Lipscomb holds symposium examining the ministry of Marshall Keeble

2023 Carroll B. Ellis Symposium, “An Inspiring Voice, A Forward Call: Marshall Keeble Reconsidered” part of Presidential Signature Series.

Keely Hagan | 615-966-6491  |  08/09/2023

Lipscomb University has announced the title and theme of the 2023 Carroll B. Ellis Symposium as “An Inspiring Voice, A Forward Call: Marshall Keeble Reconsidered.” Marshall Keeble is widely thought to be the premier evangelist in the history of churches of Christ. 

“Marshall Keeble was known for his church planting, evangelism, disciple making and efforts towards racial harmony generations before they became the focus of church leaders and academics,” says Scott Sager, vice president for Spiritual Development & Church Services. “He was way ahead of his time and his inspiring voice can now be a catalyst for the rest of us. We look to Keeble as we look to the future—letting his life serve as a forward call for a new generation.”

The 2023 Carroll B. Ellis Symposium, will be held Sept. 20-21, 2023, in the George Shinn Center on the Lipscomb campus. The symposium is hosted by the Office of Spiritual Development & Church Services and the College of Bible & Ministry.

The two-day event kicks off at 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 20, with a worship service featuring Orpheus Heyward, affiliate professor for expository preaching and Christian leadership at Lipscomb and senior minister of the Renaissance Church of Christ in Fulton, Georgia, as the speaker. The program will include recognition of several special individuals and brief remarks from Lipscomb President Candice McQueen. 

A concert by Lipscomb’s Gospel Choir, under the direction of Aaron Howard, choir director and assistant professor of ethics and reconciliation, will follow. After the concert, all in attendance are invited to attend a reception sponsored by the Lipscomb Black Alumni Council. The Wednesday evening worship program is free and open to the public but reservations are required by Sept. 15.

Thursday’s day-long lecture series features a series of nine lectures outlining some of Keeble’s most noteworthy endeavors. Presenters include Edward J. Robinson, author, scholar and pulpit minister for the North Tenneha Church of Christ in Tyler, Texas; Fred D. Gray, American civil rights attorney, preacher, activist, and former state legislator from Alabama; Leonard Allen, dean of Lipscomb’s College of Bible & Ministry; David Holmes, dean of  Lipscomb’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Tanya Smith Brice, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Saint Martin’s University; John Mark Hicks, Professor of Theology at Lipscomb; and Orpheus Heyward. Q&A sessions will follow each series of lectures.

Thursday’s events conclude with No Small Endeavor (formerly The Tokens Show), which features a special musical tribute to attorney Fred Gray, a 2022 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The No Small Endeavor show takes place at 7:30 p.m., in Collins Alumni Auditorium, and is presented by the Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice and Society in Lipscomb’s College of Leadership & Public Service.

Registration for the worship service, lectures and show is required by Sept. 15.

The 2023 Carroll B. Ellis Symposium is a featured event of the university’s new Presidential Signature Series that spotlights speakers and noted national experts in various fields sharing their insights, ideas and experiences with the Lipscomb community. All Presidential Signature Series lectures are open to the public. Some will have limited capacity and require the purchase of tickets. Registration is required for all.

The Carroll B. Ellis Symposium is named in memory of the late Carroll B. Ellis, longtime chair of the Department of Communication at Lipscomb and preacher for several churches of Christ in the Nashville area.

John David Thomas, a friend and former student of Ellis, provided funding to establish the symposium “to honor Dr. Ellis and advance the cause of restoration preaching.” Thomas is faculty emeritus, historian and international exchange liaison at Freed-Hardeman University, Henderson, Tenn.