Keith Beebe

I greet you with a heart full of gratitude to the Lord for a full and blessed year of teaching and scholarship.

Through a generous grant from the 2005 Graves Award in the Humanities, I spent most of last summer in Scotland continuing my research and writing toward a two-volume book project on the McCulloch Manuscripts of the Cambuslang Revival (1742). It was an immense pleasure to spend two months poring over archival materials in the New College Library in Edinburgh and consulting other British special collections. Some added bonuses to my time overseas include 10 days of travel to early Celtic monastic sites throughout southern Ireland, and making expected and unexpected connections with several Whitworth graduates, current students, former colleagues and friends while in Britain.

Upon returning to Spokane, I taught New Testament for the continuing- studies department and Jesus and the Kingdom of God for our traditional program, and I began my fourth year as faculty team leader for Core 150. Over Jan Term I taught a study-abroad course, Christianity in Britain, leading a group of 24 students through London, Oxford, Bath, Wells, Glastonbury, Salisbury, Avebury, Stonehenge, York, Durham, Whitby, Edinburgh, Glasgow…and to the Cambuslang revival site, of course. It was a lively and fun group that kept me on my toes with some creative yet harmless antics.

This spring I taught another section of New Testament for the continuing- studies program. I also taught History of Christianity II: Christian Renewal Movements, a seminar-style course of 20 students. Besides covering Christian history from the Reformation to today, this course gives students hands-on experience conducting archival research and working closely with primary source documents. I love exposing students to the practical work of the church historian, and seeing them get "bit by the (research) bug" when working with archival materials. I thank God daily for the gift and privilege of teaching at Whitworth!