degrees from Anderson University, Dr. Varner moved to Scotland where he studied early modern history at the University of St Andrews. Upon completion of his MLitt and PhD at St. Andrews, Jason returned ‘home’ to Anderson University, where he enjoys teaching courses in the history of Christianity, intellectual and American history, philosophy, worship, and biblical studies.

Dr. Varner’s research interests include European encounters with ‘the Other’ in seventeenth-century America, the changing notion of the ‘self’ in modernity, and the early years of the Church of God movement. Most recently, Dr. Varner presented a paper titled “The Transformation of Trauma: on Liminality and Identity in Seventeenth-Century New England” at the European Association for Early American Studies’ annual conference at the University of Poitiers (France) in December 2021. The 2021 conference theme was “Colonisations, Revolutions, and Reinventions in early America and the Atlantic World, 1492–1848.”

Dr. Varner is actively engaged at Catalyst (Church of God) in Pendleton, Indiana, where he leads worship and serves on the teaching team.

Sheppard is a graduate of MidAmerica Nazarene University and is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of divinity from the Southern California School of Ministry.

Dr. Sheppard is the founder of Shepherd’s Voice Ministries, a 501(c)(3) committed to supporting pastors, serving churches, and developing ministers and leaders.

He and his wife Linda have been married for forty-five years and are the proud parents of three sons and one daughter, and the delighted grandparents of twelve grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Horace W. Sheppard Jr.

Rev. Dr. Horace W. Sheppard Jr. is the senior pastor of Bethesda Christian Fellowship Church of God in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has been in pastoral ministry for forty years. Sheppard is a graduate of MidAmerica Nazarene University and is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of divinity from the Southern California School of Ministry.

Dr. Sheppard is the founder of Shepherd’s Voice Ministries, a 501(c)(3) committed to supporting pastors, serving churches, and developing ministers and leaders.

He and his wife Linda have been married for forty-five years and are the proud parents of three sons and one daughter, and the delighted grandparents of twelve grandchildren and one great grandchild.

degrees from Anderson University, Dr. Varner moved to Scotland where he studied early modern history at the University of St Andrews. Upon completion of his MLitt and PhD at St. Andrews, Jason returned ‘home’ to Anderson University, where he enjoys teaching courses in the history of Christianity, intellectual and American history, philosophy, worship, and biblical studies.

Dr. Varner’s research interests include European encounters with ‘the Other’ in seventeenth-century America, the changing notion of the ‘self’ in modernity, and the early years of the Church of God movement. Most recently, Dr. Varner presented a paper titled “The Transformation of Trauma: on Liminality and Identity in Seventeenth-Century New England” at the European Association for Early American Studies’ annual conference at the University of Poitiers (France) in December 2021. The 2021 conference theme was “Colonisations, Revolutions, and Reinventions in early America and the Atlantic World, 1492–1848.”

Dr. Varner is actively engaged at Catalyst (Church of God) in Pendleton, Indiana, where he leads worship and serves on the teaching team.