A Brief History of the Society

June, 1998.  Five faculty members met at Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, under the auspices of the Wesleyan Center for Twenty-First Century Studies to organize the Society.  The group (Michael Leffel & Brad Strawn, Point Loma Nazarene University; Warren Brown, Fuller Seminary School of Psychology;  Doug Hardy & Jan Lanham, Eastern Nazarene College) became the Organizing Committee of the Society and began planning the first conference.
 
February, 1999.  Inaugural symposium held as part of the Point Loma Nazarene University Wesleyan Center’s annual conference.  Keynote address by Dr. Newton Malony, Fuller Seminary School of Psychology.
 
March, 2000.  First full-fledged conference of the Society held at Asbury Theological  Seminary, Wilmore, KY.  Keynote address by Dr. Gregory Clapper, University of Indianapolis.
 
March, 2001.  Conference held at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA.  Keynote   address by Dr. Albert Rossi, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.  First executive council elected by the membership for a two-year period: Brad Strawn, president; Doug Hardy, program; Ron Wright, communications.
 
March, 2002.  Psychology track sponsored by SSPWT at the annual meeting of the Wesleyan  Theological Society in Hobe Sound, FL.  Decision made to schedule future conferences in conjunction with the Wesleyan Philosophical Society (WPS) and the Wesleyan Theological Society (WTS).
 

March, 2003 Lexington Conference

Conference held jointly with the Wesleyan Philosophical Society in Lexington, KY (Marriott Hotel & Asbury Seminary) as a pre-conference event for the annual WTS meeting.

77 people registered for the joint-meeting of SSPWT and the WPS.

The meeting opened with a banquet featuring keynote speaker, James Fowler, the Charles Howard Candler professor of Theology and Human Development and Director of the Center for Ethics in Public Policy and the Professions at Emory University, Atlanta.

Indiana Wesleyan University faculty members Michael Boivin (Psychology), Keith Puffer (Psychology), Douglas Daugherty (Counseling), and Keith Drury (Religion) brought 14 students with them to the conference.

Attendees at the Conference came from the following states: CA, TN, IL, MA, NJ, VA, IN, OR, KY, OH, MO, SC, WA, OK, ID, KS, CO, MN.

A new executive council was elected: Doug Hardy, president; Brad Strawn, records; Toddy Holeman, program Greg Dimond, communications.

 
March, 2004 Rochester Conference

Conference held jointly with the Wesleyan Philosophical Society in Rochester, NY (Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College) as a pre-conference event for the annual Wesleyan Theological Society meeting.

The meeting opened with a keynote address by Ann Taves, Professor of History of Christianity and American Religion at Claremont School of Theology & Professor of Religion, Claremont Graduate University: Religious Experience as the Embodiment of Practical Divinity (Wesley & Methodism), and concluded with a second address by Taves at the closing Banquet: The General Concept of Religious Experience (William James).

A rich spectrum of papers were presented by Society members and friends. 

The position of President-elect was added to the Executive Council and the position of “Communications” was changed to “Promotion”.  To allow for a balance between continuity and change on the Council, the President-elect will automatically become President the following year and the Promotion chair will automatically become Program chair the following year.  The Council for 2004-2005 is: Doug Hardy, President; Ron Wright, President-elect; Toddy Holeman, Program; Greg Dimond, Promotion; Brad Strawn, Records.
 
March 2005 - 7th Annual Conference

The Society for the Study of Psychology and Wesleyan Theology (SSPWT) and the Wesleyan Philosophical Society (WPS) held their 7th annual conference at Seattle Pacific University March 3rd. Over 60 participants attended nine concurrent paper sessions and a keynote banquet address by Dr. Nancey Murphy, Professor of Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary. There was a wonderful representation of psychologists, philosophers, theologians, and graduate and undergraduate students at the conference. The sessions included an interdisciplinary panel on the implications of a monistic perspective on the person, a paper on holiness through the life-cycle, another on Just War and Wesley, two papers on the work of D. W. Winnicott, and many others.
 
Despite differing opinions on a variety of topics one thing everyone seemed to agree upon was the quality of the fellowship. This was a great time to renew old friendships and to make new ones. Many of our participants stayed over the next two days to be a part of the Wesleyan Theological Society (WTS) meeting which featured a keynote address by Duke theologian/ethicist Stanley Hauerwas.

March 2006 - 8th Annual Conference at Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City.

March 2007 - 9th Annual Conference at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois.

March 2008 - 10th Annual Conference at Duke University, NC.

March 2009 - (Upcoming) 11th Annual Conference at Anderson University, Anderson, IN