The Anxious Bench at the Conference on Faith and History

One of our favorite organizations is the Conference on Faith and History, which was founded in 1967 and describes itself as

a community of scholars exploring the relationship between Christian faith and history. We welcome members from a variety of Christian traditions around the world. We also seek to learn from scholars outside the Christian tradition. Our primary goal is to encourage excellence in the theory and practice of history from the perspective of historic Christianity.

The connections between this blog and CFH have historically been strong. Beth was just elected to serve as vice president of CFH, and she’ll succeed Jay Green as president when his term concludes. Tal just finished a stint on the CFH board, and I’ll join that body starting at its next meeting. John Fea, one of our co-founders and previous contributors, has served on the CFH board and will coordinate the program for the 2018 biennial meeting.

And next month Anxious Bench-ers will be all over the terrific program (adeptly coordinated by Beth) for the 30th biennial meeting of CFH, hosted by Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. After the undergraduate conference on Oct. 19-20, the professional conference will run from the evening of the 20th through the afternoon of Saturday the 22nd.

If you’re planning to attend CFH 2016, you’ll find us at the following sessions:

Thursday, 10/20

Our co-founder and former colleague Tommy Kidd will deliver the opening address, “George Whitefield and the Problem of Slavery” (7:00pm).

Friday, 10/21

• David Swartz, “C. Peter Wagner, Global Encounters, and the Re-Enchantment of the West,” Christian Identity in a Global Context (8:30-10:00am)

• Tommy will take part in a roundtable discussion of The Uses of Denominational History (8:30-10:00am)

• John Turner will chair The Dangling Conversation: Southern Evangelicals, the Academy, and the Shattered Myth of Post-Racial America (10:15-11:45am)

• Kristin Kobes Du Mez, “Where Are the Women?: The Challenges of Writing Religious Biographies of Women,” “On the Pilgrim Way”: Writing Religious Biographies of Women (2:45-4:15pm)

• David will chair Faith and the Foreign: Christian Missionaries and Aid Workers as Transnational Forces in Modern American History (2:45-4:15)

• Beth will chair “Every Man, Woman, and Child”: Forming Christian Identities in Early America (4:30-6:00pm)

In addition, two of our guest-bloggers from the summer will take part in panels during the 8:30 session on Friday morning: Andrea Turpin will comment on Gender, Christianity, and Popular Culture in 20th Century America; and Blake Hartung will reflect on “Learning from Middle Eastern Christian History” as part of a panel on Race, Reconciliation, and Christian History.

And look for us at that evening’s dinner, before Jay Green’s presidential address. We’re planning to gather before the meal and perhaps grab a table together.

Saturday, 10/22

• Kristin will be part of a roundtable discussion organized by Andrea, on the challenges and opportunities of Teaching U.S. Women’s History at Christian Institutions (1:15-2:45pm)

Since I’m too lazy to present a paper or chair a session, I’ll have plenty of time to live-tweet sessions that I attend. Follow along @cgehrz and look for the hashtag #cfh2016. And I suspect that at least one or two of us will write CFH-related blog posts here at Anxious Bench.