Education

• BA West Georgia College 1979
• MDiv Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary 1982
• PhD University of Chicago 1992

Academic interests

History of Christianity, Reformation history and thought, the Eucharist and exegesis in sixteenth-century Europe, images of John Calvin in American culture, Religion and Philanthropy

Publications

• The Clearest Promises of God: The Development of Calvin's Eucharistic Teaching (1995)
• By the Waters of Babylon: One Family's Faith-Journey through Illness (1995; Chinese-language edition, 1999)
• God in My Grief: The Music of Grace when Loss Lives On (1998)
• The Christmas Quilt: A Novel (2000)
• John Calvin (2005)
• The Aluminum Christmas Tree: A Novel (2005)
• This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought (2008)
• John Calvin's American Legacy (editor, 2010)
• Religion in Philanthropic Organizations: Family, Friend, Foe? (editor, 2013)
• The Devil Likes to Sing (2014)
• numerous articles
• (Co-editor) Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation