Lydia Brownback

I'm delighted that my proposal on "New Evangelical Networks & the Early Ministry of James Montgomery Boice" was accepted by the American Christianity section for the annual conference @etsjets in the fall. See below for a summary. Feedback welcome! New Evangelical Networks and the Early Ministry of James Montgomery Boice John W. Tweeddale Reformation Bible College This paper examines the impact of key evangelical leaders and institutions on James Montgomery Boice’s (1938–2000) early ministry by focusing on his transition from academia and editorial work at Christianity Today to his pastoral call to Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Following Boice’s doctoral training and ministry experience in Basel, Switzerland, he emerged as a promising young leader in an aging evangelical movement. Boice’s relationships with Donald Grey Barnhouse, Carl F.H. Henry, and Frank E. Gaebelein shaped his sense of calling and paved the way for him to become pastor of one of the most storied congregations in America before his thirtieth birthday. Henry’s mentorship prepared Boice for a broader evangelical platform, Barnhouse’s legacy provided a pastoral model, and Gaebelein’s recommendation played a direct role in Boice’s call to Tenth in 1968. Drawing on Daniel Silliman’s insight that “evangelicalism is an imagined community, organized by communication networks,” this study will demonstrate how these connections catalyzed Boice’s rise to prominence. By the late 1960s, American evangelicalism was undergoing a leadership transition. As George Marsden has observed, “By 1967 . . . it was becoming impossible to regard American evangelicalism as a single coalition with a more or less unified and recognized leadership.” With Boice’s blend of academic training, extensive network, and personal ambition, he was well positioned to step into this shifting landscape. This paper situates Boice within the evolving leadership dynamics of mid-century evangelicalism and argues that his early ministry navigated the tension between inheriting a fractured yet still prominent new evangelical tradition and pioneering a model of urban ministry for evangelicals in center city Philadelphia. Incorporating never-before-analyzed archival material, this study assesses the impact of Boice’s ministry during the years 1966–1968 on the trajectory of American evangelicalism in the final decades of the twentieth century.