Join us for a two-day conference as Presbyterian scholars, thinkers, pastors, and authors come together.

Cost $50—can be paid at the door and covers all meals and snacks.

Where: Harbor House on the campus of Wheaton College (this is not a function of Wheaton College)

To register please email Jeff McDonald at jsmcdonald47@gmail.com

Conference Dates: October 21st and 22nd, 2025

2025 Conference Schedule

Tuesday, October 21st

9:00 a.m.  “"Jonathan Dickinson, Friendship, and Denominational Identity”

-Dr. Bradley J. Longfield, Professor of Church History, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary

-RESPONSE: Dr. Mark Noll, McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame

10:00 a.m.  “Under the Influence? : J.T. Mueller and Evangelical Presbyterian Connections to the Conservative Revival in the LCMS”

-Dr. Jeff McDonald, Executive Director, Presbyterian Scholars Conference, Adjunct Professor, Birmingham Theological Seminary

-RESPONSE: Dr. Kirk Farney, Vice President and Assistant Professor of History, Wheaton College

11:00 a.m.  Panel Discussion on Danny Olinger’s Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian

-Dr. Owen Anderson, Professor of Philosophy, Arizona State University

-Dr. Luke Johnston, Pastor, Glen Haven Church, Member-Theology Committee, EPC

-Dr. Camden Bucey, Executive Director, Reformed Forum, Historian of the OPC

-Rev. Danny Olinger, General Secretary, Christian Education, OPC

12:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m.  “Warfield’s Calling to the New Testament Chair at Allegheny Seminary”

-Dr. Brad Gundlach, Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, Trinity College

2:00 p.m.  “Charles Hodge, the Study of Theology, and the ‘Key of Knowledge’”

-Dr. Paul Helseth, J. Edwin Hartill Endowed Professor of Christian Thought, University of Northwestern-St. Paul

3:00 p.m. Panel on the Secularization of Higher Education

-Dr. Paul Kemeny, Dean and Professor of Religious Studies, Grove City College

-Dr. Owen Anderson, Professor of Philosophy, Arizona State University

   -Dr. James Ungureanu, Adjunct Professor, Carthage College

4:00 p.m. Panel on the PCUSA’s 1925 Special Commission

-Dr. Bradley J. Longfield, Professor of Church History, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary

-Dr. Darryl G. Hart, Associate Professor of History, Hillsdale College

-Dr. John Wiers, Retired Instructor, Kirkwood Community College

5:00 p.m. Session on Presbyterians and the American Revolution

   -Dr. Darryl G. Hart, Associate Professor of History, Hillsdale College

-Dr. Mark Noll, McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame

 6:00 p.m. Dinner

7:10 p.m. 100th Anniversary Panel on the Scopes Trial

-Dr. Elesha Coffman, Professor of History, Baylor University

   -Dr. Deb Haarsma, Past President, BioLogos

   -Dr. Brad Gundlach, Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, Trinity College

-Dr. George Marsden (Via ZOOM), McAnaney Professor History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame

 Wednesday, October 22nd

 8:00 a.m. "Perry Miller and the Works of Jonathan Edwards

-Dr. Steve Crocco, Former Librarian, Yale Divinity School, Princeton Seminary, and Pittsburgh Seminary

-RESPONSE: Dr. Mark Valeri, Reverend Priscilla Wood Neaves Distinguished Professor of Religion and Politics, Washington University, St. Louis. 

9:00 a.m. Panel Discussion on John D’Elia’s George Eldon Ladd and the Rehabilitation of Evangelical Scholarship

    -Dr. Daniel K. Williams, Associate Professor of History, Ashland University

-Dr. Daniel Treier, Knoedler Professor of Theology, Wheaton College

    -Dr. John D’Elia, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, San Luis Obispo, CA

10:00 a.m. “Howard A. Kelly, M.D.:  One of the “Hopkins 4” and an Evangelical Defender of the Faith”

-Dr. Tom Miller, Professor of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

-RESPONSE: Dr. Joseph Slaughter, Assistant Professor of History, Wesleyan University (CT)

11:00 a.m. “Arthur Perkins: Forgotten Titan of Wisconsin Presbyterianism”

-Rev. Brian DeJong, Executive Director of the Perkins Center for Midwestern Presbyterianism 

11:30 a.m.  Presentation on The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and the Reformation

-Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt, Franklin S. Dyrness Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies, Wheaton College

12:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m.  “The Search for a Rational Faith: Christian Apologetics in Protestant America from the Puritans to the Present."

-Dr. Daniel K. Williams, Associate Professor of History, Ashland University

-RESPONSE: Dr. Paul Helseth, J. Edwin Hartill Endowed Professor of Christian Thought, University of Northwestern-St. Paul 

2:00 p.m. “Significant Mission Shifts for American Presbyterians, with attention to Mission in Africa, c.1940s to c.2020s” 

-Dr. Jack Whytock, President, Haddington House Trust, Prince Edward Island, Canada

 

“Coming to the Presbyterian Scholars Conference has enriched my faith and desire to learn from my peers.” -attendee