Missiology Lectures • October 15–17, 2025
1 day in person & online | 2 days fully online

Since the founding of the School of World Mission in 1965, Fuller Seminary has hosted the annual Missiology Lectures—a tradition now six decades strong. This year’s 60th-anniversary gathering, Missiology in a New Generation, invites plenary speakers who studied or taught at Fuller across different decades to reflect on how they understand mission today.

Doctoral students will present current research that signals where the field is heading, and Fuller faculty will join international panelists from diverse mission backgrounds to articulate a renewed Fuller vision of missiology for our time.

Featured Keynote

Listening Forward: Memories and Hopes for Missiology’s Unfolding Story
Martin Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Missiology at Azusa Pacific University, and host of the Missiology Podcast

Our very own Martin Rodriguez—host of the Missiology Podcast here at Missiology.com—will draw from dozens of interviews with leading missiologists and "postgames" with Greg McKinzie to offer a hopeful portrait of a field discerning the Spirit’s work in a changing world. Rooted in the principles of Appreciative Inquiry, his lecture invites us to keep listening to missiology’s unfolding story—where the Spirit redefines agency, reimagines power, reclaims plurality, and renews the field for a new generation.

A Living History of the Missiology Lectures

Fuller’s archives trace every Missiology Lecture theme since 1966—a vivid record of how the field has evolved.

• 1960s–70s : Under founding dean Donald McGavran, the focus was evangelism and church growth.
• 1970s–80s : Arthur Glasser expanded the scope to include Bible and mission, conversion, and cultural anthropology.
• 1980s–90s : Under Paul E. Pierson, mission history took center stage, and for the first time, lecturers included people of color.
• 1990s–2000s : Dudley Woodberry broadened participation to women scholars and voices from multiple continents.
• 2000s–2010s : Sherwood Lingenfelter invited perspectives from those on the receiving end of mission.
• 2010s–2020s : Douglas McConnell turned attention to “the little ones”—children, the suffering, and migrants.

Across the decades, each generation has expanded Fuller’s missiological imagination—making space for new contexts, disciplines, and voices.

From Lectures to Global Conversations

For most of these 60 years, a single leading missiologist delivered the annual address—a who’s who of the field: Beyerhaus, Luzbetak, Neill, Cho, Sanneh, Walls, Escobar, Nida, Adeney, and many others.

Under Scott Sunquist and Amos Yong, the Lectures grew into a full conference with multiple plenaries in dialogue across cultures. In the 21st century, technology has multiplied that reach: livestreams on Fuller Studio (since 2014), and, since 2020, an interactive online experience via Whova. Attendance is now global—often drawing up to 800 participants from every continent, with special panels from Ghana, the Philippines, and beyond.

Join the Celebration

Be part of this milestone year as we look ahead to Missiology in a New Generation.
Explore the past, engage the present, and help imagine the future of mission studies at Fuller.

October 15–17, 2025
www.fuller.edu/missiology/

Spanish and Korean interpretation will be available.
For assistance, please contact events@fuller.edu.