2026 Conference Dates are October 20th and 21st.
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 20th and 21st, 2026
Tuesday, October 20th
9:00 a.m. Opening Prayer- Dr. Hassell Bullock, Professor of Old Testament Emeritus, Wheaton College
Panel on Dan Williams’ The Search for a Rational Faith: Reason and Belief in the History of American Christianity
- Dr. Ted Davis, Distinguished Professor of the History of Science Emeritus, Messiah University
-Dr. Bradley Gundlach, Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, Trinity College
-Dr. John Wiers, Retired Instructor, Kirkwood Community College
-Dr. Dan Williams, Associate Professor of History, Ashland University
10:15 a.m. “The Forgotten Story of Presbyterian Bible Women in Africa and their contributions to Church and Society”, Mrs. Nancy Whytock, Administrator, Haddington House Trust, Prince Edward Island, Canada
11:15 a.m. Review of Nigel Cameron’s Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General, Dr. Tom Miller, Professor of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
12:15 p.m. Lunch
1:15 p.m. “From Halle to America: The American Reception of August Tholuck,” Dr. Annette Aubert, Lecturer in Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary
2:15 p.m. “Joseph Lampe, the Collapse of Omaha Presbyterian Higher Education Institutions, and the Crisis of Nebraska Presbyterianism”, Dr. Jeff McDonald, Executive Director, Presbyterian Scholars Conference
RESPONSE: Dr. George Marsden, McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame (via ZOOM)
3:15 p.m. Presentation on Otis Pickett’s Southern Shepherds, Savage Wolves: Presbyterian Domestic Missionaries and Race in South Carolina, 1802-1874, Dr. Otis W. Pickett, University Historian and Assistant Professor of History, Clemson University
RESPONSE: Dr. Mark Noll, McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
4:15 p.m. “"Why Follow Warfield on Only Some Questions,” Dr. Mark Noll, McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
5:15 p.m. Panel on David Bebbington’s Denominations: A Cultural History of Anglo-American Christianity
-Dr. John D’Elia, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, San Luis Obispo, CA
-Dr. Bobby Griffith, Associate Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Edmond, OK, Faculty, Flourish Institute of Theology
-Dr. Tim Larsen, McMannis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College
-Dr. David Bebbington, Professor of History Emeritus, University of Stirling, Scotland
6: 30 p.m. Dinner
7:45 p.m. Panel on Darryl G. Hart’s Presbyterians and Protest: Presbyterians in the Age of Revolution
-Mr. John Muether, Professor of Church History, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando
-Dr. David Bebbington, Professor of History Emeritus, University of Stirling, Scotland
-Dr. Darryl Hart, Professor of History, Hillsdale College
Wednesday, October 21st
8:00 a.m. “The Real Philosophy of Presbyterianism,” Rev. Doug Douma, Pastor of Unionville Presbyterian Church (NY)
9:00 a.m. “Complexities of Loyalism: Presbyterian Clergy who left for the British Colonies,” Dr. Jack Whytock, President, Haddington House Trust, Prince Edward Island, Canada
10:00 a.m. “‘The Right of Trespass’: B. B. Warfield on New Testament Critical Method,” Dr. Bradley Gundlach, Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus, Trinity College
11:00 a.m. “Rights and Wrongs in California: Presbyterians, Proposition 14, and Politics in the Church,” Dr. John D’Elia, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, San Luis Obispo, CA
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. “Charles Hodge: Systems and Presuppositions,” Dr. Owen Anderson, Professor of Philosophy, Arizona State University
2:00 p.m. “Robert Boyle as Post-Reformation Natural Theologian,” Dr. Ted Davis, Distinguished Professor of the History of Science Emeritus, Messiah University
3:00 p.m. "Iowa Presbyterianism: A Preliminary Look,” Dr. John Wiers, Retired Instructor, Kirkwood Community College
4:00 p.m. Panel Discussion on the History of Midwestern Presbyterianism
-Rev. Brian De Jong, Executive Director, Arthur Perkins Center for Midwestern Presbyterianism
-Dr. Jeff McDonald, Executive Director, Presbyterian Scholars Conference
