Norman Thomas (1968)

Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, the son and grandson of Methodist pastors, Thomas graduated from Yale University before earning his Ph.D. in Social Ethics and Sociology of Religion at Boston University. After a brief pastorate in Portland, Oregon, he served as a United Methodist missionary in Zimbabwe and Zambia for eighteen years. He taught mission and evangelism at both Yale and Boston Universities, and was a Professor of World Christianity and of Evangelization and Church Renewal at United Theological Seminary (Dayton, Ohio) from 1983 to 2001. He is an ordained Elder in the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church and the Vera B. Blinn Professor Emeritus of World Christianity at United. Thomas is the author or editor of thirteen books, and numerous articles on mission and church renewal, and was named Distinguished Alumnus of the School of Theology in 2005.

Selected works (search WorldCat):

• Thomas, Norman E. Missions and Unity: Lessons from History, 1792-2010. Eugene, Or: Cascade Books, 2010.
• ________, ed. Classic Texts in Mission and World Christianity. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995.
• ________, ed. International Mission Bibliography, 1960-2000. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003.

Resources:

• The following videos are lectures that include Thomas’ reflections on the mission conferences of 2010.