Christianity’s demographic shift

Christianity is no longer a religion dominated by Europeans. According to some projections, by 2050, at least four-fifths of the world’s three billion Christians will be of non-European descent.

The demographic sea change is the subject of the Divinity School’s annual ministry conference, “From the Ends of The Earth,” which will convene at 10 a.m. Friday, May 1, in Swift Hall.

The two-day conference will welcome a diverse group of religious scholars, clergy and students to explore a wide range of questions related to the shift—from how it will influence Christian leadership in a post-colonial era, to how it will shape the self-understanding of Christians in the United States.

The free, public conference will feature keynote addresses from Kwok Pui Lan, professor of Christian theology and spirituality at the Episcopal Divinity School; William Dyrness, professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary; and Betta Mengitsu, founding member of the Beza International Ministries, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Divinity School’s fifth ministry conference will approach Christianity’s changing demographics through a ministerial lens. For more information, visit http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/conferences/ministry/ministry2009.shtml.