Candler School of Theology will host the 2024 Summer Institute for Global Charismatic-Pentecostal Studies on campus June 27-29. Established in 2023 in partnership with the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS) and funded by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the Institute brings together scholars, pastors, and leaders from around the world. The gathering also includes time for worship, prayer, spiritual direction, presentations from distinguished scholars of Pentecostal and charismatic movements, and workshops with key leaders in Pentecostal and charismatic communities.
There is no cost to attend the institute. Register here to attend the Summer Institute by Friday, April 26 at 5:00 p.m. EDT.
This year’s featured plenary speaker is Younghoon Lee, senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea—one of the largest congregations in the world. Other presenters will include Helen Jin Kim, associate professor of American religious history at Candler, and Lloyd D. Barba, assistant professor of religion and core faculty in Latinx and Latin American studies at Amherst College. Learn more about the plenary speakers here.
The Summer Institute for Global Charismatic-Pentecostal Studies stems from consultations convened by Candler as the school prepared its proposal for Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, designed to help theological schools across the U.S. and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face in preparing pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future. More than two dozen consultations and town halls included a wide array of partners, and helped clarify how Candler can fulfill its mission to form faithful and creative leaders for the church’s ministries throughout the world in these changing times.
“When Candler organized these meetings, we were thinking about [how] we want to be a big tent seminary, we want to be a seminary for the whole church,” says Ted A. Smith, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Divinity and associate dean of faculty, who serves as co-leader of the Pathways project at Candler. “We were thinking, ‘Who of our neighbors in Atlanta are we not learning from? Who are we not in full communion with, who are we not in touch with, who are we not serving?’ Charismatic and Pentecostal communities were one of those groups.”
The inaugural institute in July 2023 featured speakers J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, president of Trinity Theological Seminary in Legon/Accra, Ghana, and Nimi Wariboko, coeditor of Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies and the Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics at Boston University.
Leah Payne, associate professor of American religious history at Portland Seminary, serves as the institute’s director. “All along the way, we’ve had enriching conversations about who charismatics and Pentecostals have been, who they are now, where they are going—critical conversations for the future of Pentecostal and charismatic communities,” she says. “Candler has been a warm and welcoming space, and the Candler faculty and students have contributed greatly to this broader conversation. We’re looking forward to more in the future.”
Learn more about the Summer Institute for Global and Charismatic-Pentecostal Studies.