The Society is planning its second virtual conference in June of 2026. Please watch here for updates!
Theme: Contextualization of Foreign Church Orders
Description: All church orders, to some degree, come from elsewhere. For some, they were developed with themes and traits of orders from other cultures, some church orders were adopted in entirety from foreign churches. The ways in which these church orders arrived can also differ. Some were adopted, while others were brought by colonizers. Regardless of how these church orders arrived, one of the tasks that churches must do is to contextualize those orders to varying degrees. For some, this process began long ago; for others, this is something that has begun much more recently; and for many, this is a process that is still ongoing.
This conference will look specifically at the contextualization of foreign church orders, especially, but not limited to, ways in which churches in the Global South and East have engaged with church orders received from churches in the Global North/West. Also of interest are ways in which churches have contextualized orders received from elsewhere within the Global South/East or Global North/West.
Here are some possible specific topics (though this list is not exhaustive):
Ways in which churches in the Global South and East have contextualized orders inherited from churches in the Global North
Ways in which churches in the Global South need to contextualize church orders received from churches in the Global North but may have not yet done so
How European churches had contextualized orders originally developed in other European cultural contexts
How American churches have contextualized orders from European churches
How theology and culture engages in church order contextualization
PhD Presentations
In addition to presentations on the topic of the conference, we also want to allow time for PhD candidates or recent graduates to present their research related to church polity. Even those different from the theme are welcome so as to spotlight newer researchers and their work.
Date: 1–2 June 2026
Time: UTC 13:00-18:00 Please check for your own local time.
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Proposals: 1 March 2026