Chad Van Dixhoorn (PhD, University of Cambridge) serves as the Craig Center’s Director. In this role, Van Dixhoorn oversees the ongoing research of the Craig Center, supervising the Assistant Director and Curator in their respective roles to aid the success of its projects. Van Dixhoorn specializes in the subject of Puritanism, broadly speaking, and more particularly, in the history and theology of the Westminster Assembly, having held three fellowships at the University of Cambridge in which such studies were undertaken.
Nathan Nocchi (PhD Student, Westminster Theological Seminary) serves as the Craig Center’s Assistant Director. Nathan’s academic interests include the philosophy and theology of the early-modern Reformed traditions, and historiography and intellectual history, more generally. As Assistant Director, Nathan carries out research-related activities on the Westminster Assembly. Additionally, he supports the Director and Curator in the acquisition of relevant scholarly materials, formulates project plans, oversees student research, fosters relationships with like-minded research centers, and organizes seminars and conferences.
Dr. Todd Rester (PhD, Calvin Theological Seminary) serves as the Craig Center’s curator to undertake the collection and collation of pertinent printed and manuscript materials regarding the Westminster Assembly, its members, their writings, and receptions of their work. He will also develop programs and bibliographical publications highlighting this archive and its collection. His work includes the development of classroom resources, workshops for researchers and junior scholars working with archival and manuscript and printed material, and seminars and public conferences regarding the Westminster Assembly, its work, and its reception. Dr. Rester’s research interests include the development, defense, and promulgation of Reformed confessions in early modern academies and universities for the use of regional church bodies and their congregations.
Research Fellowships
Research Fellows at the Craig Center are short-term appointments, selected on the basis of the merit of their unique contributions to the field of early-modern history and theology, especially as it pertains to the Westminster Assembly and its chief documents. Senior Research Fellows are long-term appointments who advance the mission of the Craig Center with their research and advise on the center’s development. While taking on the distinct role of Research Fellow and Senior Research Fellow, historians and theologians will carry out their research-related activities on projects for which they are recognized. This fellowship is accompanied by a modest research grant.
Dr. Alison Searle (appointed in 2021)
Dr. Searle is Associate Professor of Textual Studies at the University of Leeds. She is the co-general editor of The Complete Correspondence of Richard Baxter and is currently an AHRC-funded scholar pursuing a project entitled “Pastoral Care, Literary Cure, and Religious Dissent: Zones of Freedom in the British Atlantic (c.1630–1720).”
Mr. Timon Cline (appointed in 2021)
Mr. Cline is a deputy attorney general for the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General. He received degrees from Wright State University, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Rutgers Law School. Mr. Cline is keenly interested in the relationship between theology and politics, especially in their manifestations in New England life.
Dr. Hunter Powell (appointed 2021)
Dr. Powell is a co-founder and managing director of Bitterblue, Inc. and the author of The Crisis of British Protestantism: Church Power in the Puritan Revolution, 1638–44. He received his Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary and a PhD from the University of Cambridge.
Dr. John Bower (appointed in 2019), Senior Research Fellow
Dr. Bower is the project leader of the Westminster Assembly Project. Dr. Bower has edited The Larger Catechism: A Critical Text and Introduction (2010) and is the author of the Westminster Confession of Faith: A Historical Introduction and Critical Text (2020).
Dr. David Noe (appointed in 2019), Senior Research Fellow
Dr. Noe was recent head of the Philosophy and Classics Department at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Noe is an accomplished scholar who is well known for his translations of Reformation and Post-Reformation works of theology. He has translated and published texts from John Calvin, Theodore Beza, Franciscus Junius, and William Perkins, and is presently working towards a new edition of the collected works of John Owen.
Dr. Mark Garcia (appointed in 2006)
Dr. Garcia is a post-doctoral Research Associate, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge and a visiting lecturer of history at the University of Cambridge. He received his MAR from Westminster Theological Seminary and a PhD in Systematic Theology from New College, University of Edinburgh. Since his appointment as a research fellow of the Craig Center, he has served as the assistant editor of the Minutes and Papers of the Westminstery Assembly and as the pastor of Immanuel OPC in Corapolis, PA. In 2021, Dr. Garcia was appointed associate professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary.
Research Assistants
Paul Woo
Paul Woo (MDiv student, Westminster Theological Seminary; B.A. Economics, University of California, Davis) serves as the Craig Center’s research and administrative assistant. His role at the Craig Center concerns administrative aspects, and also involves carrying out the center’s various projects, under the guidance of the director, assistant director, and the curator. Paul’s academic interests are Trinitarian studies and Presbyterian church polity.
Avery Sprey
Avery Sprey (PhD Student in Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary; MDiv, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) supports the Assistant Director through research, source collation, and other tasks related to the Craig Center’s current projects. Avery is interested in the relationship between early modern religion and politics, especially in Britain in the periods leading up to and during the English Civil War.