J. Gregory Crofford, Ph.D., formerly Dean and Ph.D. [Religion] Coordinator (2016-2019), School of Religion and Christian Ministry, Africa Nazarene University, Nairobi, Kenya
‘Streams of Mercy: Prevenient Grace in the Theology of John and Charles Wesley,’ 2008; Dr Herbert McGonigle, supervisor
Dr Crofford’s thesis of the same title was published in monograph form in 2010 by Emeth Press.
Crofford is a hospice chaplain in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He previously completed a year-long chaplain residency with Ascension Seton Hospitals in Austin, Texas. Beginning in 1993, he was a missionary with the Church of the Nazarene for 23 years, including service as a theological educator, educational administrator, and church planter. Crofford sojourned in 4 African nations and Haiti. He is an ordained Nazarene elder and a member of the Wesleyan Theological Society (WTS) and the Africa Society of Evangelical Theology (ASET).
Dr Crofford addresses a variety of subjects related to practical theology. He invites dialogue on his blog at http://www.gregorycrofford.com/.
Select Publications and Presentations
A review of Kenneth N. Ngwa's, Akous Cissé Niang's, and Arthur Pressley's Life under the Baobab Tree: Africana Studies and Religion in a Transitional Age (2023), in African Studies Quarterly 22/3 (November 2024), 130-131.
"Trinity, prevenient grace, dreams, and the missio Dei," a paper presented at the March 2-4, 2023 gathering of the Wesleyan Theological Society at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky.
A review of Nathan P. Devir's First Century Christians in Twenty-First Century Africa: Between Law and Grace in Gabon and Madagascar (2022), in African Studies Quarterly 22/2 (December 2023), 70-71.
"Immortal Soul, Eternal Punishment? The Dissent of Joseph Agar Beet and Edward William Fudge," in the Wesleyan Theological Journal, Volume 55, No. 1 (Spring 2020), 81-92.
"Religious Education," in Thomas J. Oord, ed., Theologians and Philosophers Using Social Media; Advice, Tips, and Testimonials (San Diego, CA: SacraSage, 2017), 95-98.
A review of Jerry Walls' Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory: A Protestant View of the Cosmic Drama (Brazos, 2015), in the Wesleyan Theological Journal (Spring, 2017)
"Susanna Wesley: A Model for Christian Educators in Africa," a paper presented at the March 2017 meeting of the Africa Society for Evangelical Theology, Daystar University, Nairobi, Kenya
Mere Ecclesiology: Finding Your Place in the Church's Mission (Wipf & Stock, 2016).
Commentary on Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14 and 17:1-7, Isaiah 43:16-21 and Lamentations 3:19-26, featured by "A Plain Account," an online Wesleyan lectionary resource (www.aplainaccount.org)
‘From Justification to Fall from Grace: Charles Wesley’s Theology of Backsliding,’ in the Proceedings of the Charles Wesley Society, Volume 21 (Summer 2017).
'3 Questions Every Church Must Answer', Holiness Today (July/August 2015), 20-23.
A review of The Public Face of African New Religious Movements in Diaspora: Imagining the Religious 'Other', ed. Afe Adogame, African Studies Quarterly 15/4 (September 2015), 87-89.
30 Minutes Avec Dieu (Africa Nazarene Publications, 2015), a 365 day daily devotional guide (in French).
A review of S.T. Kimbrough Jr.'s The Lyrical Theology of Charles Wesley: A Reader (Cascade Books, 2011), in the Wesleyan Theological Journal (Spring, 2015).
'When Slavery is Freedom: Toward a Servitude of Love', in Joshua Broward and Thomas Jay Oord, eds, Renovating Holiness (Nampa, ID: SacraSage Press, 2014), 201-204.
'Christus Victor: A Wesleyan Appraisal of sub-Saharan Power Christology’, in Didache: Faithful Learning 12 (Summer 2012), online: http://didache.nazarene.org.
‘Divine Healing: The Lost Estate?’, The Preacher’s Magazine, 67:3 (Mar/Apr/May 1992), 19-21.
'Grace to All did Freely Move: Thoughts on Charles Wesley's 1741/42 Hymns on God's Everlasting Love', Wesley and Methodist Studies 6 (2014).
‘Let Them Call for the Elders of the Church: Divine Healing and the Church of the Nazarene in South Africa’, a paper co-written with Rev Mashangu Maluleka for the Third Global Theology Conference of the Church of the Nazarene, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, March 2014; appeared in Didache: Faithful Teaching13:2 (January 2014).
‘Sanctified Afflictions: John Wesley on Temptation’, a paper presented to the March 2013 meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society.
The Dark Side of Destiny: Hell Re-Examined (Wipf & Stock, 2013).
Six articles for the Global Wesleyan Dictionary of Theology (Beacon Hill Press, 2013), including entries on sin, prevenient grace, and predestination-election.
A review of Jeremy Smith’s The Staircase of a Patron: Sierra Leone and The United Brethren in Christ, Wesleyan Theological Journal (Fall 2013).
A review of James Schwenk’s Catholic Spirit: Wesley, Whitefield, and the Quest for Evangelical Unity in Eighteenth-Century British Methodism (Scarecrow, 2008), in the Wesleyan Theological Journal (Spring, 2012)
The foreword to the revised French edition of John Knight’s All Loves Excelling (L’Amour Par Excellence), Édition Foi et Sainteté, 2011.
A review of Kenneth Collins’ The Theology of John Wesley: Holy Love and the Shape of Grace, appearing in the Wesleyan Theological Journal (Fall, 2008).
A review of A.E. Orabator's Religion and Faith in Africa: Confessions of an Animist (2018), in African Studies Quarterly 18/3 (May 2019), 25-26.
Email: gregcrofford@gmail.com