Schedule
&
Lodging Information
2026 Annual Meeting
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Affiliate Society
To view the schedules of WTS’ Affiliate Societies, click below:
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Affiliate Societies
To view the schedules of WTS’ Affiliate Societies, click below:
Friday March 20, 2026
Wesleyan Theological Society
8:00-8:30 a.m.
Registration, Upper Gwinn
8:30-9:00 a.m.
Welcome from Dr. Deana Porterfield; President, Seattle Pacific University, Upper Gwinn
Opening Worship with Matt Sigler
9:00-10:00 a.m.
Plenary Session, Upper Gwinn
Plenary Address: Jennifer Powell McNutt
10:00-10:30 a.m.
Break/Refreshments, Upper Gwinn
10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions #1 [see below]
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Lunch;
Meeting of the Executive Committee, First Free Methodist Fine Center -Room D
Student Lunch, First Free Methodist Fine Center- Samaritans Room
Wesleyan Theology/Disability Theology Conversation, First Free Methodist Fine Center-Room E
Box lunches available for pre-purchase.
1:30-3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions #2 [see below]
3:00-3:30 p.m.
Break/Refreshments
3:30-5:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions #3 [see below]
5:10-5:40 pm
WTS Business Meeting, Upper Gwinn
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Awards Banquet Dinner, First Free Methodist Fine Center
8:00-9:00 p.m.
Dessert Receptions:
Manchester Wesley Research Center Reception, Student Union Building
John Wesley Fellows/AFTE Reception, Student Union Building
Saturday March 21, 2026
8:30-9:15 a.m.
Worship with Matt Sigler, Upper Gwinn
Eucharist
9:30-10:30 a.m.
Plenary Session
Presidential Address: Jennifer Woodruff Tait, Upper Gwinn
10:30-11:00 a.m.
Break/Refreshments, Upper Gwinn
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions #4 [see below]
Lodging and Transportation options for SPU.
While we don't have a specific conference hotel, here are some hotel options (of varying price and quality), all of them about 2.0-2.5 miles from the SPU campus:
Courtyard by Marriott Seattle Downtown/Lake Union: 206-213-0100
Travelodge by Wyndham: 206-962-8678
Fairfield by Marriott Inn and Suites Downtown/Seattle Center: 206-443-2012
Holiday Inn Seattle Downtown/Lake Union: 206-728-8123
Holiday Inn Express and Suites: 206-441-7222
Four Points by Sheraton Downtown Seattle Center: 206-282-2600
Hampton Inn & Suites Seattle-Downtown: 206-282-7700
The Maxwell Hotel: 206-286-0629
MarQueen Hotel: 206-282-7407
Mediterranean Inn: 206-428-4700
Homewood Suites by Hilton: 206-281-9393
Hyatt House Seattle/Downtown: 206-727-1234
Hyatt Place Seattle/Downtown: 206-441-6041
Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. Hotels can be very pricey, but there are Airbnb and VRBO options relatively close to campus. If you decide to stay at an Airbnb, we suggest that you choose one in the Queen Anne neighborhood (which is the neighborhood that SPU is in, and accessible by foot or by bus routes 4, 13, 31, or 32). Other nearby neighborhoods are Fremont (walkable to campus or bus routes 31/32), Interbay (bus route 32), Magnolia (bus route 31), Wallingford (bus routes 31/32) or Ballard.
Public bus routes (King County Transit) are handy to campus, specifically Routes 4, 13, 31, and 32. A fare card (ORCA card) or the exact amount of cash ($2.75/ride) is needed. There is also ample free parking at SPU and renting a car may be your best option for getting from SeaTac Airport and to and from SPU and your lodging, especially since Uber and Lyft can be expensive (typically around $90 each way from the airport to SPU).
Seattle's March weather is typically cool and damp, with average highs around 51-54 degrees and lows around 39-42 degrees. Expect a mix of rain and sunshine, requiring layers and waterproof clothing.
Concurrent Sessions
Friday March 20
10:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
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Biblical Studies I – Upper Gwinn
What Are the Signs That a Wesleyan Biblical Interpretation Is Happening? (How Do We Know a Wesleyan Biblical Interpretation When We See It?) (Panel Discussion)
This session will be a panel discussion that is part of a yearly working group exploring the general question, “What Is Wesleyan Biblical Interpretation?” This session will consider the question, “What are the signs that a Wesleyan biblical interpretation is happening? (How do we know a Wesleyan biblical interpretation when we see it?)” Each panelist will present for ten minutes. Then the presider will facilitate an extended discussion with the panelists and audience.
Jennifer M. Matheny, Presiding, Truett Seminary, Waco TX
Panelists:
Brad E. Kelle, Point Loma Nazarene University (10 min)
Rob Wall, Seattle Pacific University (10 min)
David Watson, Asbury Theological Seminary (10 min)
Renee Dutter Miller, MidAmerica Nazarene University (10 min)
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Historical Studies I – Demaray 353
Moderator: James Pedlar
Mark Olson, “The Genesis of Christian Perfection as a Second Blessing”
Sungsu Kim, “John Wesley's Sacramental Practice during his Oxford Period (1729-1735)”
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Practical Theology & Christian Formation I – Demaray 358
Moderator: Dr. Wendy Mohler-Sieb
Tammie Grimm, “Practicing Sabbath: Our Touchstone to Living a Sanctified Life”
Brian Yeich, “Preaching Perfection: An Approach to Preaching the Grand Depositum”
Lauren Palmer, “Wholehearted Transformation: Reintegrating the Affections in Christian Perfection”
Anna Fitzgerald-Peters, “Holy Ground: Implications of a Theology of Place for Wesleyan Holiness Theology”
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Systematic Theology II – Demaray 150
Moderator: Tom McCall
Kyle Barton, "Holy Revolt: Karl Barth's Doctrine of Sanctification"
Jacob Lett, "Holiness as Natural End: A Retrieval of Maximus the Confessor on Creaturely Perfection and the Life of the Saints"Danny Quanstrom, "Holiness and the Divine Energies"
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Wesleyan Liturgical Society I: Philosophy & Theology of Liturgy - Demaray 354
Session Chair: Kenny R. Johnston
Kenny R. Johnston, “‘Veiled in Flesh The Godhead See’: Liturgy as the Propositional Conditioning of God’s Presence in Worship”
G. Stephen Blakemore, “How Real is Real?: Toward a Wesleyan Metaphysics of Christ’s Eucharistic Presence”
Colton Castle, “Grace, Presence, and Personhood: John Wesley’s Understanding of the Real Presence of Christ and ‘Uncreated’ Grace in the Eucharist”
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Women’s Studies I - Demaray 254
Moderator: Kimberly Majeski
Gerhard Mielke, “Second Blessing Preachers: Women Preachers in the Wesleyan/Holiness Movement”
V. Jean Thomas, “Mothering: God, and the Mothering God: The Relevance of Biblical and Historical Narratives Today”
Karen Strand Winslow, “Women in the Bible Model Holiness”
Marie Gregg, “Woman, Who Condemns You? A Feminist Reading of Romans 8:1-4”
-
Theology and Science I - Demaray 261
This panel discussion in the Theology and Science section will discuss Philip Wingeier-Rayo’s newly released book, John Wesley and the Origins of Methodist Missions (Abingdon 2025).
Moderator:
Thomas Hermans-Webster, Affiliate Faculty, Memphis Theological Seminary and Acquisitions Editor at Orbis Books
Panel:
Douglas Strong, Paul T. Walls Professor of Wesleyan Studies at Seattle Pacific University School of Theology
Kelly Diehl Yates, Instructor at Indiana Wesleyan University
Jonathan LeMaster-Smith, Professor of Rural Ministry and Connection Theology at Kairos University
Respondent:
Philip Wingeier-Rayo, Executive Director of Education, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and Visiting Professor of Wesley Theological Seminary
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Philosophy I - Demaray 259
Moderator: Thomas Jay Oord
Brandon Yarbrough, “Entire Sanctification as the Experience of the Love of Friendship: Understanding Article 10 of the Nazarene Manual by way of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics”
Robert J. Thompson, “Believing Faithfully: A Dispositional Account of a Christian Way of Life”
Segbegnon M. Gnonhossou, “Hountondji’s Philosophy as a Catalyst for a Geopolitical Dimension of the Doctrine of Sanctification”
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Theology, Culture, and Arts I - Demaray 355
Moderator: Philip Tallon
Kent Dunnington and Ben Wayman, “What’s Sport got to do with Discipleship?”
Drew McIntyre, “What’s Eating Father Phil? Vocational Holiness in The Sopranos”
Bailey Pickard, “Weeping as Jesus Did”
Friday March 20
1:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
-
Biblical Studies II – Upper Gwinn
*NOTE: All papers will be 20 minutes in length.
Moderator: Brad E. Kelle, Point Loma Nazarene University, Presiding
“Cleansing and Community: Disability, Purification, and Corporate Agency in Mark’s Gospel” (20 min)
Frederick David Carr, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan University
“The Manifestation of Holiness: A Wesleyan View of Yahweh's Glory in Isaiah 6” (20 min)
Lindi Wells-Martsolf, Mount Vernon Nazarene University
“Israel Fumbles and Falls: Daughters and Fathers in Judges” (20 min)
Karen Winslow, Azusa Pacific University
“Rewilding the Parables: Recovering Social Holiness in the Teachings of Jesus” (20 min)
Rebecca Copeland, Boston University School of Theology
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Ecumenical & Interfaith Studies I - Demaray 254
Moderator: Kelly Yates
Jonathan Sutter, "Comparing Oranges and Mangoes: Exploring the Actuality and Exclusivity of Entire Sanctification through Prison Rehabilitation Programs"
James Mwita, “The Relationship of Wesleyan Conceptions of Holiness and Sanctification to Similar Conceptions in African Traditional Perspectives”
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Historical Studies II – Demaray 353
Moderator: Andy Wood
Darrel Poeppelmeyer, “Mapping Entire Sanctification Across Three Nazarene Eras (1905-2008)”
Caleb Black, “The Exegetical Basis of Entire Sanctification according to the American Holiness Movement”
Nicholas Black, “Entire Sanctification As Experiential Confirmation: The Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in the American Holiness Movement as an Experiential Reinterpretation of the Patristic and Medieval Rite of Confirmation.”
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Moral Theology I - Demaray 259
Moderator: David N. Field
Hannah Grubbs-Oechsle, “Towards a Wesleyan Moral Psychology: Aldersgate and the Epistemic Function of the Emotions”
Sean Baz-Garza, “Wesley and Calvin, Virtue and Sanctification,”
Dave Lunn, “‘Adorable Providence’: Physical Evil’s Relationship to Virtue Formation in Wesley’s View of Sanctification”
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Practical Theology & Christian Formation II – Demaray 358
Moderator: Dr. Tammie Grimm
Dean Blevins, “Holiness on the Spectrum”
Christine Youn Hung, “The Neurotheology of Safety A Theology of Love and Trinitarian Belonging as Pathways of Sanctifying Grace”
Steve Johnson, “Forming Faithful Lives through Faithful Beginnings: Revisiting John Wesley’s Instructions for Children for Today’s Child Discipleship Practices”
Ivelisse Valentin, “Piety to Collective Praxis: The Lord's Prayer as a Theological Framework for Social Holiness and Justice”
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Systematic Theology II – Demaray 150
Moderator: Tom McCall
Russell Frazier, "The Wesleyan Doctrine of Prevenient Grace: Convergences and Divergences"
Curtis Holtzen, "Holier Than Thou? Try Trustworthy"
Stephen Rankin, “The Wesleyan Optimism of Grace: In Conversation with Simeon Zahl"
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Demaray 261
Special Panel – Kenneth J. Collins’ new book Generous Divine Love: The Grace and Power of Methodist Theology
Chair: Steven Hoskins
Presenter: Kenneth J. Collins
Respondents: Phil Meadows, James Pedlar
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Theological Education I - Demaray 355
Patrick Oden, “Educating Holiness: A Wesleyan Vision for Holistic Transformation”
Mindi Grieser Cromwell, “‘We Choose to Travel Light’”: The Sisters of Loretto Reexamine their Apostolate of Education”
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Wesleyan Liturgical Society II: Liturgy & Praxis - Demaray 354
Session Chair: Tesia Mallory
Matt Sigler, “What Makes Methodist Worship Wesleyan?”
Hyemin Na, “Eucharist and Sanctification in an Age of Mediatization: Revisiting Online Holy Communion Conversation through Media Studies”
Stanley Pelkey, “Bringing History Alive: Adopting, Adapting, and Modifying Charles Wesley’s Poetry on Sanctification for Today’s Worshipping Church
Friday March 20
3:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
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Historical Studies III – Demaray 353
Moderator: James Pedlar
Anders Holmen-Crow, “John Wesley and Clement of Alexandria: Christological Divergences”
Richard Clark, “The ‘Head’ and the ‘Heart’ in Classical Pietism and Classical Arminianism”
Abram Book, “John Wesley and the Early Practice of Crisis Communication in Eighteenth-Century England”
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Intercultural Studies II - Demaray 254
Moderator: Courtney J. Turner
Matthew Friedman, "Wesleyan Sanctification, Missional Theosis and Missional Praxis"
Alexander J. Freytes, "Is Holiness Culture Dependent?"
O. Brent Dongell, "Clarifying Characteristics Of Effective True Community Toward Holiness through Spiritual Maturity From Gen Z's Voice"
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Section Title: Liturgical & Worship Studies (Joint Session) - Demaray 354
Moderator: Tesia Mallory
Wesley Custer, “The Posture of Lament and the Hope of Eternity in the ‘Hymns on the Lord's Supper’ by John and Charles Wesley”
Heather B. Perez, “Divine Encounter and Transformation through ‘Discerning the Body’: Charles Wesley’s Hymns on the Lord’s Supper in Dialogue with The Imitation of Christ
Chanyoung Choi, “Preaching as Barrier or Carrier: Reclaiming the ‘Means of Grace’ for the Church’s Sanctification”
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Moral Theology II - Demaray 261
Moderator: Joseph Bankard
David Field, “Holiness of Conversation and the Personalist Way of Life: John Wesley, Boston Personalism, and the Ethical Centrality of the Person in the Contemporary World”
Christopher Momany, “Holiness and the Human Person: The Life and Theology of Asa Mahan”
Trent Jones, “Enduring the Wilderness: Sanctification and the Role of Testing in Moral Formation”
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Philosophy II – Demaray 355
Moderator: Thomas Jay Oord
Laura Dahl, “Towards A Wesleyan Analytic Theology of Divine Holiness: Engaging a Contemporary Debate in the Doctrine of God”
Thomas Jay Oord, “God is the Ever Creator”
Frank Lilley, “Divine Action and Christian Perfection”
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Practical Theology/ Christian Formation III – Demaray 358
Moderator: Dr. Brian Yeich
Jonathan Abernethy-Barkley, “Shattered Holiness: When a Wesleyan Ideal Meets the #ChurchToo Movement”
Aaron Gross, “Rethinking the Second Work of Grace through the Lens of Trauma and Addiction”
Wendy Mohler-Seib, Rachel Tiller, and Maria Allen, “Resisting Distortion: A Theological Defense of Women’s Ordination in the Global Methodist Church”
Suzanne Nicholson, “Snapshot of the Living Word: AI, the Means of Grace, and Spiritual Formation”
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Systematic Theology III – Demaray 150
Moderator: Esther Chung-Kim
Justus Hunter, “Scotus for Wesleyans”Joel Chopp, “‘Your Bones Shall Flourish Like the Grass’: Death, Personal Identity, and Resurrection in Wesleyan and Early Protestant Theology”
Panel Discussion: Justus Hunter, Joel Chopp, Daniel Castelo, and Esther Chung-Kim
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Theology, Culture, & Arts II - Demaray 255
Moderator: Philip Tallon
Seamus Pilette, “Holiness in the Wasteland: Video Games as a Medium of Theological Reflection”
Steven Vredenburgh, “Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Truth”
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Theology & Science I - Demaray 259
Moderator: Rev. Thomas G. Hermans-Webster, PhD, Orbis Books, Memphis Theological Seminary
Logan Patriquin, “The Standard of Empirical Accountability in John Wesley’s Science-Informed Conservative Hermeneutic”
Chris Willard, “The Apocalypse According to a Tech Bro: AI, Progress, and Competing Views of Social Holiness”
Saturday March 21
11:00 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
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Biblical Studies III - Upper Gwinn
Jennifer M. Matheny, Truett Theological Seminary, Presiding
“Holiness in Animal Consumption” (20 min)
Christina Bohn, MidAmerica Nazarene University
“Heart Holiness and the Sacramental Epistemology of Hebrews” (20 min)
Michael Falgout, Mount Vernon Nazarene University
“Discipling the Reader: The Ethiopian Eunuch as the Implied Reader of Acts” (20 min)Caleb Daniels, Nazarene Theological College
“Nothing vs. Everything: Do We Give Less When We Have More? A Brief History of the Interpretation of the Rich Young Ruler” (20 min)
Abigail Paul, Southern Nazarene University
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Special Panel – Demaray 150
Ecumenical and Interfaith Studies
Special Panel on Jerome Van Kuiken’s Reclaiming the Order of Salvation: Evangelical Wesleyan Perspectives, (Francis Asbury Society, 2025).Moderater Don Thorsen
Panelists: Justus Hunter, Doug Koskela, and Jason Vickers
Respondent to Panelists: Kenneth J. Collins
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Historical Studies IV – Demaray 353
Moderator:James Pedlar
Andrew Stobart, “Joyful News: Holiness in Print and Practice”
Doug Strong, “Strangely Warmed, Strangely Free: Wesley’s Depiction of God’s Particular Providence”
Ryan Giffin, “The Church of the Nazarene Manual Statement on the Ministry of the Laypersons: Its origin, development, and Current Status.”
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Moral Theology II - Demaray 261
Moderator: Dean Blevins
Macie Nantze, “Built Environments as Barriers to Holiness”
Tyler Womack, “Wesley and Work: Holiness Against the Entrepreneurial ‘Self’”
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Philosophy III - Demaray 355
Panel: “Holy and Terrifying is God’s Name: The Works of God’s Hands are Justice and Truth”
Moderator: Heather Ross
Panelists: Craig Keen, Nathan Kerr, Heather Ross, Eric Severson
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Women’s Studies II – Demaray 15
Moderator: Kimberly Majeski
Janel Apps Ramsey, “Trad Wife"
Lindsay Roman, “The ‘Remarkable’ Eliza Suggs: Disability Liberation in the Free Methodist Church”
Dara Delgado, “‘Do for He People, Her Community, and Her Church’: Ida Bell Robinson and Her Transgressive Approach to Gender, Authority, and Economic Agency in the Black Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition”