In the last century, amazingly, world Christianity's center of gravity has effectively moved from Europe to a point near Timbuktu in Africa. Never in the history of Christianity has there been such a rapid and dramatic shift in where Christians are located in the world. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson explores the consequences of this shift for congregations in North America, specifically for the efforts to build Christian unity in the face of new and challenging divisions. Centers of religious power, money, and theological capital remain entrenched in the global, secularized North while the Christian majority thrives and rapidly grows in the global South. World Christianity's most decisive twenty-first-century challenge, Granberg-Michaelson argues, is to build meaningful bridges between faithful churches in the global North and the spiritually exuberant churches of the global South. Watch the trailer:

This collection of essays explores the legacy of Lesslie Newbigin's classic work, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, critically analyzing the nature of Western pluralism and discussing the influence of Newbigin's work on the field of missiology. By looking backward, this volume advances a vision for Christian witness in the pluralistic world of the twenty-first century.

America's problem with race has deep roots, with the country's foundation tied to the near extermination of one race of people and the enslavement of another. Racism is truly our nation's original sin. "It's time we right this unacceptable wrong," says bestselling author and leading Christian activist Jim Wallis. Fifty years ago, Wallis was driven away from his faith by a white church that considered dealing with racism to be taboo. His participation in the civil rights movement brought him back when he discovered a faith that commands racial justice. Yet as recent tragedies confirm, we continue to suffer from the legacy of racism. The old patterns of white privilege are colliding with the changing demographics of a diverse nation. The church has been slow to respond, and Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week. In America's Original Sin, Wallis offers a prophetic and deeply personal call to action in overcoming the racism so ingrained in American society. He speaks candidly to Christians--particularly white Christians--urging them to cross a new bridge toward racial justice and healing. Whenever divided cultures and gridlocked power structures fail to end systemic sin, faith communities can help lead the way to grassroots change. Probing yet positive, biblically rooted yet highly practical, this book shows people of faith how they can work together to overcome the embedded racism in America, galvanizing a movement to cross the bridge to a multiracial church and a new America.

The 1906 earthquake of Pentecostalism at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, California, sent a jolt to Washington, DC, during 1906–1907. This Washington, DC, shock wave began when a group of women read and acted upon reports in the Azusa Street Mission’s Apostolic Faith newspaper. This event resulted in the creation and development of an influential church in the District of Columbia, Full Gospel Assembly. In a well-researched examination of a little-recognized and nearly forgotten religious community in Washington, DC, retired United States Army chaplain Don Kammer explores the church’s beginnings as part of the early twentieth-century Pentecostal and Charismatic revival. Full Gospel Assembly was an example of an early Pentecostal-evangelistic fusion, a common element in today’s American evangelical religion. Kammer identifies the challenges, successes, and the impact on the surrounding DC community. As he leads others through FGA’s fascinating history, Kammer explains why the story of FGA is important, reflects upon the conflicted definitions of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity, describes popular malign portraits of holy rollers and tongue talkers, tells the tales of meetings on the Electric Street Railway Line, in theaters, in Parlor Houses, identifies denominational influence, and much more. The Full Gospel Assembly (FGA) of Washington, DC, 1907–1934 is a fascinating and comprehensive examination of the neglected history of an early twentieth-century revival with ties to the 1906 Azusa Street Mission and revival.

This book contains fifteen essays from leading historians and religious studies scholars, each originally presented as the annual Tanner lecture at the conference of the Mormon History Association. Approaching Mormon history from a variety of angles, such as gender, identity creation, American imperialism, and globalization, these scholars, all experts in their fields but new to the study of Mormon history itself, ask intriguing questions about Mormonism's past and future and analyze familiar sources in unexpected ways.

Through a geographic spread that surveys theological education in Central and East Europe, this volume provides a local glimpse into the state of theological education but also global reflection on the state and scope of theological education as a type of Christian mission and witness in light of secularization and globalization under the conditions of late modernity.

Drawing on a range of methodologies, editors George D. Chryssides and Stephen E. Gregg shift attention from normative textual and doctrinal matters to issues of materiality and everyday life in Christianity. This handbook is structured in four parts, which include coverage of the following aspects of Christianity: sacred space and objects, cyber-Christianity, food, prayer, education, family life, fundamentalism and sexuality. In addition, issues of gender, race and ethnicity are treated throughout. The international team of contributors provide in-depth analysis that highlight the current state of academic study in the field and explores areas in which future research might develop. Clearly organised to help users quickly locate key information and analysis, the book includes an A to Z of key terms, extensive guides to further resources, a comprehensive bibliography and a chronology of landmark events, making it a unique resource to upper-level students and researchers.

The basis for this project is to verify and determine the extent to which contemporary prophetic ministry in Ghana appropriates prophetism in the early church, Corpus Paulinum, and traditional prophetism in Ghana. The spirit of prophecy which was believed to have ceased in Judaism and during the intertestamental period has now been restored at the inauguration of Christianity. Notwithstanding, Paul gave stipulations for prophets and prophecy in the church in 1 Corinthians 14. This confirms that prophecy was a common phenomenon in the early church and Pauline communities. Contemporary prophetic ministry in Ghana claimed to have conformed to Pauline stipulations concerning prophets and prophecy in the church, but what is their level of conformity? Contemporary prophetic ministry is becoming popular due to its appeal and compatibility with religious worldviews and its pragmatic outlook that resonates with the Ghanaian phenomenon of religion. As an adherent of the Akan traditional religion would go to a religious intermediary for ebisa (literally to “inquire” or “ask”) into present or future happenings, contemporary prophets have positioned themselves to be agents of ebisa in Ghanaian Christianity. This book explores biblical and traditional understandings of prophetism that have influenced contemporary Christian understanding of prophets and prophecy in the church.

As Christians, we belong to not only a diverse global Christian family but also a diverse human family. Todd Johnson, a noted expert on global Christianity and world missions trends, and Cindy Wu show how divisions within these families work against our desire to bring about positive change in the world. They provide an overview of global Christian identity, exploring how we can be faithful to our own tradition while engaging Christians across denominations and be better informed as we work with people of other religions. The book utilizes the latest research data on global Christianity and world religions and includes tables, graphs, charts, and end-of-chapter discussion questions.

In 1974 nearly 3,000 evangelicals from 150 nations met at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. Amidst this cosmopolitan setting - and in front of the most important white evangelical leaders of the United States - members of the Latin American Theological Fraternity spoke out against the American Church. Fiery speeches by Ecuadorian René Padilla and Peruvian Samuel Escobar revealed a global weariness with what they described as an American style of coldly efficient mission wedded to myopic, right-leaning politics. Their bold critiques electrified Christians from around the world. The dramatic growth of Christianity around the world in the last century has shifted the balance of power within the faith away from the traditional strongholds of Europe and the United States to the Global South. To be sure, Western missionaries have carried religion abroad, but the line of influence has often run the other way. David R. Swartz demonstrates that evangelicals in the Global South spoke frankly to American evangelicals on matters of race, imperialism, theology, sexuality, and social justice. From the left, they have pushed for racial egalitarianism, ecumenism, and more substantial development efforts. From the right, they have advocated for a conservative sexual ethic. They forced American Christians to think more critically about their own assumptions. The United States is just one node of a sprawling global network that includes Korea, India, Switzerland, the Philippines, Guatemala, Uganda, and Thailand. Telling stories of the diverse array of evangelicals around the world, Swartz shows that evangelical networks don't only extend outward, but back home from the ends of the earth.