The Cultural Awareness Program of Emmanuel College begins its 2011-12 season on Friday, September 16, at 3:00 p.m. in Taylor Memorial Chapel.
Our first event will feature Dr. Vinson Synan, Dean Emeritus of the School of Divinity at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a recent addition to Emmanuel’s Adjunct Faculty. His topic will be “Memphis Gospel, the Pentecostal Tradition, and Elvis.”
Dr. Synan received his Ph.D. in American history in 1967 from the University of Georgia. In 1970 he co-founded the Society for Pentecostal Studies which has given institutional shape to Pentecostal research. Over the years, Dr. Synan has published numerous scholarly and popular articles, essays and books on various Pentecostal and charismatic themes.
His first book, Holiness-Pentecostal Movement, published in 1971, was one of the few early scholarly treatments of Pentecostalism and is still a significant work on the origins of American Pentecostalism. Other books and articles include Old-Time Power (1973), In The Latter Days (1984), The Twentieth-Century Pentecostal Explosion (1987), Under His Banner (1992), and The Spirit Said “Grow” (Fuller Church Growth Lectures, 1990). His best known book, Century of the Holy Spirit (2001), is a historical summary of the major streams of Pentecostal and Charismatic renewal that has become a textbook in multiple schools. Since then he has also written, Voices of Pentecost (2003), Spirit Empowered Christianity for the Twenty-First Century (2011), and has published his memoirs entitled An Eyewitness Remembers the Century of the Holy Spirit.
"Dr. Synan, is one of the most revered scholars in his field. His passion for Pentecostal/Charismatic church history is steeped in his love for Christ and his Church universally. We are thrilled to have him joining the School of Christian Ministries faculty once more as a Distinguished Lecturer and prolific expert. We have incorporated his books in our classes for years and welcome learning together from him personally! We are hopeful that many in our community and region will join us!" – Tracey Reynolds, Dean of the School of Christian Ministries, Emmanuel College.
An ordained minister in the Pentecostal Holiness Church, Dr. Synan has founded and pastored four churches and has held various denominational offices. He has participated in the International Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue and has served as chairman of several large Congresses on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization.
Dr. Synan will present another program at Emmanuel on Thursday, September 29, at 10:00 a.m. in Taylor Memorial Chapel. He will draw from his masters’ thesis, Emmanuel College: The First Fifty Years, and discuss the history of Emmanuel College to the present day.
Both programs are free and open to the public. For more information contact Dr. Emma Pettyjohn at epettyjohn@ec.edu or 706-245-7226, ext. 2651.
Posted on
Sat, August 27, 2011
by Hugh Morgan