Popular Searches
Professors at Princeton Theological Seminary planned this year’s World Christianity Conference with global collaboration in mind. They chose a theme designed to inspire scholars across nations and disciplines. It worked.
The theme of “Migration, Diaspora and Transnationalism in World Christianity” proved successful beyond expectations. Scholars from nearly 40 nations gathered at Princeton Seminary for the weeklong World Christianity Conference in March. Nearly 200 participants traveled to campus to share their research in person. On the first day, attendees filled Stuart Hall with anticipation. The conference theme, centered on cross-border movements, carried renewed urgency as discussions began.
Afe Adogame, Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Christianity and Society, helped organize the World Christianity Conference. He connected the theme to today’s political climate in the United States. Adogame noted the urgency as immigration authorities conduct swift deportations and detentions nationwide. Scholars, Adogame said, have a responsibility to fully engage with such issues.
We’re indeed excited to be able to focus on this theme as the U.S. and other parts of the world grapple with the increasing politicization of immigration and criminalization of immigrants.
He thanked international scholars for joining the conference and praised their courage and dedication. Their presence reflected a strong commitment to World Christianity. This growing field studies Christianity’s expansion across the Global South and its influence on the Global North.
“Your participation gives us a lot of hope and optimism for the future of this conversation,” said Adogame. He joined opening discussions with Raimundo Barreto, associate professor of World Christianity, and Soojin Chung, director of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. Together, they welcomed participants to the conference and set the tone for global dialogue.
Over the next several days, attendees fully unpacked the theme, exploring the ever-shifting global Christian landscape from multiple perspectives. The range of topics appeared clearly in the conference panels and presentations. Titles included “Sisters of the Spirit: Black American and African Women” and “Norwegian Lutherans in Minnesota.” These sessions reflected the diversity and depth of global Christian scholarship. First, several sessions explored themes of identity and belonging within global Christianity. Next, the program turned to “An Asian American Theology of Identity, Belonging, and Mission” and “Diaspora Pastors, Megachurches, and Global Christian Networks.” Lastly, these discussions deepened the conversation by linking migration, ministry, and cultural identity across continents.
One lively session featured musician, missiologist, and minister Eric Sarwar singing Psalm 51 in Punjabi. He invited the audience to join in and joked that music might seem unusual in “a cognitive institution.” His performance carried scholarly purpose, illustrating the “psalmody” style of worship found in North Indian Pakistani congregations across North America.
“Every country has a distinct identity in the global context,” Sarwar said. “India has a spirituality and a sound, so that’s why I will be delving into that spirituality and sound.”
Scholar Christina Liu opened her lecture with a traditional greeting from Tonga, an island country in Polynesia. Next, she discussed the role of Tonga women in Christian history, which she said has been marginalized.“These women have not only shaped their immediate communities but have also contributed to the enduring presence of Christianity in the Pacific,” Liu said.
Princeton Seminary launched the World Christianity Conference in 2018, and it has grown steadily each year. The event has only paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its success has positioned Princeton Seminary as a global leader in World Christianity studies. Last year, organizers hosted the conference in Ghana, beginning a tradition of meeting overseas every two years. The 2026 conference will take place in Brazil.
Barreto, one of the organizers, said the conference has become a phenomenon.
This is the largest gathering of scholars of World Christianity anywhere in the world and the most diverse by far. The mere fact that we can do that every year is a milestone in the development of this still very-young field.
Princeton Theological Seminary’s President Jonathan Lee Walton praised the conference’s deep scholarship, noting in his opening remarks that engaging the global church is an essential part of a theological education in the 21st century. “For over two centuries, Princeton Seminary has professed to train leaders for service in the church, academy, and public life,” Walton said. “But now we can say more than ever we understand that we do not do this in isolation.”
Our mission here in Princeton is inextricably tied to the broader borderless body of Christ.
This year’s World Christianity Conference at Princeton Theological Seminary focused on “Migration, Diaspora, and Transnationalism in World Christianity.” The theme attracted scholars from related fields, including race and ethnicity studies, demography, and Asian American history. “This is exactly what we wanted,” said Soojin Chung. “We hoped to broaden the field and spark rich, diverse conversations. Experts from social sciences, religious demography, and anthropology added valuable insights.”
Barreto agreed. “We opened the conversation to people who don’t identify as World Christianity scholars,” he said. “We invited people from the social sciences and other fields and disciplines because we want to see the full scope of what is available for anyone studying World Christianity.”
The 2025 conference theme expanded the focus by examining how migration shapes World Christianity in the Global North.
When scholars think of World Christianity, they think of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. But what about Asian diaspora communities in Europe or North America or Japanese migrants living in Brazil?
That question was answered throughout the week in multiple stories and discussions. One scholar highlighted how African immigrants in England practice Pentecostal faith and divine healing in secular settings. Abel Ugba shared the story of a Ghanaian nurse in South London. She avoids publicly praying for patients at her hospital, knowing such expressions of faith aren’t accepted. But she finds other ways to exercise her faith, including praying silently or in “safe spaces” like the changing room.
“Divine healing is being creatively, innovatively remade in ways that make it conform to secular norms, but also challenges [secularism],” said Ugba, a professor in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. Ugba delivered one of three Gerald H. Anderson Lectures, a staple of the conference that led off the first three days. The lectures honor namesake Anderson, an eminent scholar who led the OMSC from 1976 to 2000.
Princeton Seminary alum Deanna Womack delivered another Anderson Lecture and shared a striking story from her travels. She described visiting a Coptic Orthodox Christian convent led by Mother Veronica. The convent follows sacred traditions, including covering and uncovering novitiates with the altar curtain to symbolize death and rebirth.
Surprisingly, the convent stands in the Southern United States, not the Middle East. Most of its nuns are American or Canadian. Their presence reflects the long history of Middle Eastern Christian migration to North America. “This convent is not in the secluded deserts of Egypt, but Dawsonville, Georgia, a 20-minute drive from the start of the Appalachian Trail and 60 miles north of Atlanta where Mother Veronica grew up,” said Womack, a professor at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.
The opening Anderson Lecture, titled Heartbroken History, explored a painful chapter in American religious and cultural history. Stanford historian Kathryn Gin Lum examined the experiences of 19th-century Chinese immigrants in the United States. She described how white Christians demonized them in the years before the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
That legacy lingers, she said. “We need to expose our inheritance of this Christian case for exclusion because it is still very much with us today,” Lum said. “And we still live in a time when feckless men can catapult themselves to power on the force of anti-immigrant hate.”
Over the course of the week, conference participants also honored two seminal scholars, Klaus Koschorke and the late David D. Daniels III. Korschorke, a professor of church history at the University of Munich, stands among the pioneers of World Christianity studies. Daniels, who died Oct. 10, 2024, was a professor at McCormick Theological Seminary and a renowned scholar of Pentecostal Christianity.
In the end, attendees not only enjoyed the conference but also felt a deep sense of gratitude. “They went back feeling really fulfilled, and this was what we wanted to do,” said Adogame. “We are very inspired by the way we are moving. To be honest, Princeton Seminary is now the place to be when it comes to the interdisciplinary study of World Christianity.”
