Kirsteen Kim
Paul E. Pierson Chair in World Christianity and Associate Dean for the Center for Missiological Research
BSc, University of Bristol
MA, Fuller Theological Seminary
PhD, University of Birmingham
Courses Taught
TH543: Theology of Mission
MD500: Globalization, the Poor, and Christian Mission
Areas of Expertise
Theology of mission, missiology, pneumatology, world Christianity, ecclesiology, Asian Christianities, Korean studies, intercultural studies, study of religions, globalization, development studiesVideos
“A mission theology of the church starts from the local church and its context, but it also shares the divine concern for the world as a whole. The interface between the local and global church is therefore a central issue. Reflection on the mission theology of the church cannot be separated from awareness of world Christianity and the global nature of the church.”
Dr. Kim, in her article “Mission Theology of the Church.” Explore more voices on changing missiology.
Bio
Kirsteen Kim joined Fuller’s faculty in 2017 from her native UK, where she had been full professor at Leeds Trinity University since 2011. She previously served at the Selly Oak Colleges (2001–2006) and the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide (1998–2001). A leader of Christian Unions at school and university, Dr. Kim began her career as a theological educator in South Korea, where she taught English Bible study and cross-cultural skills. Between 1993 and 1997 she lectured in missiology at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, India, as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church of Korea.
Along with her academic standing and intercultural experience, Kim brings learning from ecumenical encounters. She was a member of the Lausanne Theology Working Group and vice moderator of the World Council of Churches Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, chairing the drafting group of the mission statement Together Towards Life (2013). She was research coordinator for the Edinburgh 2010 project, drafted its Common Call, and coedited the Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series that emerged from it. At her previous institution, which had a Catholic foundation, she organized a conference and published an edited work on the “New Evangelization” promoted by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI and Pope Francis’s exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel. In addition to academic forums such as the American Society of Missiology, Societas Oecumenica, and the Tyndale Doctrine Group, Kim has addressed a wide range of mission and church bodies.
Kim does theology from the context of world Christianity and for missional purposes. She was the editor of the journal Mission Studies and now coedits the book series Theology and Mission in World Christianity, both published by Brill (Leiden). Her research interests and networks include theology of mission, pneumatology, world Christianity, Korean studies, and development studies. Among her 150 publications, Kim is the author of five monographs. The most recent, A History of Korean Christianity (2015) and Christianity as a World Religion (2nd ed., 2016), were written in collaboration with her husband, Sebastian C. H. Kim, Wiley Professor of Renewal in Public Life and academic dean for the Korean Studies Center at Fuller. She is the lead editor of The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies (2022) and a monograph on theology of mission is forthcoming with IVP Academic.
Listen to Kim discuss her work on the Missiology Podcast.