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Annual Conference schedule and speakers
Annual Conference
June 20-22, 2025
St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA
Since the world mission movement birthed modern ecumenism more than a century ago, a commitment to Christian unity has accompanied numerous efforts in mission. Obedient to Jesus’ desire that his followers “all be one… that the world may believe” (John 17:21), twentieth century Christians left a legacy of ecumenical achievements, just as the demographic center of the faith was shifting to the global south. Now, with the church fully inhabiting the era of world Christianity, the context for pursuing unity for the sake of mission is markedly different. Independency, sectarianism, and suspicion of the historic ecumenical movement challenge older ecumenical structures and new grassroots unity movements alike, while the vastly expanded scope of global ecclesial diversity enriches and complexifies the search for togetherness and common ground. Simultaneously, in wider human affairs, one increasingly sees “dark clouds over a closed world” (Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti 9) in a rising tide of divisiveness, an erosion of fraternity and solidarity, and accelerating crises of migration, war, and climate change—all of which cry out for a far less fragmented Christian witness to the world.
At this critical juncture, nearly two millennia after the council of Jerusalem and 1700 years after the first ecumenical council at Nicaea, how might churches and Christians in mission better advance cooperation, partnership, interconfessional friendship, mutual learning, stronger spiritual bonds, closer relations between churches and parachurch structures, and other forms of togetherness in response to Jesus’ prayer? Further, how might this be done with genuine freedom and respect for all, celebrating unity in diversity, and without overlooking hard differences or historic injustices? In fulfillment of Jesus’ new commandment (John 13:34-35), how might the Holy Spirit be calling the church today to more visible bonds of love between different Christian groups and traditions as they embark upon the many paths of mission?
The 2025 Annual Conference of the ASM will take up this challenging theme and explore the intricate connections between the missio Dei, global Christian identities, and the many efforts “to pursue the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13).
Papers are invited on a broad array of topics, employing the insights of mission leaders and global church practitioners, as well as contributions from biblical studies, history, theology, ecumenics, anthropology, liturgical studies, and other areas of expertise.
Contributors might examine such topics as:
Our ultimate goal in 2025 will be to reflect on the centrality of Jesus’ desire for the unity of the church in the work of mission so that the glory given him by the Father will shine more brightly across the many hued, beautiful face of the church. “I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23).
For ASM 2025, we will accept organized panels and individual papers, with preference given to organized panels on the Conference theme. We will also host our round table session for doctoral students and our Korean-Language track for speakers of Korean.
Organized Panels – here is the link for panel submissions
Teams of three or more presenters collaborate and submit proposals for panels focused on a theme or topic. Panel sessions can take a wide variety of formats, including formal paper presentations, discussions, and digital media, book, or film discussions. Formal paper presentations can be accompanied by respondents or panel discussion. We especially encourage panels that are ecumenical and bring scholars and practitioners into conversation. Most panel sessions will last 2 hours. A few 90-minute panel sessions will be available.
Panel organizers should strive, if possible, for diverse (tradition, race/ethnicity/nationality, sex/gender, rank, linguistic, scholarly location, etc.) representation in the composition of presenters and perspectives engaged.
Individual Paper Presentations – here is the link for individual paper submissions
We give preference to organized panels but will accept individual papers that will be complete by the annual meeting on a selective basis. We will prioritize papers associated with the proposed meeting theme, and as space permits, may also accept non-related papers. Presenters should submit a title and abstract and prepare to present a finished paper for the Conference.
Round Table Session – here is the link for round table submissions
We offer a unique Round Table experience to nurture emerging scholars! The Round Table Session utilizes a workshop model to provide doctoral students and candidates a platform in which to present their research to a distinguished panel of mission scholars. Round Table proposals need not focus on the Conference theme but on the student’s doctoral dissertation or research project. Each presentation will be 7-8 minutes, followed by 10-12 minutes of feedback from the panelists.
Korean-Language Paper Track – here is the link for K-Track submissions
ASM proudly hosts a Korean-Language Track to gather Korean speakers to discuss issues of missiological importance. For questions, please contact Daniel Ahn at [email protected].
YOU MUST BE AN ASM MEMBER TO PRESENT AT THE ANNUAL Conference.
You can become an ASM member by clicking on this link to join.
The American Society of Missiology announces its 8th Annual Graduate Student Paper Competition to recognize the best student paper presented at the society’s 2025 Annual Conference. The award is $500 and an opportunity to publish a revised version of the paper in Missiology: An International Review.
The competition is open to any graduate student ASM member who presents a paper at the 2025 Annual Conference and who is enrolled at an institution of higher learning at the time the paper proposal is accepted. The paper should be in English, approximately 5,000 words in length (including abstract and footnotes), and can engage with any subject in the field of missiology. The paper must follow Missiology style guidelines.
The deadline for submission is September 1, 2025. Submitted papers should be sent to [email protected] and participants should expect an email reply confirming their submission. The prize will be awarded at the 2026 Annual Conference, and it is anticipated that the recipient will be present to receive the award at that time.
Please direct all questions regarding the Annual Conference to the
ASM Conference Coordinator at Conference@asmweb.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conference@asmweb.org.
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Past Annual Conference Plenaries
Please visit ASM’s YouTube channel to view past plenaries: https://www.youtube.com/@americansocietyofmissiolog6846
You can subscribe to our channel by clicking on the bell.
I have been thinking and writing about refugees quite a bit recently. There's ample reason for it; today, seventy million people in our world have been forced from their homes as refugees or internally displaced persons.1
November 11, 2018 will mark the hundredth anniversary of the end of World War I. The end of that war brought peace to some, but the refugee crisis it spawned and the ensuing famine in Russia that affected millions made life a nightmare for years after the trench warfare ceased. I wrote an article about this that comes out in the International Bulletin of Mission Research in a couple of months. Specifically, I wrote about the European Student Relief - the first aid organization to be truly international and ecumenical. It was organized by Christian students around the world to come to the aid of refugee students.
Our refugee crisis today was again brought to my attention a couple of weeks ago at the Oxford Institute for Methodist Theological Studies with a sermon given by Rev. Peter Storey, a Methodist pastor from South Africa. I met him several days earlier - spotting his name tag as I trickled into a lecture hall with 150 other attendees for the Conference's first plenary lecture. I was surprised to see him. He is not the young man that he was when he bravely fought against the apartheid regime for decades beginning in the 1960s.
As part of his resistance to that regime he would sometimes hold a sign that read,
All who pass by remember with shame the many thousands of people who lived for generations in District Six and other parts of the city, and who were forced by law to leave their homes because of the colour of their skins. Father forgive us.
This so-called "Plaque of Shame" was erected on the outside wall of the local Methodist church in District 6 as well. I'm told it is still there. In his sermon this past Sunday, Rev. Storey also described another time in the history of that church - long after he had departed as its pastor - when the building provided a place of refuge for people fleeing the ruthless regime of Robert Mugabe in the neighboring state of Zimbabwe.
A few days ago, on the last day of the Oxford Institute, Peter preached on the story of four friends who dug a hole in the roof of a home where Jesus was teaching and asked (demanded?) that Jesus heal their paralyzed friend. The church, he said, has to be broken in order to actually be the church. By serving refugees from Zimbabwe, the church he loved - including the building itself - was literally broken down from the stress of housing dozens of people who lived, cooked, and slept in the sanctuary.
I am reminded of how rarely I have seen this kind of ministry happen in the churches that I have attended and served in for the past several decades. To be clear, I have been a part of churches - urban ones especially - that did prioritize ministry to their neighbors over keeping the church building in shape. I am grateful for their witness, but I have not seen this enough.
When Rev. Storey finished preaching I felt compelled to thank him for his sermon. It had moved me to tears. But I knew that kind words and a handshake wouldn't be enough. I wanted to hug this man - to feel the aging sinews in his back muscles that had fought against oppression. Peter Storey reminded me that morning that the Christian life is not primarily about finely nuanced talks or academic papers (valuable as they can be) but about ministering to people where they are at in their fullness as people truly created in God's image and who reflect that image even in the brokenness of their bodies. "Too often," he noted, "we are more concerned about being right than doing good!"
Rev. Storey paraphrased Mother Teresa in his closing words that Sunday morning in Oxford. I can't think of a better was to close this blog than to follow his example:
"May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in." Reflecting on this quotation with respect to the story of the paralytic and his four friends, Peter went on, "Only if the church gets broken open does the world get mended... Open up the Church so wide that the whole world falls in."
[1] See the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/data.html. This number would be higher if an even broader definition of refugee and internally displaced person were utilized.
This blog post first appeared at dr.altizon.com
The 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Missiology (ASM) recently concluded. Over 240 professors, executives, and practitioners of mission met to explore the theme, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Faithful," essentially asking ourselves the question, "How should the fact of the gap between the rich and the poor impact the way we live and practice mission around the world?"
I had the honor of serving ASM as its president this past year. By that honor, I had the privilege of organizing the meeting, which included choosing the theme, securing speakers, and generally bossing highly efficient people around. Huge thanks to the ASM board-especially Conference coordinator Alison Fitchett-as well as my associates of the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT)-especially operations director Tori Greaves-who all made the meeting run quite smoothly.
Issues surrounding wealth and poverty have always been central in my mission thinking. The God whom we encounter in the Scriptures, yes, loves all, but the lost, vulnerable, have-nots, marginalized, and oppressed get God's special attention. How should that fact-God's special concern for the poor-define both our personal lifestyles and the church's mission around the world?
(Photo: Dr. Debra Mumford speaking on prosperity gospel)
Our speakers "brung it!" as we say on the street. Renowned theologian Ronald J. Sider started us off Friday night (June 14) by sharing his own personal journey through six editions of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. On Saturday morning (June 15), Father Benigno Beltran, a Catholic priest-scholar who served the people of Smokey Mountain in Manila for 30 years, brilliantly made the connection between serving the poor and serving the earth. That evening, I confronted classism and proposed ways to overcome it personally and corporately. And then on Sunday morning (June 16), Debra Mumford, a homiletics professor at Louisville Theological Seminary who has done extensive research on the prosperity gospel, gave an informative lecture-sermon on the logic, but ultimately the dangers of prosperity thinking.
I also invited storytellers, that is, people who reminded us that ministry among the poor needs concrete expressions. Maria Surat Schommer described the local ministry of the Catholic Worker. Viv Grigg shared about an innovative master's program in urban missiology for, with, and among the poor. And Ruth Padilla DeBorst described the vision and life of Casa Adobe, an intentional Christian community in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Sandra Maria Van Opstal, author of The Next Worship, and Hallel, a duo made up of Aracely Hernandez Bock and Adri Arango from the Jesus People USA community in Chicago, led us in song. This LatinX, all-girl band had us swaying and clapping to songs in several languages, reminding us that worship entails our whole bodies as we serve the God of all nations.
We gave out several awards. Colin Yuckman received the Graduate Student Paper Award; Brian Stanley earned the Book of the Year award; and J. Samuel Escobar received the Lifetime Achievement Award. I was especially gratified that Dr. Escobar, past president of ASM, received this award during my presidency. He has been a mentor and friend to me and to countless others throughout his remarkable career, which spans over five decades.
(Photo: Dr. J. Samuel Escobar receives the Lifetime Achievement Award with Ruth Padilla DeBorst and Al Tizon)
This summary barely communicates my extreme gratitude for allowing me the privilege of contributing to the life of the American Society of Missiology. My ultimate hope, of course, is that the issues with which we wrestled at the Conference will translate into lifestyle changes, paradigm shifts, and powerful mission partnerships between the rich and the poor as God's people strive in the Spirit do on earth as it is in heaven.
Many of us who have devoted our lives to boundary-crossing ministries know well the gnawing feeling that, despite our good intensions, our work may actually be doing more harm than good-or, at least, doing more harm than we realize. Confessing this out loud can be scary; we risk damaging relationships, losing funding, and even being exiled from our home church communities when we earnestly seek to identify and repent of ugly truths about ourselves. And yet, it is through the continual process of soul searching and repentance that we draw closer to God and one another, becoming more fruitful disciples of Christ.
In recent years, an increasing number of folks with decades of ministry and anti-poverty work experience have boldly spoken their constructive criticisms and been heard. Books such as When Helping Hurts and Toxic Charity have made it onto mainstream bestseller lists and are joined by a chorus of similarly themed publications. And yet, these introductory texts barely scratch the surface of the deeper more painful issues that must be addressed-issues that sit at the intersection of vanity, racism, power imbalances, trauma, exploitation, hero-complexes, and alienation. If we are truly serious about a life of discipleship, of accompanying the vulnerable among us, bandaging the wounded, and announcing Good News to the poor and oppressed, we must be vigilant in our efforts to know ourselves better, be honest about our wounds and complicity in the world's problems, and seek out and shatter every golden calf we were taught to adore-even if it means parting ways with beloved church mission practices and traditions.
It was with this resolve that I entered into my doctoral research. As a second-generation missiologist pastor committed to standing in solidarity with The United Methodist Church (UMC) in the DR Congo, I wanted to analyze and learn from the mistakes I had made over the years, understand the myriad of invisible dynamics at play that had caused these stumbles, find out what work I needed to do on myself, and share my findings with others. This quest took me on a long and emotionally grueling journey, and my findings eventually took the form of a book that was selected in 2019 for inclusion in the American Society of Missiology's Monograph Series: Decolonizing Mission Partnerships: Evolving Collaboration between United Methodists in North Katanga and the United States of America.
While examining the history and recent shifts of relational dynamics between American and Congolese United Methodists in the North Katanga Conference (DR Congo), Decolonizing Mission Partnerships explores how colonial partnerships can be transformed into healthy boundary-crossing ministry partnerships. While much of the book's content is specific to the context of The UMC in North Katanga and its relationship with (primarily White) Americans, it sets up a conceptual framework through which one can analyze other missional collaborations in postcolonial contexts. Every postcolonial or cross-racial missional collaboration must wrestle with the legacies of colonialism, racism, and unhealed trauma. If they don't, those legacies will undermine their efforts, carrying that pain, shame, and harm into the next generation.
My prayer is that my book will serve as a useful tool for those seeking to create Christ-filled legacies of healing and atonement. If after reading it you would like to continue the conversation together, I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at [email protected] or on WhatsApp at +1-317-408-5036.
Praise for Decolonizing Mission Partnerships:
"Taylor Denyer's research on the dimensions of one colonized partnership-and what it would take to decolonize it-presents an informative case study and a compelling challenge. Her skillful integration of several academic conversations into a single missiological framework provides a helpful model for further reflection on transforming mission partnerships. This hope-giving study embodies an ethos of deep listening and vulnerable self-criticism coupled with a determined personal commitment to work for change." - Johannes (Klippies) Kritzinger, Professor Emeritus of Missiology, University of South Africa
"Taylor Walters Denyer takes an important topic-the missional relationships between large groups of United Methodists from the North Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and from the United States-and analyzes it through a refreshingly wide variety of critical lenses. In so doing, she lifts up important Congolese voices, and adds her own unique voice, developed through close personal connections to the Katanga region about which she so knowledgeably and passionately writes." - Dr. David W. Scott, Consultant, Office of the General Secretary, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church
"Decolonizing Mission Partnerships is a book that should lead us into redefining what it means to be a church engaged in God's mission. Structures and systems that support mission are called to reevaluate themselves through the lenses of the perspective and experiences that Rev. Denyer presents to us. I appeal local churches to reflect on the book." - The Rev. Dr. Mande Muyombo, United Methodist Bishop over the North Katanga Episcopal Area
In this day of frequent jeremiads blasted out in tweets of 140 characters or less, sincere conversation is endangered. Yet, deep, intentional conversation in our reflections on the mission of God and the participation of Christians in it is crucial for missions' continued relevance in the 21st century. When such conversation occurs, it is a gift; it is often a surprise.
Such is the conversation I have enjoyed with Carolyn C. Wason for the last three years. In October 2014, the Evangelical Missiological Society issued a call for papers concerning contemporary problems in mission. In my view, a critical problem is the wide disaffection of millennials toward Christianity and even of many Christian millennials toward Western missions. They ask how Western missions, burdened by past abuses, can possibly be a viable vehicle of God's message of grace today, and even if missions is positively transformed, what assurance is there that its practitioners might not be as equally blind to their errors as were previous generations of missionaries?
In 2014, Carolyn happened to be a student - an exceptional one, now pursuing graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Oxford - in her final year of the Missiology and Anthropology program at Eastern University. As a Christian millennial skeptical of Christian missions, Carolyn bravely accepted my invitation to have an extended conversation concerning this generation problem facing mission. Our paper was in the form of a dialogue between a millennial Christian and a member of the baby boomer generation, the latter convinced of the value of Christian missions. Our consequent dialogue, which occurred in writing, was not easy. It was often hard to really hear what the other was saying, and to respond concisely and meaningfully. We couldn't see at that time; however, our real work lay ahead.
The outcome of our six-month conversation was a paper entitled, "A Cross-Generational Conversation Concerning the Future of Western Missions." First presented in the northeast regional Conference of the EMS, it was subsequently chosen to be presented at the EMS national Conference in Dallas, Texas in September 2015. At the Conference we were assigned the unfortunate hour of eight o'clock in the morning on Sunday - the last day of the Conference. I advised Carolyn who Skyped in from Maine not to be discouraged if only five or ten people attended. To our surprise the room was packed with more in the hallway! The paper generated robust discussion - even debate! Millennials expressed that ours was the only presentation in the Conference they really wanted to hear! Afterward, as Carolyn and I reflected on the unusually strong reception in two missiological Conferences, we concluded the topic was vital and our conversation should be continued.
And so, Millennials and the Mission of God: A Prophetic Dialogue was born. What began as a project of a few months became a two-year dialogue. As Carolyn writes in the preface:
As it turns out, writing a thoughtful critique of another author's work is considerably more difficult when that author critiques you right back. But that was the point of our paper, and it's the point of this book. This is a conversation. Not the kind of conversation that any of us normally have-the kind where I'm only silent because I'm waiting for my turn to reply and not because I'm actually listening; where I talk over you and you talk over me, and we all end up further affirming our own beliefs and denouncing that of the other. I can say with certainty that my views on Western missions (and my views on Baby-Boomers) have changed since we began this, and I suspect Andrew could say the same. I hope, Reader, that whatever your own views are, you will enter this conversation willing to stand up for what you believe as well as being willing to change your mind.
Our conversation's focus was the validity of Christian missions. In exploring this we discussed important related topics: can millennials find their place in the church? Is there a stream in Christian spirituality, which millennials might authentically embrace, that subsequently might facilitate the renewal of Christian missions? What place does social justice and sabbath rest have in Christian missions? How can evangelism separate itself from the political agenda of many conservative evangelicals?
Carolyn and I do not pretend to offer definitive answers to these questions. We are starting a conversation, and we hope readers will lend their voices to this ongoing dialogue. The future of Christian missions is at stake!
Andrew F. Bush, DMin., is the chair of the Global Studies and Mission Department at Eastern University. He speaks widely in churches, Conferences and colleges. He has served internationally for thirty years and remains active in mission service in the Philippines and Palestine.
Andrew F. Bush and Carolyn C. Wason, Millennials and the Mission of God: A Prophetic Dialogue (Wipf & Stock: Eugene, Ore., 2017) p xv.
