Conference Examines Global Shift of Christianity from North to South

Speakers at “The Future of the Church in a Globalized World” Conference, April 1-3, 2004, examined whether the center of Christianity is shifting from the global North, which includes North America and Europe, to the global South, which includes Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Over 250 Christian scholars attended the conference which featured the following plenary speakers: D.G. Hart, director for Academic Projects and Faculty Development of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute; Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University; Lamin Sanneh, D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity at Yale University; and Andrew Walls, Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh.

“The center has changed,” Andrew Walls once told The Christian Century during an interview. “And though I wouldn’t say there’s no future for Western Christianity or no important task for Western theologians, it and they will be less and less significant for the future of Christianity. Already what they’re doing is pretty parochial. The events that are shaping 21st century Christianity are happening in Africa and Asia.”

The event was sponsored by the Center for Christian Study (CCS) in Charlottesville, Virginia, and held at the University Baptist Church.

More information on other events sponsored by CCS can be found at www.studycenter.net.