I am so pleased to welcome Joey Cochran to The Anxious Bench today–not as a guest contributor, as in the past, but as our new blog editor (or blogmeister as we fondly call the position). He is the fourth editor of the religious history blog, following Tim Dalrymple (who dreamed up the blog and served as editor from 2012-2013), Tommy Kidd (2013-2016), and our longest serving blogmeister Chris Gehrz (2016-2022) who just stepped down last month.
Chris recently wrote a three-part history of The Anxious Bench blog, but when he asked me to tell my story of joining and how I recruited Kristin Kobes Du Mez and Andrea Turpin, I left out some parts. So let me tell you the rest. Tommy Kidd, a colleague of mine at Baylor University, asked me to join as a writer in 2015. Writing has always been my first love. Indeed, my original major in college was professional writing with a side of journalism (I loved feature writing). But within my first semester I switched to History. Even as a college freshman, I realized that History could focus my writing, hone my skills as a writer, and give me the credentials to write authoritatively. Plus, I love stories, and a career in History meant I could spend the rest of my life teaching, reading, and piecing together the stories of ancient and medieval people.
What I did not love was editing those stories–much less organizing and editing stories told by other people. In 2016, after Tommy Kidd left The Anxious Bench to blog at The Gospel Coalition, Patheos asked if I would become the next Anxious Bench editor. The idea panicked me. I responded with a frantic no, and was so relieved when Chris Gehrz took the job. This time round, when Chris stepped down, I was less panicked. I realized that I could do the job as editor if the blog needed me. But I also knew that I wouldn’t be the best choice. I had learned with Chris that the role of blogmeister was bigger than administration or keeping track of the schedule and the writers (which, granted, is a job in of itself). The role of editor helped set the vision for the blog, solidifing us as a community of writers. I believe it is this shared vision and community that makes The Anxious Bench such a powerful voice, not to mention helps us attract the superb historical thinkers and writers who have joined us past, present, and future (spoiler alert!).
Which is why Joey Cochran is a perfect fit for the position.
Although I have only met Joey in person once, last Spring at the Conference on Faith and History, I have known him for several years. He first caught my attention on Twitter with insightful threads on history and modern evangelicalism that had the makings of interesting blogs. At the time, he was a PhD candidate at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in early North American religious history. Although currently he lives in Chicago with his family of six (he and his wife Kendall bravely parent four children–Chloe, Asher, Adalie, and Clara), I learned that he once lived near my neck-of-the woods: Dallas, Texas. Like my husband and I, he and his wife also have served in pastoral ministry. Perhaps most interesting to me was that (again like me) Joey–whose background is steeped in conservative evangelicalism–had made the journey from complementation theology to egalitarian. Indeed, just last Spring I asked him to write a guest post for me on this journey. I highly recommend you read it.
So I knew Joey had the credentials, both as a historian and a writer, to join us on The Anxious Bench (just see his recent article at Christianity Today).I also knew he had the experience and passion. The reason I knew he would be perfect as our editor, however, is because of his work with The Conference on Faith and History. Over two years ago, early in my term as CFH president, Joey became the social media coordinator for our conference. It was during the height of the pandemic and the CFH has struggling with keeping our membership connected. Joey decided to start a series of virtual coffee hours which would create a space for conversation with guest historians and scholars–both inside and outside of the CFH. He then began to turn those conversations into podcasts. It was during one of these events, as I sat outside at a coffee shop in Dallas listening to a conversation between Esau McCaulley and Malcolm Foley, that I fully realized the significance of what Joey had done for our conference. I remember watching the comments of conference members as they greeted each other, asked questions, and just talked as friends. I remember being in awe as Joey pulled together panel after panel of scholars featuring some of the most significant questions facing us as historians and Christian scholars. At a time when maintaining connection even among families was difficult, Joey Cochran managed to rebuild community among a disparate group of scholars. He also helped us reimagine our vision as historians of faith.
I am so excited to see what Joey Cochran will do as editor of The Anxious Bench. Please join me in welcoming him on board! (and you can follow him on twitter @joeycochran).
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