The American Society of Church History (ASCH) was founded in 1888 with the disciplines of Christian denominational and

ecclesiastical history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

as its focus. Today the society's interests include the broad range of the critical scholarly perspectives, as applied to the

history of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teach ...

and its relationship to surrounding cultures in all periods, locations, and contexts. The society was founded by

Philip Schaff Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States. Biography Schaff was born ...

. The ASCH records are housed at the

Presbyterian Historical Society The Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS) is the oldest continuous denominational historical society in the United States.Smylie, James H. 1996. ''A Brief History of the Presbyterians.'' Louisville, Kentucky: Geneva Press. Its mission is to col ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. ASCH publishes the quarterly

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

'' Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture'', which was established in 1932.

Presidents

* 1888:

* 1932: William Warren Sweet * 1933:

Conrad Henry Moehlman Conrad Henry Moehlman (May 26, 1879 – September 19, 1961) was an American professor of church history at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, where he was emeritus professor. A Baptist and known as Liberal Christianity, theologically liberal, he w ...

* 1934: Frederick William Loetscher * 1935: John T. McNeill * 1936:

Wilhelm Pauck Wilhelm Pauck (January 31, 1901 - September 3, 1981) was a German-American church historian and historical theologian in the field of Reformation studies whose fifty-year teaching career reached from the University of Chicago and Union Theologica ...

* 1937:

Herbert Schneider Herbert Wallace Schneider (March 16, 1892 – October 15, 1984) was a German American professor of philosophy and a religious studies scholar long associated with Columbia University. Born in Berea, Ohio, Schneider completed his undergraduat ...

* 1938: Reuben E. E. Harkness * 1939: Charles Lyttle * 1940:

Roland Bainton Roland Herbert Bainton (March 30, 1894 – February 13, 1984) was a British-born American Protestant church historian. Life Bainton was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England, and came to the United States in 1902. He received an AB degree f ...

* 1941: F. W. Buckler * 1942: E. R. Hardy Jr. * 1943: Harold S. Bender * 1944: Percy V. Norwood * 1945:

Kenneth Scott Latourette Kenneth Scott Latourette (August 6, 1884 – December 26, 1968) was an American historian of China, Japan, and world Christianity.

* 1946: Matthew Spinka * 1947: Ernest G. Schwiebert * 1949: Massey H. Shepherd * 1950: James Hastings Nichols * 1951: Ray C. Petry * 1953: Sidney Mead * 1954: Carl E. Schneider * 1955: L. J. Trinterud * 1956: Quirinus Breen * 1957: H. Shelton Smith * 1958:

George Huntston Williams George Huntston Williams (April 7, 1914, in Huntsburg – October 6, 2000) was an American professor of Unitarian theology and historian of the Socinian movement. Williams' father was a Unitarian minister in Ohio. Williams studied at St. Law ...

* 1959: Robert T. Handy * 1960: Jerald C. Brauer * 1961:

Harold J. Grimm Harold J. Grimm (1901–1983) was an academic, historian, and writer and an expert on the Reformation. Born in Saginaw in Michigan in 1901, Grimm gained his PhD at Ohio State University. Grimm's numerous posts as an educator included Profess ...

* 1962: Lefferts A. Loetscher * 1963: Raymond W. Albright * 1964: Albert C. Outler * 1965:

Jaroslav Pelikan Jaroslav Jan Pelikan Jr. (December 17, 1923 – May 13, 2006) was an American scholar of the history of Christianity, Christian theology, and medieval intellectual history at Yale University. Early years Jaroslav Jan Pelikan Jr. was born on Dec ...

* 1967: Richard Cameron * 1969:

John Tracy Ellis John Tracy Ellis (July 30, 1905 – October 16, 1992) was a Catholic Church historian and priest, born and raised in Seneca, Illinois, USA. Ellis was ordained a priest and received a doctorate in history from Catholic University of America in Wash ...

* 1970: Robert M. Grant * 1971:

Martin E. Marty Martin Emil Marty (born on February 5, 1928) is an American Lutheran religious scholar who has written extensively on religion in the United States. Early life and education Marty was born on February 5, 1928, in West Point, Nebraska, and raised ...

* 1972: Carl Bangs * 1973: William A. Clebsch * 1974: Clyde L. Manschreck * 1975: Sydney E. Ahlstrom * 1976: John F. Wilson * 1977: Lewis W. Spitz * 1978: Edwin S. Gaustad * 1979: Brian A. Gerrish * 1980: Robert M. Kingdon * 1981: William R. Hutchison * 1982: C. C. Goen * 1983:

Jane Dempsey Douglass Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...

* 1984: Henry W. Bowden * 1985: David C. Steinmetz * 1986: Winton U. Solberg * 1987: Jay P. Dolan * 1988: William J. Courtenay * 1989:

Elizabeth A. Clark Elizabeth Ann Clark (September 27, 1938 – September 7, 2021) was a professor of the John Carlisle Kilgo professorship of religion at Duke University. She was notable for her work in the field of Patristics, and the teaching of ancient Christi ...

* 1990: Timothy L. Smith * 1991: Richard L. Greaves * 1992:

George Marsden George Mish Marsden (born 1939) is an American historian who has written extensively on the interaction between Christianity and American culture, particularly on Christianity in American higher education and on American evangelicalism. He is be ...

* 1993–1994: Nathan O. Hatch * 1994–1995: Stephen J. Stein * 1995–1996: Bernard McGinn * 1996–1997: Barbara Brown Zikmund * 1997–1998:

Richard Kieckhefer Richard Kieckhefer (born 1946) is an American medievalist, religious historian, scholar of church architecture, and author. He is Professor of History and John Evans Professor of Religious Studies at Northwestern University. Education After an un ...

* 1998–1999: Peter W. Williams * 1999–2000: Ronald L. Numbers * 2000–2001: Hans J. Hillerbrand * 2001–2002: Amanda Porterfield * 2002–2003:

E. Brooks Holifield E. Brooks Holifield is an American religious historian and the Charles Howard Candler Professor Emeritus of American Church History at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, where he taught until his retirement in 2011. He has been called ...

* 2003–2004: Dale A. Johnson * 2004–2005: Dennis Dickerson * 2005–2006:

Mark Noll Mark Allan Noll (born 1946) is an American historian specializing in the history of Christianity in the United States. He holds the position of Research Professor of History at Regent College, having previously been Francis A. McAnaney Professor o ...

* 2006–2007:

Jan Shipps Jo Ann Barnett Shipps (born 1929), known as Jan Shipps, is an American historian specializing in Mormon history, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century to the present. Shipps is generally regarded as the foremost non-Mormon scholar ...

* 2007–2008:

John Van Engen John H. Van Engen is an American historian who focuses on the religious and intellectual culture of the European Middle Ages. He is Andrew V. Tackes Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at the University of Notre Dame.Faculty bio: https://hist ...

* 2008–2009: Grant Wacker * 2009–2010: Charles H. Lippy * 2010–2011: Richard P. Heitzenrater * 2011–2012:

Barbara Newman Barbara Jane Newman is an American medievalist, literary critic, religious historian, and author. She is Professor of English and Religion, and John Evans Professor of Latin, at Northwestern University. Newman was elected in 2017 to the American P ...

* 2012–2013: Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp * 2013–2014: Bruce Hindmarsh * 2014–2015: Thomas F.X. Noble * 2015–2016: Margaret Bendroth * 2016–2017: Ronald Rittgers * 2017–2018: Candy Gunther Brown * 2018–2019: Ralph Keen * 2019:

Paul C.H. Lim Paul Chang-Ha Lim (; born April 29, 1967) an American ecclesiastical historian who serves as professor of church history at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. His main research involves the intellectual history and historical theology of Refor ...

* 2020–present: Daniel Ramírez

References

External links

* {{authority control 1888 establishments in New York (state) Historical societies of the United States Historiography of Christianity Member organizations of the American Council of Learned Societies Non-profit organizations based in Connecticut Organizations established in 1888 Yale Divinity School

Presidents

References

Further reading

External links