Conversions and Transformations: The 14th Meeting of the International Association for Mission Studies
Mission Studies revolves around change. Conversion animates the entire field: religious, institutional, and cultural transformations are the object and, sometimes, the objective of missiological studies. For that reason, Mika Vähäkangas observed that it was odd that the International Association for Mission Studies had waited until its 14th Quadrennial meeting before it finally addressed the issue of “Conversions and Transformations.” In his opening remarks of August 11, 2016 in Seoul, Korea, the IAMS President wondered aloud, “Was conversion too close and therefore too controversial a subject to raise at an earlier date?”
The week-long conference was an extended answer to his question, showcasing through plenary sessions and study groups that conversion is a challenging topic. Scholars from Oceania, Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America presented papers that collectively demonstrated that conversions and transformations look different, depending on the time and place. There is no normative conversion, even if conversion is the norm.
Boston University had solid representation at the meeting. Daryl Ireland (’15), Younghwa Kim (’16), Daewon Moon (current student), and Titus Presler (’94) all attended, three of whom presented papers on the theme.