American Society of Church History Honors Richard Heitzenrater
February 19, 2008
Richard Heitzenrater, William Kellon Quick professor of church history and Wesley studies, was honored recently by the American Society of Church History for his lifetime of academic achievements.
The organization, meeting this year in Washington, D.C., held a special session on Jan. 5 titled “A Critical Appreciation of the Scholarship of Richard P. Heitzenrater.”
Randy Maddox, Duke Divinity School’s professor of theology and Wesleyan studies as well as associate dean for faculty development, chaired the session, during which four scholars provided overviews of Heitzenrater’s work.
Bruce Hindmarsh, James M. Houston professor of spiritual theology at Regent College, Vancouver, focused on the contribution Heitzenrater has made to understanding the broad evangelical movement in 18th-century Britain and specifically on the Wesleyan wing of that movement. His comments focused on three aspects of Heitzenrater’s work: the encyclopedic range of interests, the depth of investigative capabilities, and the sustained program of research and interpretation.
Rex Matthews, visiting professor of historical theology at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, discussed Heitzenrater’s scholarly contribution to the study of John and Charles Wesley. He emphasized the role Heitzenrater has played in providing the field with reliable primary texts, such as the Wesley Works project. Matthews also lauded Heitzenrater for helping create settings that support Wesley scholarship, including the Wesley Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion and the Kingswood Imprint of Abingdon Books.
Sarah Johnson, assistant professor of religion at Gustavus Adolphus College and a recent Ph.D. graduate from Duke in American religious history, spoke on her experience as both a student and research assistant for Heitzenrater. As a scholar in the Free Methodist tradition, she commented on the specific contributions of his work for holiness branches of Wesleyan tradition, especially the dynamic understanding of “grace” that pervades his understanding of Wesley’s theology.
Russell Richey, professor of church history and former dean at Candler School of Theology (and former professor and associate dean at Duke Divinity School) highlighted the role Heitzenrater has played as the “preeminent teacher of the tradition for United Methodism.” He stressed, among other accomplishments, Heitzenrater’s role in crafting the doctrinal summary in the current Book of Discipline.
“The dedication of a full session of the Society of Church History to Dick’s scholarship on the Wesleys demonstrates the high respect in which he is held by his peers in the craft of historical scholarship,” Maddox said. “It also highlights that he has been successful in his career-long goal of establishing Wesley studies as a standard area of scholarly study.”
Heitzenrater is General Editor of the Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley, which includes his work in the seven volumes of journals and diaries. He has lectured at numerous distinguished institutions across North America as well as Great Britain, Sweden, Russia, Austria, Bulgaria, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Brazil.
He has published 15 books, including “Wesley and the People Called Methodists,” now translated into six languages. He has contributed 22 chapters to other books and published more than 20 major scholarly articles.
Heitzenrater has been a clergy member of the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church for more than 45 years.
The American Society of Church History, founded in 1888, promotes the scholarly study of the history of Christianity and its relationship to surrounding cultures in all periods, locations and contexts. Through publications conferences, awards, research support, and other means, the society encourages the study of the Christian church and faith, its figures and movements, in institutional and non-institutional settings.