ATLANTA – Dr. Timothy L. Owings, pastor of First Baptist Church of Augusta, will present the 2002 William L. Self Preaching Lectures, March 4-6, at the Mercer University McAfee School of Theology.

The lectures will be held in Cecil B. Day Hall on Mercer’s Cecil B. Day Campus, 3001 Mercer University Drive, Atlanta. Conference registration is $60.

In addition to four lectures from Owings, the conference also includes workshops by McAfee faculty members Dr. Loyd Allen, Dr. Karen Massey and Dr. John Claypool. Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinator Dr. Daniel Vestal will also present a workshop.

The conference schedule is as follows:

• Monday, March 4, 6:30 p.m. reception, 7:30 p.m. lecture.
• Tuesday, March 5, 9:30 a.m. workshop; 11 a.m. lecture; 1:30 p.m. workshop; 3 p.m. workshop; and 7:30 p.m. lecture.
• Wednesday, March 6, 9:30 a.m. workshop; 11 a.m. lecture.

For more information or to register, call the McAfee School of Theology at (678) 547-6470 or 1-888-471-9922.

With a quarter-century of preaching experience, Owings has served as pastor of churches in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Kentucky. In addition to serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Augusta, Owings has published extensively. His works include "Hearing God in a Noisy World: Prayer as Listening," "A Cumulative Index to New Testament Greek Grammars" and "Drowning in Shallow Water: Contemporary Reflections on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians."

He has developed several Bible study courses in the "Life and Work" series for the Baptist Sunday School Board and has contributed articles to many other Baptist publications.

Owings has been honored with the Race Unity Award by the Martin Luther King Memorial Organization in Augusta and has been recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. He has lectured at Shorter College in Rome, Ga., and has addressed several Baptist Student Union organizations throughout the state.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Palm Beach Atlantic College, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

The William L. Self Lectureship at Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology was established to promote the practice of faithful and effective preaching of the gospel. The series is named in honor of William L. Self, who has a national reputation as a gifted preacher, pastor, author, lecturer, motivational speaker and innovator in church growth. Self achieved considerable acclaim by leading Atlanta’s Wieuca Road Baptist Church to a place of prominence in Georgia and the nation. As pastor of Johns Creek Baptist Church in Alpharetta, his leadership and substantial influence have brought this church to the vanguard of fast-growing churches.

The McAfee School of Theology was founded at Mercer in 1996. Mercer University is one of the largest Baptist-affiliated institutions in the world and is the only university of its size in the nation to offer programs in liberal arts, business, education, engineering, medicine, pharmacy, nursing, theology and law.

Led by President R. Kirby Godsey, Mercer University has been ranked among the leading regional universities in the South for 12 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1833, Mercer enrolls more than 7,300 students in its nine schools and colleges on campuses in Macon and Atlanta, and at four off-campus centers in Douglas County, Covington, Griffin and Eastman.