William C. Placher 2008/09 Writer-in-Residence
William C. Placher, the Charles D. and Elizabeth S. LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, has been appointed as the 2008/09 Kilian McDonnell Writer-in-Residence. Currently in his thirty-fourth year on the Wabash faculty, Bill has written or published thirteen books, including A History of Christian Theology, Unapologetic Theology, Narratives of a Vulnerable God, The Domestication of Transcendence, Jesus the Savior, and The Triune God. As an elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), he has served on national committees to write a new statement of faith and a series of new catechisms for that denomination. He has been a Member of the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton and a Senior Fellow of the Martin Marty Center of the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is currently an Editor at Large of Christian Century, Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, and, with Amy Plantinga Pauw, one of the two editorial consultants for Westminster John Knox Press' forthcoming thirty-six-volume Theological Commentary on the Bible. Bill succeeds Michael Dennis Browne , who served as the first-ever Killian McDonnell Writer-in-Residence during the 2007/08 academic year.
Writers selected for the Kilian McDonnell residency are individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to writing that serves the purposes of the church as well as the religious impulses of a broader community, a record of producing writing that appeals to a broad audience, and a willingness to speak with and educate others about the importance and practice of such writing. The Kilian McDonnell residency is made possible through a grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc.