C.V.

Devin C. Manzullo-Thomas
Director, Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist, & Wesleyan Studies
Archives Coordinator, Ernest L. Boyer Center
Messiah College
1 College Avenue Suite 4033
Mechanicsburg, PA  17055
717-766-2511 ext. 5235
dcthomas [at] messiah [dot] edu

Areas of Competence

American Religious History, Public History Theory and Practice

Research Interests

History of the Brethren in Christ Church, History of American Evangelicalism, History of American Anabaptism (Mennonites, Brethren, etc.), Historical Study of Peace and Nonviolence, Public Memory and Commemoration, Religion and Public History

Education

PhD          Temple University, History (in process)

M.A.          Temple University, History, 2012

B.A.            Messiah College, English, 2009

Professional Experience

  • Lecturer in the Humanities, Messiah College, 2017-
  • Director, The Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan Studies, Messiah College, 2013-
  • Archives Coordinator, The Ernest L. Boyer Center, Messiah College, 2014-
  • Interim Director, Center for Public Humanities, Messiah College, 2015
  • Assistant Editor, Brethren in Christ History and Life, Brethren in Christ Historical Society, 2011-2016

Publications

Books

  • Worthy of the Calling: Biographies of Paul and Lela (Swalm) Hostetler, Harvey and Erma (Heise) Sider, and Luke Jr. and Doris (Bowman) Keefer (with Beth Hostetler Mark and Anna Ruth Sider Osborne; edited by E. Morris Sider). Grantham, Pa.: Brethren in Christ Historical Society, 2014.

Journal Articles

  • “A Woman’s Place: Religious Identity, Gendered Boundaries, and the Evangelical Turn in the Brethren in Christ Church,” Mennonite Quarterly Review [under review]
  • “‘Unity in Diversity’: Negotiating Communal Boundaries in the Brethren in Christ Church, 1935-1950,” Brethren in Christ History and Life [forthcoming, 2017]
  • “From Second Work to Secondary Status: The Shifting Role of Holiness Theology in the Brethren in Christ Church,” Wesleyan Theological Journal [forthcoming, 2017]
  • “Born-Again Brethren in Christ: Anabaptism, Evangelicalism, and the Cultural Transformation of a Plain People,” Mennonite Quarterly Review 90 (April 2016): pp. 203-237
  • “Beyond ‘Indianapolis ’50’: The Brethren in Christ in an Age of Evangelicalism,” Brethren in Christ History and Life 36 (December 2013): pp. 433-463
  • “Minding the Church: The Scholarship and Denominational Service of Luke L. Keefer, Jr.,” Brethren in Christ History and Life 35 (December 2012): pp. 414-429
  • “Pietism as a ‘Usable Past’ in the Brethren in Christ Church,” The Covenant Quarterly 70 (August/November 2012): pp. 60-65
  • “Between Legalism and Liberalism: The Brethren in Christ Construct a New (Evangelical) Identity, 1945-1965” Brethren in Christ History and Life 34 (December 2011): pp. 347-386

Chapters in Edited Collections

  • “Sacred Subjects: Religion and Commemoration in America,” in Commemoration: The Association for State and Local History Guide, ed. Seth C. Bruggeman (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield) [forthcoming, 2017]
  • “A Witness to the Good: A Biographical Sketch of Luke L. Keefer, Jr.,” in Celebrations and Convictions: A Festschrift in Honor of Luke L. Keefer, Jr., eds. J. Robert Douglass and Wyndy Corbin Reuschling (Grantham, Pa.: Brethren in Christ Historical Society), pp. 3-20

Review Essays

Book Reviews

  • Review of Michael G. Thompson, For God and Globe: Christian Internationalism in the United States between the Great War and the Cold War, in Strategic Visions [forthcoming]
  • Review of H. Larry Ingle, Nixon’s First Cover-Up: The Relgious Life of a Quaker President, in Fides et Historia [forthcoming]
  • Review of Matthew Bowman, The Urban Pulpit: New York City and the Fate of Liberal Evangelicalism, in New York History 97:1 (Winter 2016): 106-109
  • Review of Brian Froese, California Mennonites, in Fides et Historia 48:1 (Winter/Spring 2016): 214-216
  • Review of Nathan E. Yoder, Together in the Work of the Lord: A History of Conservative Mennonite Conference, in Mennonite Quarterly Review 89 (April 2015), pp. 327-330
  • Review of Duane C. S. Stoltzfus, Pacifists in Chains: The Persecution of the Hutterites During the Great War, in Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 84 (March 2015), pp. 266-267
  • Review of David R. Swartz, Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism, in Reflections 16/17 (2014/2015), pp. 189-191
  • Review of Jared S. Burkholder and David C. Cramer, eds., The Activist Impulse: Essays on the Intersection of Evangelicalism and Anabaptism, in Brethren in Christ History and Life 36 (August 2013), pp. 321-325
  • Review of Tobin Miller Shearer, Daily Demonstrators: The Civil Rights Movement in Mennonite Homes and Sanctuaries, in Brethren in Christ History and Life 35 (April 2012), pp. 269-272
  • Review of Randall Balmer, The Making of Evangelicalism: From Revivalism to Politics and Beyond, in Brethren in Christ History and Life 34 (December 2011), pp. 596-599
  • Review of Paul W. Nisly, Shared Faith, Bold Vision, Enduring Promise: The Maturing Years of Messiah College, in Mennonite Quarterly Review 85 (July 2011), pp. 542-544

Encyclopedia Entries

  • “Skinner, Tom,” “Pannell, William E.,” and “Williamson, Sarah C.,” in African-American National Biography, eds. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012-2013) [online publication]
  • “Swalm, Ernest J..” With Lucille Marr. In Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, ed. Richard D. Thiessen (2012)

Selected Writings for a General Audience

Other Writing

  • “In Search of a Usable Past: Doing History in the Anabaptist Tradition,” Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage 37, no. 2 (April 2014), p. 39. [Introductory comments for a special edition of PMH focused on research and writing by young Anabaptist historians.]

Conference Presentations, Public Lectures & Sessions Chaired

  • “From Minister’s Wife to Ordained Pastor: The Evolving Status of Women in the Brethren in Christ Church, 1950-1990.” Presented at the “Crossing the Line” Conference, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va. [accepted]
  • “From Second Work to Secondary Status: The Rise (and Fall) of Holiness Theology in the Brethren in Christ Church.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society, Asbury, Ky., 3 March 2017
  • “Encounters with the Spirit: North American Anabaptists and Charismatic Renewal, 1950-2000.” Presented at the “Charismatic Renewal in Historical Perspective” Conference, Oxford University, Oxford, England, UK, 14 September 2016
  • Chair, “The High-Tech World of the Amish.” Session at the “Continuity and Change: 50 Years of Amish Society” Conference, Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College, 9 June 2016
  • “From Bible School to ‘Grantham University’: Educational Mission and Identity in the History of Messiah College.” Presented at the “Mennonite Education” Conference, Bluffton University, Bluffton, Ohio, 16 October 2015
  • “Prophet and President: Myron Augsburger and the Mennonite History of Evangelical Higher Education.” Presented at the “What Young Historians Are Thinking” Symposium, Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Lancaster, Pa., 12 October 2015
  • “A Witness to the Good: The Life and Ministry of Luke L. Keefer Jr., in the Brethren in Christ Church.” Presented at the “Honoring the Life and Legacy of Dr. Luke Keefer, Jr.” Symposium, Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio, 3 October 2015
  • “Family History as Church History.” Invited talk, Heritage Service of the Brethren in Christ Historical Society, Ringgold, Md., 7 June 2015
  • Panelist, “The Historian’s Role in Managing Institutional Change.” Roundtable discussion at the Biennial Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History, Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif., 27 September 2014
  • “Back to the Future: Tracing the Religious Roots of Messiah College, 1909-2009.” Presented at the “Historic Religious Roots and the Future of Higher Education” Symposium, Cedarville University, Cedarville, Ohio, 12 April 2014
  • Moderator, “What Young Historians Are Thinking.” Session organized by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Lancaster, Pa., 28 October 2013
  • “Born-Again Brethren in Christ: The Brethren in Christ Church in an Age of Evangelicalism.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Brethren in Christ Historical Society, Grantham Brethren in Christ Church, Grantham, Pa., 5 October 2013
  • “Born-Again Brethren in Christ: The Brethren in Christ Church in an Age of Evangelicalism.” Presented at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pa., 19 March 2013
  • Moderator, “Why We Must Take the Three (or Four) Streams in Our History Seriously.”
    Panel discussion at the “Why We Must Take Our History Seriously” Conference, Messiah College, Grantham, Pa., 8 November 2012
  • “Born-Again Brethren in Christ: Counter-cultural Religion in an Age of Evangelicalism.” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History, Gordon College, Wenham, Mass., 5 October 2012
  • Panelist, “Pietism, Churches, and a ‘Usable Past.’” Roundtable discussion at the Colloquium on Pietism Studies, Bethel University, Minneapolis, Minn., 20 April 2012
  • “Between Legalism and Liberalism: The Brethren in Christ, the ‘New Evangelicals,’ and the Rhetoric of Religious Identity in Postwar America.” Presented at the “History, Protestantism, and Identity in the Americas” Conference, Mexico City, Mexico, 6 October 2011
  • Panelist, “Attitudes and Perspectives Regarding Tradition.” Panel discussion at the “Tradition: Burden or Blessing?” Conference, Messiah College, Grantham, Pa., 11 November 2010
  • “The Immanence of Story.” Invited talk, Heritage Service of the Brethren in Christ Historical Society, Ringgold, Md., 6 June 2010

Guest Lectures

  • “An Introduction to the River Brethren / Brethren in Christ Tradition.” Elizabethtown College Amish and Anabaptist Groups in Context course, instructors Jeff Bach and Conrad Kanagy, 15 May 2014
  • “Peace, Devotion, and Service: The Theological Heritage of Messiah College.” Messiah College Global Christian Theology course, instructor George Pickens, 6 November 2013

Public Engagement

Digital Projects

  • “Religion in North Philadelphia”: part of a collaborative, semester-long project documenting the historical interactions between Temple University and its North Philadelphia neighbors, May 2011

Congregational History Projects

  • Committed to Community: A Centennial History of the Carlisle Brethren in Christ Church, book published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Carlisle Brethren in Christ Church, April 2012

Consulting

  • Consultant, Brethren in Christ Historical Library and Archives / Archives of Messiah College Digitization Initiative, Messiah College, Grantham, Pa., January 2012 to August 2013
  • Consultant, The Ernest L. Boyer Center Archives Digitization Initiative, Messiah College, Grantham, Pa., January 2011 to April 2012
  • Invited participant, Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society Strategic Planning Retreat, Lancaster, Pa., January 2011

Exhibits, Installations, & Miscellaneous Projects

  • Project contributor, First Person Museum, Painted Bride Art Center (Philadelphia, Pa.), November 2010

Conferences Convened

  • “Not Conformed: The Church, the World, and Christian Discipleship in the 21st Century.” Messiah College, 10-11 November 2016. Keynote Speaker: Mark Labberton, President,
    Fuller Theological Seminary
  • “Life Beyond the Congregation: The Future of Denominations in the 21st Century.” Messiah College, 12-13 November 2015. Keynote Speaker: Roger E. Olson, Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics, Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University
  • “Who’s In? Who’s Out?: Rethinking Church Membership in the 21st Century.” Messiah College, 9-10 October 2014
  • “Do Justice: A Biblical Mandate for the Church.” Messiah College, 5-6 November 2013

Grants, Awards & Other Honors

  • Evangelism Research Grant, Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College, 2016 ($500 grant to study the life and ministry of Samuel F. Wolgemuth) [awarded for 2016 research]
  • Evangelism Research Grant, Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College, 2013 ($500 grant to study the life and ministry of Samuel F. Wolgemuth)
  • Co-coordinator and participant, Brethren in Christ Emerging Scholars Seminar on Faith and Learning, sponsored by the Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan Studies, Messiah College, 21-25 May 2012
  • Graduate Student Travel Grant, Temple University College of Liberal Arts, 2011 ($300 grant)
  • Winner of the Anabaptist Research Paper Competition, sponsored by the Sider Institute for Anabaptist, Pietist, and Wesleyan Studies, Messiah College, 2010 ($300 award)
  • Listed in Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, 2008-2009

Media Appearances

Institutional, Academic, and Community Service

  • Member, Core Course Steering Committee, Messiah College, 2014–
  • Member, Peace and Conflict Studies Program Advisory Committee, Messiah College, 2013–
  • Member, Executive Committee, Brethren in Christ Historical Society, 2010–2015
  • Member, Editorial Committee, Brethren in Christ Historical Society, 2009–2012

Professional Memberships & Associations

  • Organization of American Historians
  • National Council on Public History
  • American Society of Church History
  • Mennonite Historical Society
  • Brethren in Christ Historical Society
  • Peace History Society
  • Conference on Faith and History

References
Available Upon Request

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