Dr. Thomas Long to speak for Beeson Lectures Feb. 23-25

Everyone is invited to the 2010 Beeson Lectures Tuesday, Feb. 23, through Thursday, Feb. 25, when Dr. Thomas G. Long will speak in a series of events on Asbury Theological Seminary’s Kentucky campus in Wilmore.

The Beeson Lectures are a yearly presentation of Asbury Seminary’s Beeson International Center for Biblical Preaching and Church Leadership.

Long, who is Bandy Professor of Preaching at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, will begin the Beeson Lectures with a sermon Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. in Estes Chapel. Then at noon he will be joined by Asbury Seminary Senior Professor of Homiletics J. Ellsworth Kalas for a talk-back session in Cordelia A and B of the Dining Commons.

On Feb. 24 at 8:30 a.m. Long will lead a preaching seminar, “Encountering the Bible in Preaching Today,” at Stanger Hall in the McPheeters Center, Room MC205.

This year’s Beeson Lectures will conclude Feb. 25 with a sermon by Long in Estes Chapel at 11 a.m.

Thomas Grier Long has for a number of years been widely recognized for his research into biblical hermeneutics and homiletical theory and his leadership in the field of preaching. Of his more than 15 books, two have been published in the last year: Accompany Them with Singing: The Christian Funeral and Preaching from Memory to Hope. Baylor University in 1996 named Long one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world.

Long was ordained in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and now belongs to the Presbyterian Church (USA). He earned the M.Div. from Erskine Theological Seminary and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He began his career as a preacher at McElroy Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and later taught at Princeton and Columbia Theological Seminary.