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© 2008
Author Profiles A–L

Phyllis Alsdurf is a journalism professor and director of the Johnson Center for Journalism and Communication at Bethel University in Saint Paul (MN). She and her husband enjoy time at their north-woods cabin with their boxer, Stella, in tow.

Diane M. Badzinski chairs the Department of Communication at Colorado Christian University. One of her favorite research projects is media portrayals of faith families.

David Bedsole teaches media at King College. He also writes poetry, songs, and rambling polemical blogs when not hanging out with his wife and their dogs, Shiloh and Quintilian.

Stephanie Bennett teaches communication at Palm Beach Atlantic University and is a devotée of the work of French philosopher and social theorist Jacques Ellul. Having worked as a journalist since the 1980s, she still enjoys writing about music, media, and the beauty of life lived in the fellowship of Christ. Stephanie is also Director of Communications for the Media Ecology Association.

Kathy Bruner teaches media at Taylor University and is especially interested in the intersections between faith and culture. She began writing and producing shows in her family’s driveway in the third grade and still freelances as a producer/writer.

Randall Bytwerk teaches communication at Calvin College and has written three books on totalitarian propaganda. He enjoys backpacking, screwball comedies, and practical jokes.

Thomas J. Carmody chairs and teaches in the Department of Communication at Vanguard University of Southern California. He enjoys perusing used book stores and discussing everything from nineteenth-century sermons to modern graphic novels and comic books.

Clifford Christians directs the Ph.D. in communications and the B.S. in media studies programs at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is working on universals in media ethics. A list of books written by Clifford is available at Amazon.com.

Terri Cornwell teaches communication at Liberty University. She served as a legislative director in the U.S. Congress and currently researches advertising,
public relations and international adoption. In her earlier, carefree years, she flew her own airplane and was actually persuaded to skydive—twice!

Paul A. Creasman teaches teaches media at Southern Wesleyan University . He reminds people that Mere Christianity and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (both highly complex philosophical treatises) began as radio programs.

Stephanie D. Davis serves as Education/Instructional Librarian at Spring Arbor University, where she teaches children’s literature. She peruses children’s sections of bookstores and reads graphic novels.

Keith Drury teaches practical ministry at Indiana Wesleyan University, where he started the worship major and served as its first full-time professor. His books include The Wonder of Worship—Why We Worship the Way We Do (Wesleyan, 2002). In summers he backpacks with students and has completed the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail.

Mark Fackler teaches communication ethics and law at Calvin College. He is a high school baseball umpire, so in the spring, at least, he always gets it right.

Robert S. Fortner is director of the Media Research Institute and Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College. He researches the use of media for missions and develops solutions to humanitarian crises and military conflict, especially in the developing world.

Debra Freeberg teaches theatre and communication at Calvin College. She has directed over forty productions; written plays for children, the church and the legitimate stage; and led seminars and faculty development workshops. Stockholm is one of her favorite cities.

Brian Fuller left the mountains of North Carolina to teach media production at Calvin College. His recent films include FutureWorship 1.0, chronicling church use of multimedia throughout the United States; and The Hope of the Quechua, a documentary about community-development initiatives in Ecuador. Read more about Brian's work on his personal website.

Darlene Graves is a professor of communication at Liberty University. Her seminars and research areas include the creative process, leadership, the arts and faith development, and the role of women in Southern gospel music.

Michael P. Graves teaches communication at Liberty University and studies early Quaker preaching, visual rhetoric, and popular culture. His recent award winning, coedited book is More Than Precious Memories: The Rhetoric of Southern Gospel Music (2005).

Dennis “Max” Hengeveld, also know as Rev. Fun, has published two cartoon books (Reverend Fun . . . Offline and Reverend Fun’s Has Anybody Seen My Locust?). He lives in Silicon Valley and enjoys irreverent fun.

Rick Jackson teaches journalism, media law and communication ethics at Seattle Pacific University. He is a former newspaper copy editor and religion reporter.

Michael Jindra teaches sociology and anthropology at Spring Arbor University. His first publication on the “religiousness” of Star Trek fans set into motion his interest in how people use popular culture.

Ronald A. Johnson teaches HD production at Goshen College and produces projects distributed through DVD, the Web, and the area public TV station. As home schoolers, he and his wife explore the worlds of classical ballet and piano with his daughters and jazz fusion drumming and classic cars with his sons.

Scott P. Johnson administers and teaches in the communication department at Bethel College (Mishawaka, IN). Coming from backgrounds in music, theatre, and Catholicism, he is interested in these as they intersect with communication in worship.

Peter A. Kerr teaches communications at Asbury College; led media relations in Washington, D.C., during the Ronald Reagan State Funeral; and is founder of Kerr Communications. He enjoys traveling around the world with his family, reading theology and physics, and helping to transform churches with Spiritual Leadership, Inc.

Larry Lake teaches writing and ethnobotany at Messiah College and has conducted anthropological research in West New Guinea, where his parents were missionaries. He has recently completed a book on the life and adventures of the wealthy American scientist Richard Archbold, who used seaplanes to explore the interior of New Guinea in the 1930s.

John Lawing is professor emeritus in journalism at Regent University in Virginia Beach (VA), where he taught for twenty-five years. For twenty-one years he served as reporter, editor, columnist, art director, and cartoonist for publications such as Christianity Today and The Christian Herald. His cartoons have appeared in the New York Times, Time, and The Saturday Evening Post, among others.

Jennifer Letherer teaches at Spring Arbor University and cofounder of Mapreader Productions, L.L.C. She has never been beaten at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, and wishes she could find someone to play the Turner Classic Movies edition of Scene It! with her.

Terry Lindvall is the C. S. Lewis Professor of Communication and Christian Thought at Virginia Wesleyan College, author of Sanctuary Cinema (2007) and other works, and has been spotted wearing knickers to Oktoberfest celebrations.

Michael A. Longinow chairs Biola University’s journalism department and has written five chapters in anthologies on journalism history, religion, and evangelical cultures. He reported for dailies in Illinois and Georgia, covering civil rights, the courts, schools, and politics at the city, state, and national levels.

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Author Profiles M–Z

Martin E. Marty is Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago; pastor; columnist; and author of over fifty books.

Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and for twenty years has written the weekly “On Religion” column for the Scripps Howard News Service. He leads the GetReligion.org website, which evaluates the mainstream media’s coverage of religion news. He is the author of Pop Goes Religion: Faith in Popular Culture (2005).

Elizabeth McLaughlin teaches communication at Bethel College, Indiana. She researches public relations, visual rhetoric and the ways women express the image of God through their symbolic actions. A recreational fencer, she collects swords and considers it the perfect anecdote to a mid-life crisis.

Kevin D. Miller teaches communication at Huntington University and is a former associate editor at Christianity Today magazine. His interest in the intersection of culture, religion, and communication consummated in his marriage to Lydia, a Russian-speaking woman.

Paul Mouw teaches mass media at Judson College after three decades in religious book publishing. His own books include Toolbox for Video Storytelling: How to
Write and Produce Your Missionary Video
(2002).

Paul D. Patton teaches theater and popular culture at Spring Arbor University, where his play, The Celebrity, was recently published by Heuer. He is also the founder of Trinity House, a Detroit-area arts venue.

Jonathan Pettigrew is working on a Ph.D. in communication at Penn State University. He studied the role of cell phones in relationships but learned more about the topic through his concurrent dating, engagement, and marriage.

Mark I. Pinsky, former religion writer for the Orlando Sentinel, is author of A Jew Among the Evangelicals: A Guide for the Perplexed (2006). He considers looking for religious content in cartoons mixing business with pleasure.

William D. Romanowski teaches film studies at Calvin College and is the author of Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture (2006). He has worked as a musical and dramatic performer.

Andrew Quicke teaches film and television at Regent University, and writes books about broadcasting and film. A former current-affairs producer for BBC TV in London, he has lived and worked in Bangkok and Jerusalem. He and his wife have a second home in Tuscany, Italy.

Quentin J. Schultze is the Arthur H. DeKruyter Chair and the executive director of the Gainey Institute for Faith and Communication at Calvin College. His many books include Christianity and the Media in America: Toward a Democratic Accommodation (2003). He is an avid birder.

Kevin Schut teaches media studies at Trinity Western University. His research focuses on computer games, technology, faith, and culture.

Kathleen Osbeck Sindorf teaches media, public relations and advertising at Cornerstone University, Michigan. She cohosted The 700 Club, covered Asia as the Christian Broadcasting Network’s senior international correspondent, and was vice president of communication for Precept Ministries International. She also loves nonverbal communication and is an avid scuba diver.

Michael Ray Smith, a professor at Campbell University, is author of FeatureWriting.Net (2005), a guide to getting published, and The Jesus Newspaper (2002), an examination of a mainstream newspaper that used Christian principles in its content. He’s more likely to quote Homer Simpson than Homer’s Odyssey.

Paul A. Soukup, S. J., teaches communication at Santa Clara University and researches communication and theology, including multimedia translations of the Bible. His books include Out of Eden: 7 Ways God Restores Blocked Communication (2006).

Scott Tanis started on air in Christian radio at the age of twelve. He loves to travel and has been to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan for the production of a video series about the exodus of the Israelites. He works in media production with The Image Group.

Mark E. Taylor teaches communication studies at Loyola University Chicago and is a physical therapist, Master’s swimmer, and yoga practitioner. He enjoys surfing the ocean as well as the Net.

Alex Wainer teaches media and film at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He has contributed articles to Prison Fellowship’s Breakpoint publications, which examine faith and popular culture.

Annalee Ward teaches communication at Trinity Christian College and is author of Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film (2001). She loves educational travel, media, and preaching—sometimes mixed together.

Ken Waters teaches journalism at Pepperdine University and has authored several book chapters and academic articles on the history and function of Christian magazines. He is a former international journalist and PR director for World Vision.

Bill Wiarda is the communications manager at an urban, multicultural congregation in Grand Rapids (MI). He has been gaming since the early 1990s and has recently explored ways to bring God into his games and gaming-related relationships.

John D. Witvliet directs the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and teaches at both Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. His books include Worship Seeking Understanding: Windows into Christian Practice (2003).

Robert Woods teaches communication in the B.A. and M.A. programs at Spring Arbor University. His books include The Message in the Music: Studying Contemporary Worship Music (2007) and Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning (2004). He has played guitar in a church worship team.

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Understanding Evangelical Media:
The Changing Face of Christian Communication


Quentin J. Schultze and Robert H. Woods Jr., Editors (InterVarsity, July 2008)