A few hundred scholars affiliated with the Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS) are descending upon Memphis this week. These are professional academics and researchers who study a religious movement that many identify as being as the vanguard of the phenomenon called “world Christianity.”

If in the 19th century Western missionaries were busy evangelizing Asia, Africa, and Latin America, in the 21st century, the center of gravity of Christianity has shifted so that the majority of Christian adherents now live in these formerly missionized continents; in fact, Christians in these regions of the world (called the global South) are now sending missionaries back to Europe and North America, missionaries who are in part following the forces of globalization and immigration patterns but also seeking to re-evangelize what they feel are the increasingly secular and pagan continents of the Anglo-American world.

Members of the SPS, which meets annually, both study these religious trends and also represent these dynamics. While many of these scholars do not consider themselves participants in the movements that they study, others do. This makes for interesting conversations between “insiders” and “outsiders,” with each “side” bringing diverse perspectives to bear on the discussions.

Thus this SPS meeting will feature presentations, lectures, and panels on various aspects of the global character of the Pentecostal movement: statistics (always contested) of the world Pentecostal movement; multicultural dimensions of the Canadian Pentecostal experience; the Pentecostal mission to China and Australasia; the indigenous Chinese True Jesus Church; the emergence, early development, and history of Russian Pentecostalism, particularly in the Ukraine; Pentecostal engagements with genocide and tribalism in East Africa; and the interface of Pentecostalism with Catholicism in the Latin American world.

There will also be a presentation on the Oneness Pentecostal movement in Japan, noticeable not only because the uniqueness of the Oneness movement (given its rejection of the classical Christian doctrine of the Trinity and its baptism not in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but in the name of Jesus) but also because of its presence in Japan, a country that, after centuries of missionary activity, still has a miniscule Christian population.

These various forums provide only a hint of the kinds of discussions about global Pentecostalism and world Christianity that will be percolating throughout the meeting – during break times, in the hallways, around the book exhibit – as scholars, students, and researchers try to stay abreast of what is surely one of the most dynamic and vital developments in twenty-first century Christianity.

So while the Church of God in Christ, which is headquartered right here in Memphis, has sent out missionary movements to the rest of the world, this SPS meeting features the return of the many voices of global pentecostalism to the heartland of North America. It thus provides a wonderful occasion to catch a glimpse of and hear about what is happening around the world. To find out more or to attend at least some of the sessions, go here: http://www.sps-usa.org/meetings/home.htm. Don’t miss it!

Dr. Amos Yong is the J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology and Director of Doctor of Philosophy Program at Regent University School of Divinity, Virginia Beach, Virginia.