Dean’s Lecture with Ashley Boggan: “Reclaiming the Heart and Method of Methodism”

Candler will welcome Ashley Boggan, general secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History (GCAH) of The United Methodist Church, to present a dean’s lecture entitled “Reclaiming the Heart and Method of Methodism.”

This free event will be held in person and online.

Register below to attend. Lunch will be provided for those who register to attend in person by September 15.

What if the heart of Methodist identity is not found primarily in doctrine, polity, or tradition, but in a way of living the gospel that is both deeply rooted and boldly engaged?

This lecture explores the relationship between Wesleyan Vile-tality—the courageous willingness to go wherever God calls for the sake of the gospel—and the Wesleyan Practical Quadrilateral, a framework that emphasizes field preaching, micro-communities, social engagement, and leadership activation as the enduring practices of Methodist renewal.

Drawing from the lives of John Wesley and generations of Methodist witnesses, participants will discover how these complementary concepts offer a practical roadmap for revitalizing the church in the twenty-first century. Rather than preserving Methodism as a historical tradition, this session invites the church to reclaim it as a living movement.

Boggan will also preach in Candler’s chapel service on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

For more information, email cstevents@emory.edu.

This event is co-sponsored by Candler’s Methodist Studies program, Pitts Theology Library, and the Office of the Dean.

Presenter bio: 

Dr. Ashley Boggan is the General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History. In this role, she ensures that The UMC understands its past in order to envision a more equitable future for all Methodists. Boggan earned her PhD from Drew Theological School’s Graduate Division of Religion, specializing in both Methodist/Wesleyan Studies and Women’s/Gender Studies. She earned an MA from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, specializing in American religious history. She has previously worked as staff at the General Commission on Archives and History (2012-2014) and the Connectional Table of The United Methodist Church (2014-2016). She was the director of United Methodist Studies and assistant professor of Christian history at Hood Theological Seminary (Salisbury, NC), an AME Zion Seminary, from 2017-2019 and was the director of Women’s and Gender Studies and assistant professor of Religion at High Point University (High Point, NC) from 2019-2020. Boggan is a lay member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference and the daughter of two ordained United Methodist ministers. Her Methodist lineage dates beyond this, back to the early 19th century when her great-great-great grandfathers were Methodist circuit-riders. Boggan is on the Advisory Board for the National Museum of American Religion.

Boggan is the author of Entangled: A History of American Methodism, Politics, and Sexuality (Cokesbury, 2018/2025), Nevertheless: American Methodists and Women’s Rights (Cokesbury, 2020/2025), Wesleyan Vile-tality: Reclaiming the Heart of Methodist Identity (Abingdon Press, 2025), and Calling on Fire: Reclaiming the Method of Methodism (Cokesbury, 2025). She served as a contributor to American Methodism: Revised and Updated (Cokesbury, 2022).