Lee Professor Delivers Presidential Address at Conference
Dean of the School of Religion at Lee University, Dr. Terry Cross, recently delivered the Presidential Address at the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS) meeting held at Duke University, March 13-15. Cross culminated his term as president of the Society with his presentation, entitled, “The Divine-Human Encounter: Towards a Pentecostal Theology of Experience.”
The address by Cross offered a creative, constructive study on the subject of human experience of encounter with God. Cross developed a series of distinctive insights drawn from Pentecostal faith and practice, bringing them into dialogue with other doctrinal perspectives related to the topic as they have appeared in the works of major figures in the history of Christian theology. The study advanced a seminal proposal for what a developing Pentecostal theology of experience has to contribute as well as to gain in this theological exchange.
Prior to his work at Lee, Cross was a pastor for twelve years and a high school teacher of Latin and history. He has been listed in Who’s Who Among American Teachers. He was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award at Lee in 2000 and the Excellence in Scholarship Award in 2001.
In April 2000, a book which Cross and Lee professor Dr. Emerson Powery edited was published in honor of their former teacher, Dr. Donald N. Bowdle. Entitled “The Spirit and the Mind: Essays in Informed Pentecostalism in Honor of Donald N. Bowdle” (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2000), the book brings together more than 20 authors to write in areas of their disciplines.
Cross graduated from Lee in 1978, earning the first of several degrees. He later received the M.A. in Church History and the M.Div. in Theology from Ashland Theological Seminary (Ohio). From Ashland, he moved to Princeton Theological Seminary, where he received the Th.M. in Doctrinal Theology and the Ph.D. in Systematic Theology (1991). In the summer of 2002, Cross became the dean of the School of Religion.
Originally from Big Rapids, Mich., Cross came to Lee’s faculty in 1997. Since then, he has divided his time between teaching and administrative duties. In fall 2000, he directed the new graduate programs in religion as three new masters degrees were inaugurated.
