D. Newell Williams is Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. He has been President of Brite Divinity School and Professor of Modern and American Church History at Texas Christian University since 2003. Williams is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Society of Church History, the Association of Disciples for Theological Discussion, and the Stone-Campbell Dialogue. He is the author of “Barton Stone: A Spiritual Biography.” Dr. Williams is a popular speaker and one of the major historians of the Stone-Campbell movement.
Williams co-edited with Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers and Anthony L. Dunnavant, “The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement.” He also edited “A Case Study of Mainstream Protestantism: The Disciples’ Relation to American Culture, 1880-1989.” He has contributed numerous articles and chapters of books with such titles as “Christianity in Twentieth Century America: Implications for the Twenty-First Century” and "Overcoming a Liberal-Conservative Divide: The Commission on Restudy of the Disciples of Christ.”
Professor Williams holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Vanderbilt University, and a B.A. from University of Tulsa. He is married to Sue McDougal, a Disciples minister, and they are the parents of three children. Early in his academic career, Williams served Brite as Assistant Professor of Church History, and as Assistant and later Associate Dean. From 1984 to 2003 he taught at Christian Theological Seminary, where he served as Vice President and Dean 1992-1998.