Historical Commission Announces Conn Historical Writing Award Winners
The Church of God Historical Commission has announced the winners of the Charles W. Conn Historical Writing Award. The 2014-2016 award winners are Wade H. Phillips for his book, Quest to Restore God’s House: A Theological History of the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), Volume 1, 1886-1923 (CPT Press, 2015), and Wanda Thompson LeRoy for her article-length publication co-authored with David G. Roebuck, “‘Making Full Proof of Their Ministry:’ Women in Church of God Missions” (International Journal of Pentecostal Missiology, Vol. 3, 2014).
Phillips is presiding bishop of Zion Assembly Church of God, a Pentecostal denomination with international offices in Cleveland, Tennessee. He previously served as historian for the Church of God of Prophecy and has researched the history of the Church of God movement for more than 30 years. His book intertwines the history of the Church of God and the theological influences that shaped its development and early ecclesiology. It also includes information previously unpublished about R. G. Spurling, A. J. Tomlinson, and other early leaders.
Wanda Thompson LeRoy is an avid researcher of the history of Church of God World Missions, with which she has been associated since 1982, serving both in the international offices and as a missionary abroad. Her missionary experience includes 15 years as the women’s ministries coordinator in the Western Europe, Mediterranean and Middle East region and four years as World Missions Coordinator for Women’s Ministries. She is the author of three Missionary Hero Series books focusing on early missionary women in the Church of God, and she is the wife of Douglas LeRoy, former director of World Missions. Her article, which she co-authored with David G. Roebuck, the Church of God Historian and director of the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, highlights the significant role and ministry of women missionaries for the Church of God.
It is available online at: https://agts.edu/IJPM/FallIJPM2014.html
The Church of God International Executive Council created the Charles W. Conn Historical Writing Award in 2002 to honor long-time Church of God author and historian Dr. Charles W. Conn. Conn penned his history of the Church of God in 1955. When Like a Mighty Army was revised in 1977, the Executive Council designated Conn as Church Historian. Pathway Press released a tribute edition in 2008.
The mission of the Historical Commission is “to preserve and perpetuate the history and heritage of the Church of God and its global Pentecostal mission.” Its purpose is to promote the preservation, understanding, and appreciation of the history and heritage of the Church of God. The Commission gives attention to the collecting and preserving of historical documents, to the writing of history, and to promoting occasions for the church to remember, appreciate, and celebrate its heritage.
The Charles W. Conn Historical Writing Award and the International General Assembly Heritage Exhibit are among the ministries of the Historical Commission. The commission selects both a book and an article each General Assembly period to receive the writing award. The Heritage Exhibit has been a popular General Assembly feature since 1996. The exhibit is prepared by the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center and is in the Exhibit Hall. This year’s theme is “To the Ends of the Earth.” An accompanying publication will be available along with General Assembly registration.
–By Louis F. Morgan, Church of God Historical Commission
