Graham biographer speaks at Huntingdon on Billy Graham and American Politics

Montgomery, Ala.—As Americans prepare to elect our nation's 45th president, Huntingdon College presents a Stallworth Lecture Series speaker who will explore the intersections between religion and politics in America. Dr. Grant Wacker, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Christian History at Duke University Divinity School, will speak on "Billy Graham and American Politics," Monday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the College's Ligon Chapel, Flowers Hall. 

Dr. Wacker authored the biography, America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation, and six other books on religious thought and American culture. He will speak on the deep connections and influences of religion on politics and of U.S. political leaders on America’s religious thought. Specifically, he will discuss how the man who is arguably America’s best known and most influential preacher in modern times deftly traversed political, religious, and cultural paths simultaneously. Professor Wacker joined the Duke Divinity School faculty after teaching in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1977 to 1992. He specializes in the history of Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, World Missions and American Protestant thought. From 1997 to 2004, Dr. Wacker served as a senior editor of the quarterly journal, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. He is past president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies and of the American Society of Church History, a trustee of Fuller Theological Seminary, and a lay member of Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, N.C.

This lecture, part of Huntingdon's Community and Cultural Events Series sponsored by Baptist Health, is free and open to the public. The lecture will be followed by a book-signing with the author. Books will be available for sale. 

Huntingdon College, grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the United Methodist Church, is committed to nurturing growth in faith, wisdom, and service and to graduating individuals prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing world. Founded in 1854, Huntingdon is a coeducational liberal arts college.  In 2014 The Chronicle of Higher Education recognized Huntingdon among "The Fastest Growing Colleges in America,"  and Huntingdon has been named among the top regional colleges by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review.