Harding and Emmanuel Students Win 2024 Student Paper Competition

Category: General, SCJ Conference

The Stone-Campbell Journal Student Paper Competition took place during the SCJ Conference at Milligan University April 12-13, 2024.

The SCJ Student Paper Competition provides an avenue for students and emerging scholars to test and refine their research and writing among supportive mentors and peers. Judges from SCJ-affiliated institutions provide meaningful critique and assessment, mentoring students through the process of thinking holistically about their topic and sharing research in academic conference setting.

This year Spencer Taylor (Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan) won the graduate division with his paper "From Ku Klux Klan to Multicultural Ministry: How Tensions within a Single Church's History Reflect Ongoing Struggle Against Racism, Moral Guardianship, and Division" (Faculty sponsor: Jason Bembry). Avery Hawkins (Harding University) won the undergraduate division with her paper "Following Christ in 21st-Century America: How A Christology of Kenosis Informs Anthropology and Discipleship for our Current Moment" (Faculty sponsor: Scott Adair). Both Spencer and Avery received a free one-year membership in Stone-Campbell Journal and free access to SCJ archives, free registration to the 2025 SCJ Conference, a donation of books from participating publishers, and a one-year, $2500 scholarship from any of the eleven participating graduate schools in the Stone-Campbell heritage.

Spencer and Avery were chosen from the finalists in their respective divisions who presented their papers at the conference. Graduate finalists also included: Jennifer Gash (Fuller Theological Seminary), "God's Mission Supersedes Women's Vocations: Exodus 2:1–10," and Corban Romm (Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan), "The Tantalizing Relationship Between Wisdom/Sophia and the Church: A Beginner's Examination of Sophiology." Undergraduate finalists also included Gabriella Brandner (Lipscomb University), "Children in the Imago Dei," and Jared E. Stanley (Kentucky Christian University), "The Journey of the Death of God: An Exploration of Man's Dealing with the Religious Urge." These finalists also received a free one-year membership in the Stone-Campbell Scholars Community.

Student competition submissions for the 2025 SCJ Conference will be due by January 3, 2025. See competition rules and flyers on the SCJ Website under Conferences and Lectureships/Student Paper Competition. Contact Adam Bean (albean@milligan.edu) for the Graduate and Undergraduate Competitions or Lisa Barnett (lisa.barnett@ptstulsa.edu) for the Isaac Errett competition. The 2025 SCJ Conference will be held April 12-13, 2025 at Johnson University, Knoxville, Tennessee.

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