A month of lows, one really nice high, and a new opportunity on the horizon

It's been a month since I've posted. It's been a rather long month...2 or 3 months actually, not only in terms of getting started on doctoral research, but also in waiting to hear back from a fellowship for which I applied (and found out a couple of weeks ago I did not receive), struggling with Sam's sleeping problems (he has gotten up every single night at least once and typically 2-4 times in the middle of the night), and most recently, the onset of some strange headaches that may be attributed to the aforementioned sleeping issues or perhaps an increase in blood pressure (I'm going to try to lose about 15-20 pounds, which should help reduce the blood pressure).

Even with these difficulties, there has been one really cool encounter that occurred a week ago today about which I would like to tell you. As you may or may not know I am pursuing a Ph.D. in John Wesley Studies at Nazarene Theological College, in affiliation with the University of Manchester. The specific area of Wesley's theology with which I will be dealing in my dissertation is with Wesley's approach to the atonement and how three specific Methodist theologians post-Wesley (one of whom is living today) have critiqued a certain aspect of Wesley's appropriation of the atonement in order to advance a particular theory that they say is more in tune with the rest of Wesley's soteriological emphases. I'll be going into more detail about this issue over the course of the next few years and probably post some of my findings that I think may interest my readership here from time to time. For now, if you want to see my (current) title, click here. I'm considering changing the last phrase from "...Wesley's Emphasis on Penal and Satisfaction Elements" to "...Wesley's Eclectic Approach."

Moving on...

If you've ever studied or taken a class on some aspect of John Wesley's theology, you've probably come across the name Randy Maddox. I haven't mentioned him on this blog before now, but I've been going through some of his works recently. Well, Randy (how he addressed himself to me in an email) came to Asbury's campus last week and I didn't get wind of it until Friday morning, the last day he was slated to be here and speak in chapel. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to that chapel because of a prior commitment to a meeting for the Center I work for at the seminary. The meeting ended a few minutes after chapel ended, so I figured I would try to find him in the cafeteria and discovered upon my entry that he was there. I got my tray of food and approached the table where he was sitting with three students, who were nicely dressed as they were the officers for the society which was the primary host for Dr. Maddox. So as someone who is wearing a camouflage jacket, I am not sure what they initially thought as I approached them to ask if I may perhaps join them. They warmly welcomed me and I sat in on a conversation where Randy was giving advice about what things were helpful in pursuit of further education. I suppose he noticed my anticipation because when details of the rest of his day were being discussed and everyone was getting prepared to take their trays to the dish return area, Randy asked if I wanted to stay and chat with him. "I would love to."

He asked who I was, and when I told him my name, he said, "Oh yeah, you're a student in the Manchester program, aren't you? And you're doing a dissertation on the atonement in Wesley in relation to Miley, Knudson, and Shelton? I'm quite interested in this; how do you...." And so began a detailed discussion which I will be grateful for a long time. That was quite a humbling thought...that he knew who I was. So I asked how he knew this. He referenced the Manchester Wesley Research Centre, which he checks from time to time to see what dissertations in Wesley Studies are on the horizon from current students. That list alone has 38, so he was able to remember very specific details about at least one of those. We sat alone in the dining hall for around 45 minutes talking about the scope of my project, how detailed one can get in such a proposed dissertation, and other potential ways of integrating the post-Wesley interpreters into a treatment that would perhaps focus more on Wesley himself and how the other three took a thread or strand of Wesley's more eclectic approach to make that strand the "whole picture." Again, I will perennially be thankful for this conversation and know that much of what he shared will be investigated and integral to my research.

...

And finally, a new opportunity is on the horizon. Several people at church have asked if I would teach a series of classes on Methodism (our history and theological emphases, in particular). As of right now, I teach a section in the new membership course "On Being Methodist," which is an hour long, but only so much can be covered in one hour about the distinctness and heritage of the Methodist tradition. So when several of my friends asked me to do this, I welcomed it warmly and approached our program director (pastor of discipleship, of sorts), who thought it would be great. We're going to give it a few weeks of advertising and probably start the week after Easter so that if any visitors between now and then (which is common during Easter-time) or other existing members or attendees would be interested in learning more about our identity as Christians in the United Methodist Church, they would have the opportunity to take part in the conversation at the beginning. I hope it goes well!

Pax!