When I first was asked to be the editor of the Anxious Bench, I was astonished. I had been following this site since its beginning and well before I knew I’d become a historian. I had long depended upon the Bench to be a source for thoughtful and smart engagement with current issues in society, from a historical perspective.
My decision to step away from this role is quite simple. I have a pressing deadline to meet with a writing project on the brand history of evangelicals with Brazos Press. In order to meet that deadline and be a more productive researcher and writer over the next nine months, I needed to let some responsibilities go. While I’m just sharing about these changes now publicly, they have actually been over a year in the works. Frankly, a lot of prayer and discernment has gone into these transitions, by a number of folks.
First, I decided to set aside my role as Social Media Coordinator for The Conference on Faith and History, a role that I have filled for five years now. During the last five years, I organized 50 live events that were produced into 50 podcasts released over five seasons. The CFH podcast is quickly approaching 5,000 downloads. Back in 2020, CFH social media presence was only on Twitter and Facebook. Now you can find CFH on Threads, Instagram, and Bluesky as well. On top of that, in 2021 we rebuilt the website. As CFH enters into 2025, I knew it was time for fresh vision and leadership for CFH’s digital content. With the help of our board, we found the right person to carry on the responsibilities of digital content creation for CFH. I’m extremely thrilled about the new leadership that is stepping into that role. Emma Fenske is a doctoral student at Baylor University. Her doctoral research centers on Conservative Evangelical women and their thoughts and theology through Christian historical fiction romance novels during the rise of Billy Graham and the Christian Right. I fully plan to continue to participate as a member and advocate for CFH in the coming years, and I can’t wait to see how this historical society continues to flourish.
Second, I am setting aside my editorial role at the Anxious Bench. In the interim, the very able, Jacob Randolph, will give fresh leadership and vision to the Anxious Bench. Jake has been one of our columnists for some time now. He is a Ph.D. graduate from Baylor University and a cultural and religious historian whose research focuses on imagination, gender, and identity formation in medieval and early modern religious communities. Randolph teaches the history of Christianity at Saint Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University.
I’m thrilled about the fresh leadership at CFH and our interim leadership here at the Anxious Bench, and I plan to cheer those people on as they thrive in their roles.
I’ve enjoyed collaborating with our team of scholars over the past few years, which is why I am not going anywhere. While I’m stepping down from editorial leadership of the Anxious Bench, I will continue to maintain my monthly column here. I fully expect that there are some exciting times afoot for the Anxious Bench.
You can expect to hear more about Brand Evangelicals (Brazos Press, expected 2026) in the coming months. More immediately, my next column will share about my first publication, Jonathan Edwards and Hebrews: A Harmonic Interpretation of Scripture (Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2025), which releases next month as the ninth volume in the New Directions in Jonathan Edwards Studies series, edited by Harry Stout, Ken Minkema, and Adriaan Neele. You can expect my February column to be dedicated to current issues in Edwards studies. I’ll also be sharing more about the summer seminar I’m teaching at Yale Divinity School with Ken Minkema on Edwards and the Trinity. If you’re interested in learning just a little bit more about my first publication, I’m linking to the front matter of the book, which includes its table of contents, endorsements, and acknowledgments.
Excelsior.
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