Rick Wadholm Jr. gives a short review of the 2017 sessions of the Society for Pentecostal Studies during the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.

I was privileged to attend three of the Society for Pentecostal Studies sessions during the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Boston, Massachusetts on November 18-20, 2017. The three sessions were excellent examples of ways that Pentecostal scholarship continues to advance Pentecostal concerns and to engage the wider scholarly community as such. The sessions were all engaging and well attended (with the rooms either filled to capacity or very nearly). The attendees were not only Pentecostal scholars, but also those who had interest in the paper presentations and themselves engaged (sometimes for a first time) with the Pentecostal/Renewalist scholars presenting. SPS provides a wonderful opportunity for Pentecostal scholars and scholars of Pentecostalism/s to participate in conversations within the academy and to further research in a multitude of avenues (as evidenced by the presentations laid out all too briefly below).

From left to right: Van Johnson; David Hymes; Meghan Musy.

I always enjoy the opportunity to listen to what world-class Pentecostal scholars are producing and it is a real pleasure to reconnect with PneumaReview.com writers. This year’s convention provided many memorable meetings.

I experienced a spirit of unity during the powerful worship service that opened the 2017 convention. There is nothing like celebrating God’s goodness together with Pentecostal scholars from all over the world. You would not know from my pictures how involved this crowd of academics and professors was in dancing before the Lord, raising their hands in praise, singing, or praying in the Spirit—but it was wonderful.

I love books and was glad to browse the many offerings from the numerous publishers present for the conference. Standing at the Eerdmans table, I was able to personally thank Craig Keener for doing an interview with us about his recent book Spirit Hermeneutics. I also learned that it is Harrison House’s new imprint, Empowered Life, that is publishing Robert Graves‘ expanded and revised Praying in the Spirit (the earlier edition was reprinted in full in The Pneuma Review).

To see a list of papers and panels presented during the convention, see the SPS website. As always, there were many presentations I missed because I could not be in more than one place at a time.

I will be adding more pictures to the Pneuma Review Facebook page if you would like to connect with me there. Update: I’ve been able to add a direct link to the Facebook album on the third page of this article.

From left to right: Tony Richie, Mike Dies, Raul Mock, and Martin Mittelstadt. Lee Roy Martin.

From left to right: Craig S. Keener and Raul Mock. Raul Mock and Antipas Harris.

The 41st meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies was held at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, from February 29 to March 3, 2012. The theme of the convention was “Pentecostalisms, Peacemaking, and Social Justice/Righteousness.”

As a doctoral student, I found the 2012 Society for Pentecostal Studies conference to be nothing less than exceptional. Previously, my academic conference experience has been limited to the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature meetings. I was intrigued by the inclusion of clergy within a more academically recognized conference. I had the opportunity to present a paper critiquing the precedent analysis of women in the Church of God in Christ by former president Anthea Butler. The majority of session participants were men who readily engaged in further conversation on the paradox of power within the women’s department of the Church of God in Christ raised within my presentation.

Regent University

I attended the meeting with a little knee injury that prevented me from attending some of the morning sessions. But the networking at an SPS event is invaluable. The level of scholarship amidst the conference attendees is comparable to any academic conference in the world. The conference was not without a myriad of valuable representations from publishers, archivists, universities, and software technology for today’s scholar.

For more information about past meetings of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, visit www.sps-usa.org.

The Thirty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies will convene March 23-25 at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. In celebration of the centennial of the Azusa Revival, the theme for the 2006 meeting is “Memories of the Azusa Revival: Interrogations and Interpretations.”

The Arol Burns Mall on the Fuller Pasadena campus. Source: http://www.fuller.edu/Campuses/Pasadena/Pasadena_Campus_Photo_Gallery

The centenary of the Revival creates an occasion to interrogate and (re-)interpret the memories of the Azusa Revival and its role in the construction of Pentecostalism(s) within North America and globally. The theme of this conference aims to deepen the discourse about the memories of the Azusa Revival and advance discussion of the role of the Revival in the construction of Pentecostalism as a U.S. and global religious movement.

The plenary speakers bring a wide range of perspectives. Cecil M. Robeck (Professor of Ecumenics, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a leading expert on the history of the Azusa Street Revival. Ogbu Kalu (Henry Luce Professor of World Christianity, McCormick Theological Seminary) is a major historian of African Pentecostalism. A panel will probe the task of reinterpreting William J. Seymour and his legacy. Lita Owens, Tony Award nominated playwright, will present a program of drama and song about the Azusa Street Revival and its era; the original short play, “The Right Choice,” is about a private conversation between William J. Seymour and Jennie Moore Seymour, and will be performed at the banquet.

In addition to the plenary sessions, a variety of papers and symposia will be available addressing themes relevant to studies in Pentecostalism. Worship, a reception, morning prayer, working-lunch meetings of committees, the Society’s business meeting, and the Saturday-evening banquet, are an integral part of the program as well. Time apart from the sessions encourages attendees to become acquainted with one another and to share their scholarly interests and current work. Attendees also enjoy discounted prices on a variety of books and other products exhibited by vendors and ministries who underwrite various Meeting activities.

You can learn more about the meeting, hotel accommodations, transportation, etc., at the SPS website www.sps-usa.org.