Naaman K. Wood - Words and Witnesses: Communication Studies in Christian Thought from Athanasius to Desmond Tutu

Most books are labors of love, and this collection is no exception. We owe a debt of gratitude to several individuals and groups of people who supported us during the past three years as we worked to bring this project to publication.

To begin, we were blessed with a group of lovely, gifted, and sensitive writers, all brave enough in many cases to cross disciplinary borders into a territory not of their own. Instead of acting like colonists, they behaved like guests. Their willingness to revise their work in ways that served our audience with distinction inspired us. We are extremely grateful to each author.

While the genesis of the book happened for us as graduate students, the desire to press more deeply into our shared Christian history emerged from a host of influences. Colleagues like Paul Patton and Kristen Sanders encouraged us to read Abraham Joshua Heschel. Conference presentations, conversations, and lifelong mentors loomed large over this project. Wise people (in alphabetical order) such as Ronald C. Arnett, Ken Chase, Cliff G. Christians, Mark Fackler, Benson Fraser, Janie Harden Fritz, Robert Fortner, Darlene Graves, Michael Graves, Em Griffin, Jack Keeler, Terry Lindvall, Martin Marty, Wally Metts, Robert Schihl, Quentin J. Schultze, Lynn Reynolds, Rodney Reynolds, Paul Soukup, Mark Allen Steiner, Bill Strom, Helen Sterk, Douglas Tarpley, Calvin Troup, Annalee Ward, and Mark Williams have all spoken with conviction and nuance about thinking Christianly in challenging times. And even though all of them could not contribute chapters to this collection, all of them had a hand in this work.

As we were in the final stages of editing, we heard that theologian Rev. Dr. James H. Cone had passed. We were fortunate that Cone reviewed Kevin Millers essay in this volume. We found Dr. Cone to be a careful and gracious reviewer. At the end of his review, he made a request that took us aback. He asked that we let him know when the volume was published, so that he might use the essay in his courses. This request speaks not only of Millers excellent reading of Cone, but also Cones humility. Without a doubt, Cone is a towering figure in theological studies. He had little reason to care what communication scholars thought of his work. However, his willingness to let other voices have a say in how his students see his work is, to say the least, honoring to us and speaks to his commitment to hear voices that are not heard.

Additionally, many conversation partners and co-laborers helped to sustain the work in important ways. While the majority of the work occurred electronically, the generous support of Spring Arbor Universitys Forum 4:15 Conference and the Christianity and Communication Studies Network (www.theccsn.com) allowed us to interact personally with many of the authors. There is nothing like pondering over a problem together in silence, struggling toward a solution together, all the while looking someone in the eye.

Marsha Daigle-Williamson served as our primary copyeditor on this project, providing far more than basic copyediting skills. Marshas command of Christian history and theology, her mastery of languages, and her keen nose for sniffing out inaccuracies, generalizations, and other misstatements added a layer of accountability that we would not otherwise have experienced. In the end, she did not agree with some analyses and statements in this book.

John Muether provided careful and outstanding work indexing this volume. His attention to detail throughout helps us to serve our readers better.

Spring Arbor Universitys (SAU) library staff (Robbie Bolton, Elizabeth Walker-Papke, Karen Parsons, Kami Moyer, and Susan Panak) provided research support that allowed us to stay on schedule. SAU also granted one of us (Robert) a sabbatical during fall 2017 to help complete this project. Redeemer University College colleagues Ray Louter and Deanne van Tol challenged and encouraged one of us (Naaman) during his transition from North Carolina to Canada. And Redeemer Universitys Office of Research generously awarded us a grant in support of publication.

We are grateful for Hendrickson Publishers and gifted editors like Carl Nellis who recognized the timeliness and significance of this project and offered invaluable feedback early on that focused our scope and tightened our arguments. Carls advocacy and insights throughout the project made this work stronger.

Finally, we are extremely grateful for our spouses who provided encouragement during long editorial sessions. They provided time and space for us to miss dinners, weekend getaways, and normal household duties. Without their support this project would still be in process.

We absolve all our friends and colleagues of any responsibility for any weaknesses that remain.