vice President, American Society of Missiology, 2022-2023
2nd Vice President, American Society of Missiology, 2021-2022
Faculty Mentor, William Penn Honors Program Living & Learning Community, 2018-19
Volunteer, MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, Woodburn, Oregon, 2018-19 Chairperson, Board of Publications, American Society of Missiology, 2017-20
Co-facilitator, National Council of Churches of Christ, Faith and Order Commission, Responding to “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World” World Council of Churches document, 2016-17
Co-facilitator, The Bible Engaging the Issues Subgroup, Faith and Order Convening Table, Christian Unity Gathering, National Council of Churches of Christ, Washington, DC, 2015-16
Palmer Theological Seminary Association of Theological Schools (ATS) self-study chairperson, 2016
Contributing editor, Prism magazine, Evangelicals for Social Action, 2009-13 President, Association of Professors of Mission, 2013-14
Vice-President, Association of Professors of Mission, 2012-13 President, Eastern Fellowship of the Professors of Mission, 2010-12
Chairperson, Review and Guidance Committee for Student Concerns, Palmer Theological Seminary, 2012-13
Chairperson, Curriculum Committee, Palmer Theological Seminary, 2010-12
Board of Directors, Eastern Pennsylvania United Methodist Historical Society, 2005-13
Mission and Methodism 