Heisey grew up as the daughter of Brethren in Christ missionary parents working with Navajo people in New Mexico. She is currently associate professor of biblical studies and church history at Eastern Mennonite University. Her undergraduate work was completed at Messiah College, after which she spent 18 years working with Mennonite Central Committee. She holds an MDiv from Eastern Mennonite Seminary and a PhD in Religion from Temple University. Heisey’s publications include Theological Education on Five Continents: Anabaptist Perspectives (1997), co-edited with Daniel S. Schipani, and Origen the Egyptian: A Literary and Historical Consideration of the Egyptian Background in Origen’s Writings on Martyrdom (Paulines Publications Africa, 2000).
We're particularly pleased to have Nancy Heisey present the 2004 Bechtel Lectures,” [said Henry Paetkau, Conrad Grebel President.] She will help us think beyond the North American experience of "being Mennonite" and consider what it means to be part of a global Mennonite and Brethren in Christ community.
A global perspective is important and appropriate not only for a lecture series dedicated to Anabaptist/Mennonite themes but also for Conrad Grebel, which stands in that faith tradition.
The Bechtel Lectures in Anabaptist Mennonite Studies were established in 2000 by Waterloo County businessman and farmer, Lester Bechtel, in honor of his late wife, Alma. The purpose of the lectureship is to foster interest in and understanding of Anabaptist/Mennonite faith by seeing it projected through the eyes of experts from a range of disciplines. Past lecturers have been Dr. Terry Martin, who spoke on "The Russian Mennonite Encounter with the Soviet State, 1917-1955," Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, who addressed the thought of "Bonhoeffer, Yoder and Political Ethics," and Dr. Rudy Wiebe on the topic of “Possessing Land."
For more information about the 2004 Bechtel Lectures, please contact the President’s Office at Conrad Grebel University College, at 519-885-0220 x223.