Rev. Dr. Melody Maxwell receives 2026 W. O. Carver Distinguished Service Award
TUCKER, Ga. — The Baptist History & Heritage Society presented Rev. Dr. Melody Maxwell with its W. O. Carver Distinguished Service Award on May 19 during the Society’s luncheon and awards ceremony at its 2026 joint annual conference.
Presented annually, the W. O. Carver Distinguished Service Award honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the cause of Baptist history. Recipients have demonstrated rare and exceptional dedication through scholarly writing, teaching, denominational service, archival and library development, leadership in historical centers and societies, and efforts to communicate and interpret the Baptist heritage.
The award is named for William Owen Carver, professor of missions at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1898 to 1943. Carver developed Southern Seminary’s missions department, was instrumental in the formation of the Southern Baptist Historical Society and served as the Society’s founding president beginning in 1938.
Maxwell serves as Professor in the Hannah Maria Norris Chair of World Christian History and Women in Ministry at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where she also directs the Acadia Centre for Baptist and Anabaptist Studies. Her research interests include Baptist history, women in ministry, missions history and global Baptists.
A leading scholar of Baptist women’s history and global Baptist life, Maxwell is the author of The Woman I Am: Southern Baptist Women’s Writings, 1906–2006 and Torches in the Corridor: 125 Years of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union. She is also co-author, with T. Laine Scales, of Doing the Word: Southern Baptists’ Carver School of Social Work and Its Predecessors, 1907–1997.
Her edited books include Baptists and Gender: Papers for the International Conference on Baptist Studies IX, Called to Serve: Stories of Atlantic Baptist Women in Ministry, and The Global Baptist Network: Biographies of Leaders in the Baptist World Alliance.
Maxwell has contributed significantly to the life of the Baptist History & Heritage Society as an author, conference presenter, member and supporter. She served as a BHHS board member from 2017 to 2018, treasurer from 2018 to 2022, and task force member from 2016 to 2019. Her participation in the Society has included presentations at annual meetings, contributions to Baptist History & Heritage, and engagement with Society publications and programs.
Beyond BHHS, Maxwell previously chaired the Baptist Heritage and Identity Commission of the Baptist World Alliance, directs the International Conference on Baptist Studies, and serves in leadership with the Canadian Society of Church History, the Canadian Baptist Historical Society and the Acadia Centre for Baptist and Anabaptist Studies. She also leads the Called to Serve oral history project, which documents the stories of women ordained by Baptist churches in Atlantic Canada between 1954 and 2024.
Maxwell earned a Ph.D. in Baptist and Anabaptist Studies from the International Baptist Theological Seminary, validated by the University of Wales; a Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University; and a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies—Languages from Union University. Before joining Acadia Divinity College in 2018, she served at Howard Payne University, East Texas Baptist University, Samford University and Woman’s Missionary Union. She was ordained to ministry by Wolfville Baptist Church in 2020.
Members of the 2026 W. O. Carver Distinguished Service Award selection committee included BHHS Board of Directors members Cynthia Wise Mitchell, Mandy McMichael, Jerry Faught, Glenn Jonas and Nathan Taylor, along with BHHS Executive Director Aaron Weaver.
View photos from the 2026 Conference here.
Founded in 1938, the Baptist History & Heritage Society helps Baptists discover, conserve, assess and share their history. A nonprofit organization with members worldwide, BHHS bridges the worlds of the academy and the congregation through publications, conferences, resources and seminars. Learn more at www.thebhhs.org.