vita

VITA

DON WAYNE KING

Business address:

Editor, Christian Scholar's Review http://www.hope.edu/resources/csr/
Professor of English
Montreat College
Montreat, NC 28757
704-669-8012, ext. 3819
email: dking@montreat.edu

Biographical data:

Date of birth: June 8, 1951

Education:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, B.A., English, 1973.

Southern Illinois University, M.A., English, 1974.

University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Ph.D., English, 1985; Major field: Nineteenth Century British; Dissertation title, "Exile in the Fiction of Joseph Conrad and Fyodor Dostoyevsky"; Minor fields: Medieval, 18th Century British, 20th Century American and British, and Prose Fiction. Additional study at the University of Virginia, the University of Tennessee, and Cambridge University.

Work experience:

1974-79, 1980-86: professor of English at Montreat-Anderson College (tenured in 1981.

1979-80: Graduate Teaching Assistant at UNC-Greensboro.

1986-88: Chairman, Humanities Division at Montreat-Anderson College and professor of English.

1988-92: Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Montreat-Anderson College and professor of English.

1992-93: Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of English at Montreat-Anderson College.

1993-2000: Vice President and Dean of Academics and Associate Professor of English at Montreat College (name change effective August 22, 1995); effective June 1, 1999, Editor, Christian Scholar's Review.

2000-2005: Professor of English at Montreat College; Editor, Christian Scholar's Review.

Interim President of Montreat College, June 16, 2003-April 23, 2004.

Professional memberships:

1. Conference on Christianity and Literature.
2. Association of Literary Scholars and Critics.
3. Council of Editors of Scholarly Journals.

Professional awards:

1977 National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Fellow.

1977 Teacher of the Year at Montreat-Anderson College.

1984 Teacher of the Year at Montreat-Anderson College.

1990 Outstanding Teacher Award presented by Faculty Scholars Program of the Univ. of Kentucky

1995 recipient of Clyde S. Kilby Research Grant from the Marion E. Wade Center to support research on the poetry of C. S. Lewis

1997 recipient of a grant from the Cauthen Foundation to support a sabbatical and research on the poetry of C. S. Lewis.

2000 recipient of summer research grant from Montreat College to support primary research at the Bodleian Library and the British Library on the collected letters and a critical biography of Ruth Pitter.

2001 recipient of summer research grant from the Appalachian College Association to support continued primary research in England on the collected letters and a critical biography of Ruth Pitter.

2000-2001 recipient of David L. Parks Distinguished Professor award at Montreat College.

2001-2002 recipient of a $6,000 summer research grant from the Appalachian College Association to support continued primary research in England on the collected letters and a critical biography of Ruth Pitter.

2002-2003 recipient of a $3,000 John B. Stephenson Fellowship sponsored by the Appalachian College Association to continue research and to begin writing Silent Music: The Letters of Ruth Pitter and Hunting the Unicorn: A Critical Biography of Ruth Pitter.

2005 recipient of summer grant from Montreat College to begin research toward writing a critical study of Joy Davidman Gresham Lewis.

2006-2007 recipient of a $6,000 John B. Stephenson Fellowship sponsored by the Appalachian College Association to continue research and to begin writing Yet One More Spring: A Critical Study of Joy Davidman Gresham.

Courses taught:

Two semester sequence of Freshman Composition.

Two semester sequence of sophomore level World and British literature; one semester fantasy literature course at sophomore level.

Junior level courses in Chaucer, Milton, Shakespeare and the British novel.

Junior level interdisciplinary humanities courses.

Senior level seminar/thesis courses: Philosophy of Faith and Learning; C. S. Lewis and Modern Mythology

Administrative responsibilities:

I. As Chairman of Humanities Division:

1. To supervise nine faculty members.
2. To plan and oversee all course offerings in the division each semester.
3. To plan and submit to the Vice President/Dean a yearly budget for the division.
4. To be a member of the Executive Committee of the faculty.
5. To develop, implement, and oversee baccalaureate majors in English and Liberal Arts (first majors graduated in Spring 1988).

II. As Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs:

1. To plan, lead, and supervise a yearly faculty workshop prior to the opening of fall semester.
2. To supervise the developmental studies program and to advise personally students on academic probation.
3. To develop a plan for institutional effectiveness including expected educational outcomes and competency based learning and assessment in order to fulfill the accreditation and reaccreditation requirements of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as the College moved from a Level I to a Level II institution (begun in December 1986 and completed in Spring 1988).
4. To assist division chairpersons in selecting, scheduling classes, and assigning professors to their classes each semester.
5. To advise and assist the Vice President/ Dean of the College in the administration of other academic programs.
6. To supervise summer school.
7. To lead the faculty in professional and personal development through once a semester seminars and individual conferences.
8. To evaluate the teaching effectiveness of faculty members and to offer suggestions for improvement.
9. To plan, develop, and implement an Elderhostel program.
10. To assist in the development of a teacher education program.
11. To serve as Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee of the faculty.
12. To plan, develop, and implement the college's program in lifelong learning, McCALL.

III. As Vice President and Dean of Academics:

1. To plan, lead, and supervise a yearly faculty workshop prior to the opening of fall semester.
2. To assist division chairpersons in selecting, scheduling classes, and assigning professors to their classes each semester.
3. To assist division chairpersons in evaluating the effectiveness of faculty members, particularly in regard to teaching and advising.
4. To oversee graduation ceremonies and other special academic functions.
5. To encourage proactively the professional growth of faculty members and to administer professional growth funds in cooperation with division chairpersons.
6. To empower division chairpersons as key decision makers in regard to budget development, evaluation of faculty members in their division, curriculum development, development of division specific advising materials, interviewing and recommendation of new faculty members, and assessment of the overall mission and effectiveness of the division, particularly regarding majors in the division.
7. To lead in all aspects of the accreditation process.
8. To administer the sabbatical program, the faculty rank system, and the tenure and post-tenure review process.
9. To foster and encourage racial/ethnic diversity on campus, particularly regarding hiring minority faculty members.
10. To lead a continuous review and assessment of the General Education Core and to assist division chairpersons to do the same regarding majors within their division.
11. To foster and encourage faculty interaction, fellowship, spiritual maturation, and intellectual growth.
12. To chair the Executive Committee of the faculty; to preside at bi-weekly Faculty Meetings; and to appoint all standing committees of the faculty in consultation with the President and the Executive Committee of the faculty.
13. To review on a continuous basis the advising system and work to develop more effective advising materials.
14. To administer an accelerated degree completion program for adults.
15. To oversee the graduate program.
16. To lead in developing new and creative majors that will attract and retain our best students.

Other administrative experience:

For the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, I served on a peer review team that evaluated the initial application of Atlanta Christian College in Atlanta, Georgia, and I served on re-accreditation teams at North Greenville College, North Greenville, South Carolina, and Pikeville College, in Pikeville, Kentucky. With both the ACC and PC peer review committees I acted as Chair of the sub-committee tasked to review the educational program, and I was responsible for writing the evaluation for the educational program.

Additionally, I have attended regularly the annual SACS meetings, keeping abreast of all important developments affecting the accreditation process. This includes the most recent threats of increased intrusion by the federal government on institutional autonomy.

I served on the Board of Directors of Asheville Christian Academy from 1985-91; from 1988-90 I served as Secretary of the BOD, and I served as President of the BOD from 1990-91. During my service on this board we built a high school; I was involved in fund-raising, particularly in regard to soliciting matching gifts.

I was founder and director of the Western North Carolina C. S. Lewis Society from 1985 to 1993.

I served on the Board of Directors of the Mythopoeic Society in the late 1980's.

Publications:

Beale, Walter and Don King. "A Grading Contract That Works." Exercise Exchange

26 (Fall 1981): 17-20 reprinted in Writing Exercises from Exercise Exchange,

Volume II. Ed. Charles Duke. Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English, 1984.

King, Don. "Child Pornography and the First Amendment." In Real Writing by Walter

Beale. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman, and Company, 1982.

---------. "Other Worlds." HIS 43 (April 1983): 28-29.

---------. "Teaching Persona Through Freewriting." Exercise Exchange 28

(Spring 1983): 21-22.

---------. "Teacher as Writer: Showing Is Better Than Telling." Carolina English

Teacher, 1983, 14-17.

---------. "Religious Hucksters." The Presbyterian Journal 43 (May 23, 1984): 14.

---------. "Narnia and the Seven Deadly Sins." Mythlore 10 (Spring 1984): 14-19.

Reprinted in Pilgrimage: The Newsletter of the Toronto C. S. Lewis Society

10, no. 1 (Nov. 2002): 1-8.

---------. "Generating the Light Bulb Essay." Exercise Exchange 30 (Fall 1984): 17-19.

---------. "A Case for the Christian Liberal-Arts College." The Presbyterian Journal

43 (Jan. 2 and 9, 1985): 9-10.

---------. "From the Journal to the Essay." Exercise Exchange 31 (Spring 1986): 18-20.

---------. "The Childlike in George MacDonald and C. S. Lewis." Mythlore 12

(Summer 1986): 17-22, 26

---------. "Christianity and Irony in the Fiction of Joseph Conrad." 1987 (web only).

--------- and Richardson Gray. "The Christian Hero and the Realistic Novel." The

Christian Scholar's Review 16 (January 1987): 109-121.

---------. "The Wardrobe as Christian Metaphor." Mythlore 14 (Autumn 1987): 25-27, 33.

---------. "The Rhetorical Similarities of C. S. Lewis and Bertrand Russell." Mythlore

15 (Autumn 1988): 28-31.

---------. "Criticism's a Tough Pill, But Worth Taking." Presbyterian Survey 79 (May 1989): 3-4.

---------. "The Distant Voice in C. S. Lewis' Poems." Studies in the Literary Imagination

22, ii (Fall 1989): 175-184.

---------. "Demythologizing C. S. Lewis." Rev. of C. S. Lewis: A Biography

by A. N. Wilson. World 5 (May 19, 1990): 14-15.

---------. Rev. of Word and Story in C. S. Lewis. Ed. by Peter Schakel and Charles

Huttar. World 6 (March 30, 1991): 14-15.

---------. Rev. of A Prophet With Honor: The Billy Graham Story by William Martin.

World 6 (January 4, 1992): 15.

---------. Rev. of Shadowlands. Directed by Richard Attenborough. Savoy Pictures.

World 8 (January 15, 1994): 21.

---------. Sacramentalism in the Poetry of Philip Larkin. Web only.

---------. Rev. of Realms of Gold: The Classics in Christian Perspective by Leland

Ryken. The Christian Scholar's Review 24, no. 1 (September 1994): 82-83.

---------. Rev. of The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages by Harold

Bloom. World 9 (November 5, 1994): 20-21.

---------. "Making the Poor Best of Dull Things: C. S. Lewis as Poet." SEVEN: An

Anglo-American Literary Review 12 (1995): 79-92.

---------. "A Bibliographic Review of C. S. Lewis as Poet: 1952-1995, Part One." The

Canadian C. S. Lewis Journal No. 91 (Spring 1997): 9-23; "A Bibliographic

Review of C. S. Lewis as Poet: 1952-1995, Part Two." The Canadian C. S.

Lewis Journal No. 92 (Fall 1997): 34-52.

---------. "Rev. of C. S. Lewis: A Companion and Guide. The Christian Scholar's Review 27,

(Fall 1997): 129-30.

---------. "The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis" (124-26); "Dymer" (144-146); "Narrative

Poems" (289-90); "Poems" (325-27); "Spirits in Bondage" (385-87); and eighty

other short entries in The C. S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia. Eds. Jeffrey D.

Schultz and John G. West. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1998.

---------. "C. S. Lewis: A Centenary Retrospective." The Christian Scholar's Review 27

(Summer 1998): 404-405.

---------. "C. S. Lewis's Spirits in Bondage: World I Poet as Frustrated Dualist."

The Christian Scholar's Review 27 (Summer 1998): 454-474.

---------. "Glints of Light: The Unpublished Short Poetry of C. S. Lewis." SEVEN: An

Anglo-American Literary Review 15 (1998): 73-96.

---------. "C. S. Lewis’ ‘The Quest of Bleheris’ as Prose Poetry." The Lamp-Post of the

Southern California C. S. Lewis Society 23, no. 1 (Spring 1999): 3-15.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 29 (Fall 1999):

5-10.

---------. “The Poetry of Prose: C. S. Lewis, Ruth Pitter, and Perelandra.” Christianity

and Literature 49 (Spring 2000): 331-356.

---------. “The Religious Verse of C. S. Lewis: Part One.” The Canadian C. S. Lewis

Journal No. 97 (Spring 2000): 12-27; "Part Two." The Canadian C. S.

Lewis Journal No. 98 (Fall 2000): 41-54.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 30 (Fall 2000):

5-10.

---------. “A Grief Observed as Free Verse.” Bulletin of the New York C. S.

Lewis Society 32 (March 2001): 1-7.

---------. C. S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse. Kent, Ohio:

Kent State University Press, 2001.

---------.“Interview regarding C. S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse.

The Lamp-Post of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society 24, no. 4

(Winter 2000-01): 15-20.

---------. “Review of C. S. Lewis, Collected Letters: Volume I, Family Letters,

1905-1932.” Edited by Walter Hooper. Christianity and Literature 50

(Summer 2001): 750-755.

---------. “Review of The Soulbane Strategem.” Christianity and Literature 50

(Summer 2001): 762-765.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 31 (Fall 2001):

5-12; “Response to Michael S. Hamilton’s ‘The Elusive Idea of Christian

Scholarship,’” 28-30.

---------. “Quorum Porum: The Literary Cats of T. S. Eliot, Ruth Pitter, and Dorothy L.

Sayers.” SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review 18 (2001): 25-45.

---------. “Interview regarding C. S. Lewis, Poet: The Legacy of His Poetic Impulse.”

With Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio Journal Vol. 56, May/June, 2002.

---------. “Review of C. S. Lewis: Then and Now” by Wesley A. Kort. Christianity

and Literature 51 (Summer 2002): 679-82.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 32 (Fall 2002):

5-11.

---------. "Narnia and the Seven Deadly Sins." (orginially published in Mythlore 10

[Spring 1984]: 14-19) in Pilgrimage: The Newsletter of the Toronto C. S.

Lewis Society 10, no. 1 (Nov. 2002): 1-8.

---------. “Devil to Devil: John Milton, C. S. Lewis, and Screwtape.” Lamp-Post

of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society 26, nos. 3-4 (Fall-Winter 2002): 6-

18.

---------. “Review of Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis: Journeying to Narnia

and Other Worlds” by Peter J. Schakel. The Christian Scholar’s Review 32

(Spring 2003): 333-35.

---------. “The Anatomy of a Friendship: The Correspondence of Ruth Pitter

and C. S. Lewis, 1946-1962.” Mythlore 24 (Summer 2003): 2-24.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 33 (Fall 2003):

5-11.

---------. “Lost but Found: The ‘Missing’ Poems of C. S. Lewis’s Spirits in Bondage.”

Christianity and Literature 53 (Winter 2004): 163-201.

---------. “Silent Music: The Letters of Ruth Pitter.” Bulletin of the New York C. S.

Lewis Society 35 (Spring 2004): 1-15.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 34 (Fall 2004): 3-9.

---------. “Review of C. S. Lewis, Collected Letters: Volume II, Books, Broadcasts,

and War 1931-1949.” Edited by Walter Hooper. Christianity and Literature

54 (Autumn 2004): 128-133.

---------. “The Religious Poetry of Ruth Pitter.” Christianity and Literature 54 (Summer 2005): 521-62.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 35 (Fall 2005): 5-12.

---------. “Enchanted: Review of The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis

by Alan Jacobs. Books & Culture (Jan/Feb. 2006): 18, 21.

---------. “Fire and Ice: C. S. Lewis and the Love Poetry of Joy Davidman and Ruth Pitter.”

SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review 22 (2005): 60-88.

---------. “Gold Mining or Gold Digging? The Selling of Narnia.” Christianity and Literature

55 (Summer 2006): 567-86.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 36 (Fall 2006): 5-12.

---------. “Finding Joy: A Comprehensive Bibliography of the Works of Joy Davidman.” SEVEN:

An Anglo-American Literary Review 23 (2006): 69-80.

---------. “Review of G. K. Chesterton’s Early Poetry,” Edited by Michael W. Perry. SEVEN:

An Anglo-American Literary Review 23 (2006): 98-100.

---------. “Joy Davidman and the New Masses: Communist Poet and Reviewer.” The Chronicle

of the Oxford C. S. Lewis Society 4, no. 1 (February 2007): 18-44.

---------. “Columns of Light: The Preconversion Narrative Poetry of C. S. Lewis”; “Early Lyric Poetry:

Spirits in Bondage (1919) and ‘Joy’ (1924)”; and “Topical Poems: C. S. Lewis’s

Postconversion Poetry.” In C. S. Lewis—Life, Works, and Legacy: Volume 2, Fantasist,

Mythmaker, & Poet. Ed. Bruce L. Edwards. Westport, CN: Praeger, 2007. 4 vols. 209-

311.

---------. “C. S. Lewis and Gender: ‘Positively Medieval?’” Christian Scholar’s Review 36:4 (Summer

2007): 387-90.

---------. “Hunting the Unicorn: The Nature Poetry of Ruth Pitter.” CSL: Bulletin of the New York C. S.

Lewis Society 38 (July-August 2007): 1-10, 12-17.

---------. “Notes from the Editor.” The Christian Scholar’s Review 37:1 (Fall 2007): 5-10.

---------. Review of The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community,

by Diana Pavlac Glyer. Christian Scholar’s Review 37:2 (Winter 2008): 262-264.

---------. Review of C. S. Lewis, Collected Letters: Volume III, Narnia, Cambridge and Joy, 1950-1963.

Edited by Walter Hooper. Christianity and Literature 57 (Winter 2008): 329-36.

---------. Hunting the Unicorn: A Critical Biography of Ruth Pitter. Kent State University Press, 2008.

Papers presented and read at the following meetings:

1. 14th annual Mythopoeic Conference, Scripps College, Claremont College, CA, August 12-15, 1983.

2. 3rd Southeast Regional English Teacher's Conference, Charleston, SC, Oct. 27-29, 1983.

3. Program Chairman for 5th annual Southeast Regional Meeting of the Conference on Christianity and Literature (CCL) at Montreat-Anderson College, NC, April 14-16, 1983.

4. 6th annual Southeast Regional Meeting of the CCL, Columbia, SC, April 12-14, 1984.

5. Mideast Regional Meeting of the CCL, Bowling Green State University, Oct. 24-26, 1984.

6. 16th annual Mythopoeic Conference, Wheaton College, July, 1985.

7. Mideast Regional Meeting of the CCL, Ashland College, Oct. 24-26, 1985.

8. 8th annual Southeast Regional Meeting of the CCL, Covenant College, April 3-5, 1986.

9. Mideast Regional Meeting of the CCL, Liberty University, Oct. 24-25, 1986.

10. 9th annual Southeast Regional Meeting of the CCL, Gardner-Webb College, April 3-5, 1987.

11. 18th annual Mythopoeic Conference, Marquette University, July 24-27, 1987.

12. 10th annual Southeast Regional Meeting of the CCL, Francis-Marion College, April 14-16, 1988.

13. 19th annual Mythopoeic Conference, University of California-Berkeley, July 29-Aug 2, 1988.

14. C. S. Lewis Celebration: 1898--1963--1988, Mercer University-Atlanta, Oct. 7-9, 1988.

15. 21st annual Mythopoeic Conference, Long Beach State University, Aug 2-5, 1990.

16. 16th annual Southeast Regional Meeting of the CCL, Belhaven College, March 24-26, 1994.

17. 25th annual Mythopoeic Conference, American University, Washington, D. C., August 5-8, 1994.

18. 2nd annual meeting CCCU meeting on technology and Christian higher education at Taylor University, Oct. 15-17, 1996.

19. Paper read on the poetry of C. S. Lewis to Oxford University C. S. Lewis Society, October 21, 1997.

20. Paper read on the religious verse of C. S. Lewis at the Theology Conference at Wheaton College, April 16-18, 1998.

21. Paper read, "The Poetry of Prose: C. S. Lewis, Ruth Pitter, and Perelandra" at Seattle-Pacific University’s Conference to Celebrate the C. S. Lewis Legacy for the 21st Century, June 19-21, 1998.

22. Paper read , "Columns of Light: The Unpublished Narrative Poetry of C. S. Lewis" at C. S. Lewis: A Centenary Celebration at Wheaton College, July 15-20, 1998.

23. Served at the invitation of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society as leader of their annual summer workshop, August 10-14, 1998, at St. Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo CA. The topic was Lewis’ poetry.

24. Gave the address “What Hath Athens to do with Jerusalem? Reflections on the Integration of Faith and Learning and the Life of C. S. Lewis,” at Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC, March 29, 2001.

25. Paper read, “Quorum Porum: The Literary Cats of T. S. Eliot, Ruth Pitter, and Dorothy L. Sayers,” at the 23th annual Southeast Regional Meeting of the Conference on Christianity and Literature, Southern Adventist University, April 5-7, 2001.

26. Gave the address “Confessions of a Christian Scholar: Or God’s Pulley,” at Union University, Jackson, TN, March 13, 2002.

27. Paper read, “The Correspondence of Ruth Pitter and C. S. Lewis, 1946-1962.” Western Regional Meeting of the Conference on Christianity and Literature, Azusa Pacific University, Mar. 14-17, 2002. Expanded version, “The Anatomy of a Friendship: The Correspondence of Ruth Pitter and C. S. Lewis, 1946-1962,” presented at the C. S. Lewis Foundation Summer Institute, Oxbridge 2002, Oxford.

28. Keynote speaker at “C. S. Lewis and Inklings Conference: The New Mythmakers,” Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, OK, April 4-5, 2003.

29. Paper read, “Has That Which Was Lost Been Found? C. S. Lewis’ ‘The Metrical Meditations of a Cod,’ ‘Early Poems’ and Spirits in Bondage” at 2003 Mythopoeic Conference, July 25-28, 2003, Scarritt-Bennett Center, Nashville, Tennessee.

30. Paper read, “Silent Music: The Letters of Ruth Pitter,” 4^th annual Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C. S. Lewis and Friends, March 12-14, 2004, Taylor University, Upland, IN.

31. Paper read for me by Joe Christopher, “The Lost Poems of C. S. Lewis,” at the seventh annual C. S. Lewis and the Inklings conference, “Mere Christians, Then and Now,” April 1-3, 2004, Le Tourneau University, Longview, TX.

32. Taught course, “Poets and Poetry: C. S. Lewis, Ruth Pitter, and Joy Davidman” at Lewis’ home, the Kilns, Oxford, July 3-17, 2004.

33. Paper read, “Fire and Ice: C. S. Lewis and the Love poetry of Joy Davidman and Ruth Pitter” to Oxford University C. S. Lewis Society, Nov. 2, 2004. Expanded and presented at the C. S. Lewis Foundation Summer Institute, Oxbridge 2005, Oxford.

34. Multiple presentations of Through the Wardrobe: The Baptized Imagination of C. S. Lewis in fall of 2006 at Border’s Bookstores in Atlanta and Charlotte; Barnes and Noble in Asheville; and in Columbia, SC

35. Spoke as a part of a publisher’s panel at the 6^th annual Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C. S. Lewis and Friends,

June 1-4, 2006, Taylor University, Upland, IN.

36. Attended and read a paper on Joy Davidman for the 10^th annual C. S. Lewis & Inklings Society, “The Inklings and the

Spiritual Journey,” at Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, TX, March 22-24, 2007.

References

Mr. Bob Wynne (mbwynne@aol.com)

Chairman, Board of Trustees

Montreat College

Montreat, NC 28757

Dr. Bruce Edwards (edwards@bgnet.bgsu.edu)

Dept. of English

Bowling Green University

Bowling Green, OH

Dr. Richardson Gray (rgray@montreat.edu)

Chairman, Dept. of Language and Literature

Montreat College

Montreat, NC

Marjorie Lamp Mead (Marjorie.L.Mead@wheaton.edu)

The Marion E. Wade Center

Wheaton College

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

Dr. Judith Priestman (jap@bodley.ox.ac.uk)

Western Manuscripts Reading Room

Bodleian Library

Oxford University

Oxford, United Kingdom

My Christian Faith

My faith in Jesus Christ permeates and reflects upon all that will follow.

My Christian experience is probably typical of many in that my mother made sure that I attended Sunday school and church while I growing up. We went to a Southern Baptist church where I am sure the Gospel was preached. Unfortunately, I was not listening even though I made a profession of faith at about twelve years of age. This profession was not serious, for I did not then begin a personal relationship with Christ, nor was I even interested in doing so.

As a teenager, I grew up in the sixties, a time that compounded my spiritual malaise. Religious cults, the drug culture, political protests, and personal hedonism were powerful attractions; only the prayers of a godly mother and the grace of God kept me clear of these attractions.

During my sophomore year in college, I met two young Christians who shared with me both the joy and reality of faith in Christ. At that time I made a personal commitment to Christ as Lord. My friends continued to nurture me in the faith, involved me in a Bible study, and started me on the path to Christian growth and maturity. I became active in an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship group on campus, eventually leading a Bible study myself the following year and finally serving as the coordinator for all Bible study leaders.

Another person who has played a key role in my spiritual life has been my wife, Jeanine. After graduation, we were married and went to Southern Illinois University where I began graduate studies. Although it was a hard year for us, Jeanine and I grew together spiritually and together felt God's leading to Montreat-Anderson College upon the completion of my graduate work in the fall of 1974. We have been here since then and took an active role in the life of Montreat Presbyterian Church for seventeen years; we both served as Sunday school teachers, led various Bible studies, and I was both a deacon and an elder.

In 1991 we began to attend Trinity Presbyterian Church in Asheville, primarily because we felt called to broaden our interaction with other Christians in the greater Asheville area, our desire to benefit from fresh, new ministry gifts, and our sense that God was leading us to share our own ministry gifts. Since joining Trinity, we have been involved in small group Bible studies, have led groups in our home, and taught various Sunday school classes on C. S. Lewis.

In terms of a statement of faith, I believe in Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God; faith in Him is the only way for sinful man to receive eternal salvation. I accept the Bible as God's revealed truth and final authority on matters of faith and personal Christian behavior; I also accept that it is without error.

To sum up, my earnest desire is to serve Christ in all that I do, both personally and professionally.

Last updated July 02, 2008

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