Feb. 24, 2015
For Immediate Release
By Joan C. McKinney, news and publications coordinator
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Dr. William Loyd Allen, who holds the Sylvan Hills Chair of Baptist Heritage and is professor of church history and spiritual formation at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta, Ga., will be the speaker for Campbellsville University's Baptist Heritage Lecture Series at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 in the Banquet Hall at 110 University Drive, Campbellsville.
Everyone is invited to his address.
Allen will speak on “Baptist Affiliation” at the March 3 event. Allen teaches in the areas of church history, Baptist heritage and spirituality.Baptist heritage and Christian spirituality remain his greatest areas of interest.
Allen received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1974 with a double major in psychology and sociology from the University of Montevallo in Alabama. He received his Master of Divinity degree in 1978 and Ph.D. in 1984 from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.
During his years as a student, he served part time as an aide on a psychiatric ward, a chaplain in the emergency room of an urban hospital and the admitting ward of a state mental hospital, the ecumenical campus minister at a Roman Catholic college and had a seven-year pastorate at a rural church.
After graduation, Allen took a job as religion professor and campus minister at Brewton-Parker College in south Georgia for five years before moving back to Louisville for three years on the church history faculty of Southern Seminary.
In 1992, Mississippi College called him to become the head of its Christianity department. He left Mississippi after three years to become professor of church history and spiritual formation on the founding faculty of the McAfee School of Theology.
He has published a history of Maryland/Delaware Baptists and another book,Crossroads in Christian Growth, about faith development in crises.
In 2000, Allen spent ten months reading in Celtic Christianity while on sabbatical at South Wales Baptist College. Upon his return, he was named to the Sylvan Hills Baptist Church Chair of Baptist Heritage.
He has published a history of Maryland/Delaware Baptists and another book, Crossroads in Christian Growth, about faith development in crises, and has been published in various media.
Allen's personal life revolves around his family and church.His wife, Libby, works in the admissions office at McAfee, and his daughter, Clare, is a college student.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.