David William Scott (Editor), Filipe Fernandes R. Maia (Editor) & Joerg Rieger

David W. Scott is the director of mission theology with the General Board of Global Ministries and a visiting researcher at the Boston University Center for Global Christianity & Mission. He previously served as the Pieper Family Chair of Servant Leadership and assistant professor of religion at Ripon College. He has published extensively as an author and contributor to numerous volumes and has selected, edited, and written for the UM & Global blog. He has a Ph.D. in religious studies and an MTS from Boston University.
Filipe R. Maia is an assistant professor of theology at the Boston University School of Theology. He also serves as an instructor for the Portuguese Course of Study for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM). He is the author ofâ·¯Trading Futures: Toward a Theological Critique of Financialized Capitalism? (Duke University Press, 2022) and editor ofâ·¯Decolonizing Wesleyan Theology: Theological Engagements from the Underside of Methodismâ·¯(Cascade Books, 2023). He has a Doctor of Theology degree from Harvard Divinity School and an MTS from Perkins School of Theology.
Jørgen Thaarup is fromâ·¯Copenhagen, Denmark. He holds aâ·¯Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Seminary, Washington DC and aâ·¯Ph.D. from Gothenburg University. Hisâ·¯appointments in the United Methodist Church have been:â·¯dean of the Methodist Seminary in Gothenburg and professor of systematic theology,â·¯district superintendent in the Denmark Annual Conference,â·¯chair of Academic and Students Affairs at Africa University,â·¯advisor theology and ecumenical dialogue at the Council of Protestant Churches in Europe, andâ·¯author of a number of books and articles, including Wesley Theology in Europe:â·¯Christian Thought in European Wesleyan Tradition.â·¯He has served as aâ·¯delegate to six General Conferences, is a member of the Standing Committee of Central Conference Matters for eight years, and a delegate to 11 Central Conferences in Europe. He holds aâ·¯pastoral appointment to the Jerusalem Church in Copenhagen.
Joerg Rieger is Distinguished Professor of Theology, Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair of Wesleyan Studies, and the Founding Director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt University. His work addresses the relation of theology and public life, reflecting on the misuse of power in religion, politics, and economics. His main interest is in developments and movements that bring about change and in the positive contributions of religion and theology. Author and editor of 22 books and over 150 academic articles, his books include Jesus vs. Caesar: For People Tired of Serving the Wrong God (2018), No Religion but Social Religion: Liberating Wesleyan Theology (2018), Unified We are a Force: How Faith and Labor Can Overcome America’s Inequalities (with Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger, 2016), Faith on the Road: A Short Theology of Travel and Justice (2015), Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude (with Kwok P
Philip Wingeier-Rayo was born in Singapore to missionary parents and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. He currently serves as Professor of World Christianity, Missiology, and Methodist Studies at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC, where he teaches courses in the areas of missions, world religions, and Methodist history and doctrine. He served as dean at Wesley from 2018 to 2022. He earned a Ph.D.in Theology, Ethics, and Culture from Chicago Theological Seminary, an MTS from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and an MTh from Seminario Evangélico de Teología in Matanzas, Cuba. He has previously taught at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, Pfeiffer University, and Seminario Baez Camargo in Mexico City. Dr. Wingeier-Rayo’s research interests are at the intersection of missiology, Methodist studies, Pentecostalism, migration studies, and liberation theology. His academic work is informed by 15 years of missionary experience where he served in Nicaragua, Cuba, Mexico, and the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas near the border with Mexico. Wingeier-Rayo has published five books, includingâ·¯Where Are the Poor A Comparison of the Ecclesial Base Communities and Pentecostalism—A Case Study in Cuernavaca, Mexicoâ·¯(Pickwick Publications) andâ·¯La Biblia a través de los ojos de Juan Wesley: 52 estudios bíblios de discipulado/The Bible Through the Eyes of John Wesley (Discipleship Resources).
Joon-Sik Park is the E. Stanley Jones Professor of World Evangelism at Methodist Theological School in Ohio. He previously served as pastor of multicultural United Methodist congregations in Ohio and Kentucky. His research and teaching interests have been in missional ecclesiology, integral evangelism, global Christianity, and multiculturalism. He is the author of Missional Ecclesiologies in Creative Tension: H. Richard Niebuhr and John H. Yoder.â·¯His publications have appeared in such journals asâ·¯the International Bulletin of Mission Research, International Review of Mission,â·¯andâ·¯Missiology. He served on the Study Committee on the Worldwide Nature of The United Methodist Church from 2009 to 2012.
The Rev. Lloyd Nyarota is an ordained elder in Zimbabwe East Conference of The United Methodist Church who has a passion for social justice ministry. He holds a Master's in Peace Leadership and Governance from Africa University, a Bachelor of Divinity from Africa University, a diploma in Theology from United Theological College, and a diploma in religious studies from the University of Zimbabwe. He is currently in the process of completing a Ph.D. with MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society. He is the author of several articles, chapters, and a book. He currently serves in an ecumenical appointment with The United Church of Canada at a shared ministry of St. John's United Anglican Church in Alberta, Canada. He is also the founding and current General Coordinator of The United Methodist Africa Forum. Lloyd is a former General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) grassroots organizer for Africa Central Conferences and one of the writers of the Christmas Covenant legislation, the first legislation to clearly define regionalization and decolonizing the United Methodist Church structure.
The Rev. Dr. Israel (Izzy) Alvaran is a United Methodist elder from the Philippines Annual Conference appointed as the Reconciling Ministries Network’s organizer in the Western and North Central Jurisdictions. He has also served as pastor, conference youth director, faculty in United Methodist educational institutions, labor union organizer, person-in-mission of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), and economic justice organizer with the General Board of Church and Society. He earned his Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees in the Philippines and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California.
The Rev. Dr. Darryl W. Stephens has a passion for ministry, ethics, and all things Methodist. He holds a Ph.D. from Emory University in Christian ethics, an MDiv from Perkins School of Theology, and a BA from Rice University. He is theâ·¯author of over fifty articles, chapters, and books, includingâ·¯Methodist Morals: Social Principles in the Public Church’s Witnessâ·¯and the 2021 spiritual growth study for United Women in Faith. He currentlyâ·¯serves as director of United Methodist Studies at Lancaster Theological Seminary and as theâ·¯chair of the Order of Deacons in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.â·¯His next book is Reckoning Methodism: Mission and Division in the Public Church.â·¯His blog is Ethics Considered