Historical Commission Announces Conn Historical Writing Award Winners

Cleveland, TN–The Church of God Historical Commission recently announced winners of the 2024-2026 Charles W. Conn Historical Writing Awards. The recipients are Karl-Otto Bohringer of Germany and Phyllis Thompson of the United Kingdom.

The Historical Commission selects both a book and an article each General Assembly period to receive the writing award and to encourage the writing and publication of books and articles related to the history and heritage of the Church of God.

Bohringer was recognized with the Charles W. Conn Historical Book Award. Bohringer is the author of Under God’s Guidance. An ordained bishop in the Church of God, the biography covers the years 1930 to 1960 and ends with pastorates in Emmendingen, Germany, and Colmar/Munster, France. Bohringer is a retired professor who for more than 60 years served as evangelist, pastor, church planter, radio minister, regional overseer, editor, and music professor. He is the author of several books, the most recent is Powerful Prayer. His wife, Beryl Ann (who assisted in the writing), was a schoolteacher born in Leicester, England. She passed away in 2019. Karl and his current wife, Christa, live in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.

Rev. Phyllis Thompson is the winner of the Charles W. Conn Historical Writing Article Award. Her winning entry is entitled, "The New Testament Church of God Heritage Centre (UK): Site of Remembering: Sharing Our Stories and the Impact on Our Institutional Memory."

Thompson has a background in development education and pastoral ministry in the United Kingdom. She has served as a member of the Church of God International General Board of Education, the Historical Commission, an Executive Council member of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, and a member of the leadership of her church in Northampton. She has written on topics to do with Black majority churches and women Christian leadership. Recent publications include her contribution to Faith of Our Fathers (Pathway Press, 2009), Challenges of Black Pentecostal Leadership in the 21st Century (SPCK, 2013), and Challenges of Pentecostal Theology in the 21st Century (SPCK, 2020), the latter two of which she is editor.

The Church of God International Executive Council created the Charles W. Conn Historical Writing Award in 2002 to honor the long-time Church of God author and historian. Conn penned his history of the Church of God in 1955. When Like A Mighty Army was revised in 1972, the Executive Council designated Conn as Church Historian. Pathway Press released a tribute edition in 2008.

For 2024-2026, Dr. James E. Cossey served as chair of the Historical Commission and Assistant General Overseer Tony Stewart as the International Executive Committee liaison. The Writing Award subcommittee consisted of Dr. Douglas LeRoy, chairman; Rev. Lance Colkmire, and Dr. David G. Roebuck.
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—Faith News Network