About the Authors
Elsa Johnson Bass is a retired educator and the founder and artistic director of the nonprofit Cross Culture Christian Theater. An ordained minister of the Church of God since 1997, she serves as an associate pastor and minister of worship arts at the Christ Center Church of God in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nationally, Elsa has served the Church of God as a member of the Christian Women Connection Board of Directors and the National Association of the Church of God as dean of the In Service Training Institute. Elsa attended Anderson College (University) from 1968 to 1972. She holds an MA in Theater (Hunter College, New York) and a MEd in Educational Leadership (Cabrini College, Pennsylvania).
Jerrald Fox has been a member of the faculty of the Falls School of Business at Anderson University since 1985. He returned to teach at his alma mater after a brief career in finance and development. Dr. Fox holds an MBA from Indiana University and a PhD from The Union Institute. His grandfather was the first generation of his family on the Anderson campus, coming to the Anderson Bible Training School in 1919, the third year of existence of what would become Anderson University. Dr. Fox’s children are the Fox family’s fourth generation of AU grads.
Kimberly Majeski has been in full-time preaching ministry for more than twenty years. She is an ordained pastor in the Church of God, Anderson, Indiana. After nearly two decades as a professor of biblical studies, Dr. Majeski now serves as the executive director of Christian Women Connection, leading women around the globe to serve the church and build up the kingdom. Kimberly’s scholarship is featured on the History Channel, A&E, and in many books, articles, and publications. She lives at the heart of the justice movement as an activist and the founder of Stripped Love, a non-profit serving victims of sex trafficking. A widely sought-after preacher, Dr. Majeski launched in 2019 the Preacher Girl School, a dynamic online women’s preaching clinic. She now convenes the Arise Academy with the same charisma and enthusiasm. Kimberly is married to Kevin and is mama to Max. She loves to golf, shop, and laugh until she cries.
Deborah (Zarka) Miller Fox attended Anderson University from 1985 to 1989. After completing a graduate degree at Kansas State University, she returned to AU in 1992 to serve first in the Department of Student Life and then as a professor in the Department of English, where she is currently the department chair. Professor Miller Fox has served on many university committees and as director for several programs, including her current role as co-director for the Honors Program. In 2019, she received the institution’s highest honor, the John A. Morrison Award for Outstanding Service. In addition to her work as a teacher, Professor Miller Fox is an accomplished writer, publishing poetry, non-fiction, and fiction as well as producing grant proposals that have earned AU several million dollars in funding from Lilly Endowment.
David Thomas Murphy is professor of history in the Department of History and Political Science at Anderson University. Joining the faculty in 1992 after earning his PhD in history from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Murphy is the author of three books and numerous articles on modern German and European history. Dr. Murphy is the recipient of grants from agencies including the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum, Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies, and Cambridge University’s Independent Social Research Foundation. He also serves as director of the University’s Jeeninga Museum of Biblical and Near Eastern History.
Jason R. Varner serves as the associate professor of the history of Christianity at Anderson University’s School of Theology and Christian Ministry. Dr. Varner earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Anderson University prior to moving to Scotland, where he studied history at the University of St Andrews. After completing his MLitt in early modern history and PhD in modern history, Dr. Varner returned to his alma mater to teach. He also serves as the director of the university’s Peace and Conflict Transformation program. Dr. Varner’s research interests include topics related to Christianity and culture in early modern America as well as European encounters with the other. His most recent scholarship was a paper entitled “The Transformation of Trauma: on Liminality and Identity in Seventeenth-Century New England,” which he presented at the European Association for Early American Studies conference at the University of Poitiers, France.
Nathan Willowby (PhD, Marquette University) is the dean of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry at Anderson University. He is an ordained minister in the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana). He teaches courses in theology and ethics. He also serves the Church of God as historian.
Jeffrey E. Wright, dean of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Anderson University, joined the faculty in 1995 after completing his PhD in music education at Northwestern University. As a music educator and administrator, Dr. Wright consults with college music programs across the nation. His research interests include the intersection of aesthetic and religious experience, and his most recent scholarly presentation was at the Conference on Christian Congregational Music at Ripon College in England. He is co-editor of and contributor to the book On the Nature of Musical Experience, published by the University Press of Colorado, and he has served as a music education consultant with the Ravinia Festival (summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), the Merit Music Program of Chicago, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
