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PhD Student Profile: Alex Gunter Parrish

Area of Study: History of Christianity and Historical Theology


Alex Gunter Parrish is from Anchorage, Alaska. He holds a BA from the Moody Bible Institute and an MTS from Duke Divinity School. He studies American religion, and his current projects focus on late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women missionaries. He also studies Anti-Satanism in the United States. He was a 2017-2018 Florence Ellen Bell Scholar Award recipient, awarded by the Department of Special Collections and University Archives of the Drew University Library, as well as a 2019-2020 Women in United Methodist History Research Grant recipient, awarded by the General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church. Additionally, he was a Junior Fellow at the Manchester Wesley Research Centre in England in 2017, and continues to serve as postgraduate assistant. Alex has worked at theological libraries and research centers in the United States and England, and is the Research and Instruction Librarian at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, South Carolina. Alex is married to the brilliant Luci. They reside in Westminster, South Carolina.




Papers and Publications


“‘Houses of Mercy’: The Woman’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Native Health,” Wesley and Methodist Studies, 12:2 [June 2020]. Available through JSTOR.


“‘Educator and Civilizer’: The Woman’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Education of Indigenous Alaskans,” pp. 47-60 in Methodist History, 56:1 [October 2017]. Available online at the General Commission on Archives and History webpage.


“Power, Politics, and Personality in the Novels of ‘Real’ Exorcist Bob Larson.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting. Western Esotericism Unit. Boston, Massachusetts. Forthcoming November 2020.


“The Woman’s Home Missionary Society and Women’s Voting: 2 Eras of Activism.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting. Wesleyan and Methodist Studies Unit. Boston, Massachusetts. Forthcoming November 2020.


“Immigration and Apocalypse: The Woman’s Home Missionary Society and World War I.” Wesleyan Theological Society Annual Meeting. Women’s Studies Unit. Washington, DC. March 15, 2019.


Chair and Response, “Fractured Methodisms.” Panel at the Midwest American Academy of Religion Regional Meeting. Muncie, IN. March 2, 2019. Audio of the presentation.


“‘Houses of Mercy’: The Health Care Initiatives of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society in Alaska.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting. Wesleyan Studies Unit. Denver, Colorado. November 17, 2018.


“Prohibition Canaan: Alcohol and Domesticity in the American Home Missions Movement.” Midwest American Academy of Religion Regional Meeting. Special Topic Session: Alcohol in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Muncie, IN. March 2, 2018.


“Women and Missions in Alaska: The Woman’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.” Joint Meeting of the Historical Society of the United Methodist Church and the Western Jurisdiction Commission on Archives and History. Anchorage, AK. June 27, 2017.


“Transcending Denominational Affiliation and National Identity: A Reflection on Ecumenism in the 21st Century.” Student Workshop, Methodist Related Theological Schools in Europe Theological Seminar. Rome, Italy. February 17-19, 2017.