The Navigators - Dawson Trotman: In His Own Words

About the Contributors

KEN ALBERT is the director of the Southeastern Indiana Baptist Association and the associate pastor of evangelism and discipleship at Eastern Heights Baptist Church in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he lives with his wife, Shawna, and his two boys, Jerome and Caleb. Ken regularly leads conferences on evangelism and discipleship, and over the past few years, he has preached in more than forty churches in ten states. He has served as either senior or interim pastor and has helped plant several churches. Ken earned an MDiv from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and a ThM from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is nearing completion on a PhD in evangelism.

SUSAN FLETCHER is the historian and archivist for The Navigators. In this role, she cares for the Dawson Trotman letters and journals that appear in this book. Susan has written articles for The Church of God Evangel, The Encyclopedia of Antislavery and Abolition, and The Encyclopedia of American Reform Movements. In addition to her duties for The Navigators, she also serves on the Colorado Springs Historic Preservation Board and is a featured speaker on local history throughout the region. Susan received her MA in public history from Indiana UniversityPurdue University Indianapolis. She currently lives in her beautiful hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

DOUG HANKINS is the discipleship pastor at Highland Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, and is a PhD candidate in historical theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Doug has contributed articles for The New Dictionary of Theology and The Gospel Coalition Blog and has written book reviews for various academic journals. Doug received both a BA and MDiv from Baylor University. When not coordinating Sunday school classes and small-group meetings, he divides his time between reading books, listening to music, and playing basketball. He is married to Natalie and resides in a suburb outside of Waco. You may follow Doug on twitter@doughankins.

Acknowledgments

In nearly twelve years of both graduate school and Christian ministry, I have purchased (and sometimes read) many books. I almost always enjoy reading the acknowledgments. No book, it appears, writes itself. No amount of reading, however, prepared me for the task of actually writing my first book. I am sincerely grateful to many people for their encouragement and support over the past several months.

In addition to making every document in their archives available to me, The Navigators and NavPress provided invaluable assistance with housing during two of my three research trips to Glen Eyrie. Their generous support gave me the freedom to write both this book and my doctoral dissertation (the writing of which I may no longer delay).

Susan Fletcher and Doug Hankins offered wise counsel and sound feedback on my sections of this book. I wish we all lived closer so that we could hang out and talk Trotman more often.

My two sons, Jerome and Caleb, showed patience far beyond their preteen years in putting up with my endlessly hogging the office and always being busy working through the long hours of reading and writing. Now that this book is done, I promise to let you use the office for at least one week (after that I have more work to do, sorry).

Thank you, Dr. Chuck Lawless and Dr. Timothy Beougher, for guiding me as I moved toward the study of Dawson Trotman, for allowing me the privilege of doing my PhD dissertation on this man, and for granting me the time away from that work to focus on this present book. I promise to get down to business on that project once again now that this one is completed.

My wife, Shawna, has had to endure being first a seminary widow and then a writers widow for more than a decade. Thank you says far too little for all of her love and support through the times when she has had to do the work of two parents while also putting up with my endless verbal processing of what I am thinking and writing.

Above all, I give joyful thanks to Jesus, who is before all things and in whom all things hold together and without whom this work would be utterly void of meaning and purpose.

Ken Albert

Jeffersonville, Indiana

April 12, 2011

On the occasion of my first book, I want to thank my large community of family, friends, and colleagues for their encouragement and support for this project. I first and foremost thank my Savior for speaking words of love to me during the hours I spent working on the book and for helping me know Him better. I am indescribably in awe of He who holds the universe together.

Thank you to Ken Albert and Doug Hankins for writing this book with me. You are both amazing men of God and a joy to work with. Heres to the future adventures of the Trotman Troika.

My colleagues at The Navigators have offered generous help and assistance. Paula Martin spent several afternoons typing the quotes that we extracted from Dawson Trotmans papers, proofreading my work, and fact-checking. I am grateful for her attention to detail. I thank Christopher Morton for his theological insights, for his unshakable belief in me, and for Friday-afternoon field trips. Donald McGilchrist has shared his vast knowledge of Navigator history with me, and I am profoundly grateful for this spiritual and academic mentor. I also thank Andy Weeks for allowing me the opportunity to serve The Navigators and for his forethought in preserving the ministrys heritage.

I thank the NavPress staff for their vision for this book. Thanks to our editor, Rebekah Guzman, and project manager, Tia Stauffer, for helping first-time authors understand the publication process.

I thank my parents, John and Ruth Fletcher, for their love and support. On the day I finished my final few pages of the book, my father drove across town to repair my gate that had blown over in a recent windstorm just one example of their help and kindness.

The amazing women on my City Life Team are a blessing and delight. They endured my referencing Dawson Trotmans thoughts on many Scripture passages these past few months. Their prayers buoy me up, and their friendship and love for the Lord make my heart sing. Thank you, Becky Neumann, Jessica Chung, Natasha Curry, Brooke Zeller, and Lis Shackleford. I am especially grateful to Jessica for her thoughtful reading and editorial comments on my sections of the book.

Thanks to Dr. Annie Coleman, Dr. Glenn Sanders, Dr. Bill Mullins, and Anton Schulzki, who spent so much time helping me become a better writer and historian.

On a less serious note, I also wish to thank General William Jackson Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs and builder of Glen Eyrie. I am thankful that the Lord is allowing me to interpret your marvelous story. Rest in peace, General. Lastly, I thank Dawson Trotman for dedicating his life to helping others know Christ and for his words of insight contained in this book. Gentlemen, I look forward to meeting you both in heaven.

Of making many books there is no end,
and much study wearies the body.
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:12-13 (NIV)