Bill J. Leonard

Last updated

Billy Jim Leonard (born 20 March 1946) is an American historian of religion, Baptist pastor, teacher and dean.

Contents

Early life and education

Bill Leonard was born on 20 March 1946 in Decatur, Texas to a salesman, Marvin R. Leonard, and his wife Lavelle, who worked as a secretary. [1] [2] He was raised a Baptist. [3] After he turned ten, Leonard moved with his family to Fort Worth, Texas. [4] Leonard earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Wesleyan College (now (Texas Wesleyan University) in 1968, followed by a Master of Divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1971. He then obtained a doctorate at Boston University in 1975. [1] [5] Leonard completed postdoctoral research at Yale University. [5] After his studies, he was ordained minister. [6]

Ministry

Between 1965 and 1972, Leonard was a youth minister at Northridge Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas. He then led the First Community Church in Southborough, Massachusetts from 1971 to 1975. [1]

Teaching

He began teaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1975, was appointed William Walker Brookes Professor of American Christianity for 1990 and 1991, then left for Samford University in 1992. [1] [5] Concurrently, Leonard was on the faculty of Berea College between 1989 and 1995, including a stint as dean from 1991 to 1992. [1]

Dean

In May 1996, Leonard was appointed the founding dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. [5] As dean, Leonard expressed support for LGBT students, and the schools inaugural class admitted in 1999 included a lesbian student. [7] He retired as dean effect 30 June 2010, [2] and was succeeded by Gail R. O'Day.

In September 2011, Wake Forest University announced the creation of the James and Marilyn Dunn Chair of Baptist Studies. [8] [9] On 24 January 2012, Leonard formally assumed the named professorship. [10] Since assuming the role, he has spoken at several educational institutions. [11] He delivered Samford University's 2012 Ray Frank Robbins Lecture, [12] the 2015 William James Lecture at Harvard University, [13] as well as the 2017 William L. Self Preaching Lectures hosted by Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology. [14] Leonard retired from teaching in May 2018 and was named Professor of Divinity Emeritus. [6]

Related Research Articles

The Acadia Divinity College (ADC) is Baptist theological institute located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada. It is governed by a board of trustees with members appointed by the Convention and the Board of Governors of Acadia University. The college is also the Faculty of Theology of Acadia University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Divinity School</span> Divinity school at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, government, and service. It also caters to students from other Harvard schools that are interested in the former field. HDS is among a small group of university-based, non-denominational divinity schools in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candler School of Theology</span> U.S. educational institution

Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also one of 13 seminaries affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

William Ragsdale Cannon was the dean of Candler School of Theology (1953-1968) and an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1968.

Richard Bevan Hays is an American New Testament scholar and George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanderbilt University Divinity School</span>

The Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion is an interdenominational divinity school at Vanderbilt University, a major research university located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of only six university-based schools of religion in the United States without a denominational affiliation that service primarily mainline Protestantism.

Raleigh Kirby Godsey, better known as R. Kirby Godsey, served as the seventeenth president of Mercer University, an independent, coeducational, private university, located in the U.S. state of Georgia, from July 1, 1979 to June 30, 2006, longer than any of his predecessors. Godsey is now university chancellor, professor, and special advisor to his successor, William D. Underwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Baptist Theological Seminary</span> Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The seminary has been an innovator in theological education, establishing one of the first Ph.D. programs in religion in the year 1892. After being closed during the Civil War, it moved in 1877 to a newly built campus in downtown Louisville and moved to its current location in 1926 in the Crescent Hill neighborhood. In 1953, Southern became one of the few seminaries to offer a full, accredited degree course in church music. For more than fifty years Southern has been one of the world's largest theological seminaries, with an FTE enrollment of over 3,300 students in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beeson Divinity School</span>

The Beeson Divinity School of Samford University is an interdenominational evangelical divinity school located in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The current dean is Douglas A. Sweeney.

Paul Stuart Fiddes is an English Baptist theologian and novelist.

Milburn Price, born 9 April 1938 in Electric Mills, Mississippi, has served most recently as Dean of the School of Performing Arts at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama from 1993 to 2006. Following his retirement, he continued to conduct the Samford Orchestra and to teach one church music course each semester until 2011. Prior to moving to Samford, he served as Dean of the School of Church Music at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky from 1981 to 1993. Earlier he was Chair of the Music Department at Furman University from 1972 to 1981. During the 2011–2012 academic year he was Visiting Professor and Acting Chair of Choral Music at Stetson University. Subsequent appointments as Visiting Professor include Mercer University (2013–2014) and Mississippi College (2014–2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wake Forest University School of Divinity</span>

Wake Forest University School of Divinity is an ecumenical divinity school located on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The School offers a Master of Divinity degree as well several joint degree programs in cooperation with other graduate programs at the university in bioethics, counseling, education, law, and sustainability. The school has 19 faculty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. Brackney</span>

William Henry Brackney (1948–2022) was the Millard R. Cherry Distinguished Professor of Christian Thought and Ethics Emeritus at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and an ordained Baptist minister, accredited by the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches and the American Baptist Churches, USA. He was previously the Dean of Theology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and published numerous books and articles dealing with post-Reformation Protestant thought, particularly the Baptist and Radical Reformation traditions. Brackney did significant work in the areas of global ethics and human rights, and was the director of the Acadia Centre for Baptist and Anabaptist Studies (2008–2018). He was also a regular columnist for websites focused on ethics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ransom Dunn</span> American minister and theologian

Rev. Ransom Dunn, D.D. was an American minister and theologian, prominent in the early Free Will Baptist movement in New England. He was President of Rio Grande College in Ohio, and Hillsdale College in Michigan. A Discourse on the Freedom of the Will is one of his most notable works.

Henlee Hulix Barnette was an American social activist, professor of Christian ethics, minister, and author. His first book, Introducing Christian Ethics (1961), became a standard text in his field. He marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and met with Nikita Khrushchev to set up a college student exchange program with the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan L. Walton</span>

Jonathan Lee Walton is an author, ethicist and religious scholar. He is the President of Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. He was previously Dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Presidential Chair in Religion & Society and Dean of Wait Chapel. He is the author of A Lens of Love: Reading the Bible in its World for Our World.

Adam W. Greenway is an American pastor, theologian and religious leader. He served as the 9th president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) in Fort Worth, Texas from 2019 to 2022. He was the youngest president in the history of the seminary, being installed at 41 years old. Simultaneous with his role as president, he served as a Professor of Evangelism and Apologetics. A report release by the school in June 2023 concluded that Greenway misspent seminary funds during his tenure.

Gail Radcliffe O'Day was an American biblical scholar.

Jill Yvette Crainshaw is an American theologian and liturgical scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Randall Lolley</span> American Christian clergyman (1931–2022)

W. Randall Lolley (1931-2022) was an American Christian clergyman of the Baptist tradition. His principal contribution to religious and academic life was a 14-year presidency (1974-1988) of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina. Lolley's leadership of the seminary—one of six owned by the Southern Baptist Convention—ended as a result of theological and political strife within the denomination.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Leonard, Bill J. 1946–". encyclopedia.com. Gale. 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Bill Leonard stepping down as dean of Wake Forest divinity school". Baptist News. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  3. ↑ Leonard, Bill (14 February 2017). "Bill Leonard: Splitting churches right and left". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  4. ↑ "Q & A with Bill Leonard". Baptists Today. 28 June 2015. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Cox, Kevin (21 May 1996). "Leonard named dean of new Divinity School". Wake Forest University. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  6. 1 2 Dunn, Karen Richardson (10 April 2018). "A Legacy of Light". Wake Forest Magazine. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  7. ↑ Starnes, Todd (9 May 2000). "Leonard reiterates homosexual admissions to CBF-related Wake Forest divinity school". Baptist Press. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "Endowed chair honors Baptist leaders". Wake Forest University. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  9. ↑ White, Jim (27 September 2011). "Leonard named to Wake's new chair of Baptist studies named for Dunns". Baptist News. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  10. ↑ "Leonard installed as Dunn Chair of Baptist Studies at Wake Forest". Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  11. ↑ Moore, Vince (1 April 2018). "Church historian Bill Leonard to speak April 3". Furman University. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  12. ↑ "Bill Leonard to Deliver Robbins Lecture at Samford". Samford University. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  13. ↑ "Video: William James and the Protestant Conversion Crisis". Harvard Divinity School. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  14. ↑ Sears, Kyle (31 January 2017). "Wake Forest Professor Dr. Bill J. Leonard to Deliver 2017 William L. Self Preaching Lectures at McAfee School of Theology". Mercer University. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.