The Rev. Don Davis will be coming to Taylor’s campus to give the inaugural Milo A. Rediger Lecture on Wednesday and will be around for programming on Thursday.
Rediger is a significant figure in Taylor history, having served as academic dean for 18 years, vice president for 11 years and president of Taylor University for 12 years in two periods between 1965 and 1981 according to a Taylor biography.
Davis has been involved with urban ministry for almost 50 years and is a leading scholar on Martin Luther King Jr. He has spoken at Taylor twice before, in 1990 and 1995.
This lectorship is something Milo Rediger’s family wanted to provide for Taylor to continue Rediger’s legacy of education at the institution. Once a year, the Bible, Ministry, Philosophy and Missions department will decide on a speaker to come in and teach on issues related to scripture, theology and culture.
Chapel is not the only event Davis will be speaking at. He will have several talks and dinners Wednesday as well as a “Prayer Concert” and another panel on Thursday, March 9.
The panels Wednesday and Thursday afternoon will include respondents from within Taylor like Greg MaGee, professor of biblical studies, and May Young, program director of biblical Studies, as well as other key Christian thinkers: Daniel Hill, Nancy Reyes Frazier, Evan Howard and several more.
These events are opportunities for Taylor students to talk as Christians about many topics including leadership, discipleship, race and more, according to the schedule for Davis’ talks, which will soon be available to the general public.
The lectorship was originally scheduled to launch in 2020, but it was delayed because of COVID-19.
Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries Hank Voss got to know Davis when he worked at World Outreach Ministries.
“He's also one of the world's top experts on Dr. Martin Luther King,” Voss said. “Not only is he a very gifted leader, developing leadership development strategies, but he's also a very gifted academic intellectual.”
