CLS: Chris Evans

A Lecture based on Chris Evan’s recent book, Do Everything: The Biography of Frances Willard

“The Most Famous Methodist in the World”: Recovering the Legacy of Frances Willard     

This lecture will be centered on the author’s recent book, Do Everything: The Biography of Frances Willard (Oxford University Press, 2022).  As President of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) Willard led the largest women’s rights organization in the world in the late nineteenth century.  With her slogan, “Do Everything,” Willard challenged women to tackle every major social issue of the era, including temperance, economic justice, and women’s suffrage.  Central to her success was her Methodist faith that drove her reform efforts and contributed to making her one of the most iconic figures of the Gilded Age/Progressive Era. The lecture will highlight key components of Willard’s career and assess her importance for today. The author focuses on how her Methodist faith shaped Willard’s reform agenda and buoyed her unshakable optimism in building a just world.

Dr. Christopher H. Evans is a Professor of the History of Christianity and Methodist Studies at Boston University School of Theology. Previously he was a Professor of Church History/Director of United Methodist Studies at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.

Evans has earned a Ph.D. in Religious and Theological Studies from Northwestern University which was a joint doctoral program with Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He also earned a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology, cum laude and a Artium Baccalaureus from Syracuse University graduating magna cum laude.

His research includes American religious history, history of evangelicalism, Methodist studies, history of social Christianity, religion and American politics, religious history of New England, global Christianity, religion and American culture.

Evans has written numerous books, articles and is a National Research Fellow, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture. Recipient of an Award of Merit for outstanding book in history/biography from Christianity Today magazine and Recipient of the Jesse Lee Prize awarded every four years by the General Commission of Archives and History of the United Methodist Church for best monograph in American Methodist History.