Global Awareness and Engagement - 3/28

Books/Courses:

IN720: One of the core readings for the course is authored by Clemens Sedmak, an Austrian. (Doing Local Theology: A Guide for Artisans of a New Humanity). A required book is written by a Canadian author: Scott Hagley, Eat What is Set Before You: A Missiology of the Congregation in Context.

Supported by a discussion sparking worksheet (attached) there is a lecture in this course on the inextricably encultured nature of the gospel. This includes a discussion of cultural, racial, historical, political, economic and national dynamics. A separate lecture on the doctrine of "missio Dei" impresses the global scope and holistic nature of God's redemptive work.

MN630: One of the required books for the course is written by a UK author reflecting on the Fresh Expressions movement in the UK. The attached Reading Appendix, from which students select two books, include authors from multiple Western nations (US, Netherlands, Canada, Australia).

UK: Moynagh, Michael. Being Church, Doing Life: Creating Gospel Communities Where Life Happens (required)

Netherlands: Paas, Stefan. Church Planting in the Secular West: Learning from the European Experience

Australia: Taylor, Steve. First Expressions: Innovation and the Mission of God

Faculty

Below are some indications of the global connections I have invested in in recent years:

I have been networked with fellow researchers in Western Europe, especially The Netherlands, since 2018. We met for a consultation in The Netherlands in June 2019, supported one another in seeking funding for join research into "Christianity in Western Cities,"

I was a visiting fellow of the Centre for Church and Mission in the West, Theological University Kampen—Kampen, Netherlands.

Invited keynote presenter, “Good News from the None Zone: Practices for Joining God in Post-Christian Soil,” Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil Conference, St. Andrews Hall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | May 10, 2019

Invited keynote presenter, “Salvation as Life Together in the Neighborhood,” Visions of the Good Life: Salvation in the Twenty-First Century Conference, international conference hosted by the Centre for Church and Mission in the West, Kampen, the Netherlands | June 8-10, 2022

I am author of “Salvation as Life Together in the Neighborhood,” chapter in Salvation in the Twenty-First Century, Theology and Mission in World Christianity Series, Jan Martijn Abrahamse, Hans Schaeffer, Stefan Paas, and Karen Zwijze-Koning, eds., Brill (forthcoming).

Panel Presentation, “City Gospel Movements in the United States,” International Missionary Council Centenary Online Conference, broadcast to a global audience from the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland | November 17, 2021

Invited respondent to paper presented at Missional Research Workshop – co-hosted by Ecclesial Futures journal and International Association for Mission Studies Christian Communities in Mission Study | June 9, 2021

I am a dissertation reader(co-promoter) for Dissertation Research by Duurt Vonck, PhD student at Theologische Universiteit Kampen | Utrecht. (2023-)

I was an invited member of the Doctorate Committee for the thesis of Ross Lockhart, pursuing a PhD in Missiology through Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam under the supervision of Stefan Paas and Darrell Guder. (2022)

Since 2019 I have been a Editorial Board Member, for the international, peer-reviewed journal, Ecclesial Futures.