Ellis Symposium to focus on life, work of James A. Harding
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James A. Harding |
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John Mark Hicks |
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Carroll B. Ellis |
The life and work of Restoration Movement evangelist James A. Harding will be the focus of the Carroll B. Ellis Symposium on Restoration Preaching, to be held at Lipscomb University July 22.
The Ellis symposium will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Lipscomb's Center for Spiritual Renewal, located in Longview Mansion at 811 Caldwell Lane. The $10 symposium fee includes lunch.
Dr. John Mark Hicks, professor of Bible at Lipscomb, has conducted extensive research on Harding's life and work, and will be the featured speaker, said Dr. Carl McKelvey, director of the Spiritual Renewal Center.
"Harding was widely known for his evangelistic work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was a co-founder of Lipscomb University, and we believe his life and work is a great study to feature in our symposium," McKelvey said.
Harding, who lived from 1846-1922, is known as the "father of Christian education" among churches of Christ because of his emphasis on establishing schools, Hicks said. In addition to Lipscomb, he was also instrumental in founding today's Harding University, Searcy, Ark.
"Harding's depth of spirituality and confidence in divine providence enabled him to endure tragedy throughout his life. In the symposium, we will focus on the story of his spiritual journey and discuss his dynamic spirituality as a way of revisioning our own spiritual pilgrimages in the present," Hicks said.The Ellis Symposium on Restoration Preaching focuses on the work of pioneers in the American Restoration Movement, which coalesced in 1832 from independent efforts led by men from North Carolina through New England.
The common belief that drove the movement was that restoring unity among believers could only be accomplished by returning to the Bible, "excluding all human opinions and philosophy, as the only rule of faith and practice," as David Lipscomb, another co-founder of today's Lipscomb University, once explained.
Last year's symposium, the first in the series, featured the work of T.B. Larimore, an evangelist and founder of Mars Hill College, Florence, Ala.
The symposium is an annual event and is named in memory of the late Dr. Carroll B. Ellis, longtime chair of the Department of Communication at Lipscomb University and preacher for several churches of Christ in the Nashville area.
Dr. John David Thomas, a friend and former student of Dr. Ellis, provided funding to establish the symposium "to honor Dr. Ellis and advance the cause of restoration preaching." Dr. Thomas is a member of the faculty at Freed-Hardeman University, Henderson, Tenn.
For reservations or additional information, contact the Center for Spiritual Renewal at 615.279.9942 or e-mail spiritualrenewal [at] lipscomb.edu.