Truett Seminary Welcomes Dr. Kevin Watson as Affiliate Research Professor

Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin M. Watson, PhD, as Affiliate Research Professor. Watson, who recently joined the ministerial staff of First Methodist Waco as Pastor of Discipleship, will conduct his ongoing research and writing in collaboration with the Seminary’s newly formed Wesley House of Studies. Additionally, he will teach occasional courses related to Methodist history and polity for Wesleyan and other interested students enrolled at Truett.

"It is a pleasure to welcome Dr. Kevin Watson to our team,” remarked Dr. William J. Abraham, Director of the Wesley House of Studies at Truett Seminary. “Watson is a top-flight historian of Methodism with a passionate commitment to renewal, an effective approach to discipleship in the local church, and a refreshing openness to the work of the Holy Spirit. He adds depth and wingspan to our teaching capacity, and we look forward in time to a rich crop of original research."

Watson received his undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma, his Master of Divinity degree from Wesley Theological Seminary, and his PhD from Southern Methodist University. An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, Watson is an in-demand speaker and a prolific author. His publications include Pursuing Social Holiness, Old or New School Methodism?, and Perfect Love. Until recently, he served as Associate Professor of Wesley and Methodist Studies at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.

Regarding the opportunity his appointment as Affiliate Research Professor, Watson stated, “I am grateful to Dean Todd Still and the faculty at Truett Seminary for their generosity in extending this invitation. Truett has already shown their extraordinary hospitality in creating the Wesley House of Studies and welcoming Wesleyan students to their number. The selection of William J. Abraham as the first director of the Wesley House demonstrates Truett's sound theological commitments. I expect my scholarly work and teaching to thrive in this environment. I also anticipate the connections I make at Truett will strengthen my pastoral ministry at First Methodist Waco."

"When we first started dreaming about and discussing the formation of a Wesley House at Truett, Kevin Watson’s name kept surfacing as the ‘go-to’ (young) historian of Wesleyanism,” noted Dr. Todd D. Still, DeLancey Dean and Hinson Professor at Baylor’s Truett Seminary. “As the Truett faculty and I have come to know Kevin, we have grown to appreciate both his academic acumen and Christian devotion. That such a gifted historian could come to work alongside such a towering theologian as William “Billy” J. Abraham as an Affiliate Research Professor in Truett’s Wesley House of Studies is a gift and a grace and arguably positions our Seminary as a destination location for Wesleyan students looking to study theology and prepare for ministry in the context of a Christian research university."

Learn more about the Wesley House of Studies at baylor.edu/truett/wesleyhouse.