Dr. Doug Beacham, Executive Director of Christian Education Ministries for the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, gave the keynote address at the opening session of the Society for Pentecostal Studies on March 10, 2005. Hosted by the Regent University School of Divinity, the society gave a warm welcome to an address titled "'What Meaneth This?' A Question for 21st Century Pentecostalism".

Dr. Vinson Synan, a former IPHC executive and son of Bishop J.A. Synan, gave a historical overview of the society during one of the plenary sessions. Dr. Synan, Dean of Regent University's School of Divinity, along with Dr. William Menzies (Assemblies of God) and Dr. Horace Ward (Church of God, Cleveland) founded the society in 1970. Dr. Synan is the only member of the society to attend every annual meeting since it was launched in Dallas, TX in conjunction with a meeting of the Pentecostal World Fellowship.

IPHC was also active again in a regular session when Dr. Tony Moon, a member of the faculty of Emmanuel College, presented a paper on Bishop J. H. King's view on tongues as the initial evidence of Spirit baptism. Moon was able to correct some of the conclusions espoused by Dr. Douglas Jacobsen in his Thinking in the Spirit: Theologies of the Early Pentecostal Movement. Jacobsen was presented the book of the year award by the society for this massive volume.

More information about the Society for Pentecostal Studies is available at www.sps-usa.org The recently retired webmaster for SPS is Dr. Harold D. Hunter, Director of IPHC Archives & Research Center.