For Immediate Release
GALLATIN, TN—Dr. Timothy Tennent, former president and professor of World Christianity at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, will deliver a series of guest lectures during the 2024 Leroy Forlines Lectures at Welch College, according to President Matt Pinson.
“This year we’re excited to merge our Forlines Lectures and Missions Conference into a series of lectures by world-renowned missiologist Timothy Tennent,” Pinson said. “He will be lecturing on the theology of world missions, which is appropriate since one of the topics mentioned when the lectureship was founded was ‘world mission.’” The presentations are scheduled for October 14-15, 10:00 to 12:00, in Celorio Auditorium on the Welch campus.
The Leroy Forlines Lectures began in 1993 at Welch College as a means of bringing well known speakers to campus who could address challenging issues of the day related to theology, philosophy, worldview, world mission, and other topics. They are named for long-time Welch professor and dean F. Leroy Forlines. The lectureship, which had not been held for a few years, was reinstated in 2023 by means of a generous endowment by Professor Forlines’s wife Dr. Fay Forlines.
“It’s a unique privilege to have Dr. Tennent on campus again,” President Pinson said. “He’s one of the best known missiologists in the evangelical community, and he brings a sound biblical and theological vision to bear on his subject. We’re so glad to be able to bring together our biennial missions conference with our annual Forlines Lectures and have Dr. Tennent lecture on the theology of world missions.”
Tennent is a highly regarded preacher, professor, missiologist, and author. Before his inauguration as president of Asbury Theological Seminary in November of 2009, he held teaching positions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Toccoa Falls College. He has also taught and ministered in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Tennent received his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell, a Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He is also a 2008 graduate of a three-year mentor project in Academic Leadership sponsored by the Lilly endowment.
He is author of numerous books and articles, including Christianity at the Religious Roundtable (Baker Academic), Theology in the Context of World Christianity (Zondervan), Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the 21st Century (Kregel Academic), and For the Body: Recovering a Theology of Gender, Sexuality, and the Human Body (Zondervan).
Tennent’s wife, Julie, also a graduate of Gordon-Conwell, has led numerous Bible studies and is active in Friendship International in Lexington, Kentucky. She is a church organist and pianist, having produced several recordings and a cantata known as All the Glory. The Tennents have two adult children.
IM, the Free Will Baptist international missions agency, along with other affiliated missions organizations, will feature exhibits and information sessions at the conference. The event is free of charge and open to the public. Gifts to help make the Forlines Lectures possible may be made to Welch College by sending a check marked “Forlines Lectures” to Welch College, 1045 Bison Trail, Gallatin, TN 37066, or by giving online at welch.edu/give with designation to the lecture series.