Henry H. Knight III, the Donald and Pearl Wright Professor of Wesleyan Studies at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, will be the featured speaker for Southwestern College’s 2010 Smith-Willson lecture Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. in Mossman Hall, room 101.  There is no admission charge.

Knight teaches in the areas of Wesleyan theology, church history, and evangelical, Pentecostal, and charismatic theology. He is the originator and chair of the Wesleyan-Pentecostal Consultation, a group of scholars and pastors who have collaborated on a new volume, “From Aldersgate to Azusa Street: Wesleyan, Holiness, and Pentecostal Visions of the New Creation,” which examines key figures in the history of this distinctive family of Christian churches.

Matt Thompson, assistant professor of religious studies at Southwestern, says SC is directly linked to the Pentecostal religion.

“SC historically is linked with the Pentecostal family,” Thompson says.  “One of the founders of Pentecostalism, Charles Parham, was a student at Southwestern in the early years of Southwestern.  He was a Methodist pastor, and then founded Pentecostalism.  SC holds a pivotal place in the history of this tradition.”

The Smith-Willson lectureship was established by Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Willson to call attention to the important moral and religious aspects of education.  National leaders on various related topics are asked to speak at the annual lecture.