7 Recent & Upcoming Publications by SL Fellowship Members You Can’t Miss
The scholars we have the joy and honor of partnering with are not only serving the Church through leadership, teaching, and advocacy – they’re also shaping global theological conversations through their writing.
From Bethlehem to the classrooms in Africa and Latin America, these new and upcoming books reflect the depth, courage, and contextual insight of our fellowship. Whether you’re a professor, pastor, student, or just someone who cares about learning from and with the global Church, these six publications offer vital perspectives for our time.
Chinyere Priest, Felicia, Verena Schafroth, and Marilyn Naidoo, eds. Empowering Voices: African Women in Theological Education. Langham Global Library, 2025.
Through biblical, theological, and experiential insights, the contributors examine gender dynamics in theological education and church life, emphasizing the need to empower women’s leadership and to collaboratively redefine gender roles and relations within African Christian contexts.
This edited volume includes contributions from:
- John Jusu, a missionary of the Addociation of Evangelicals in African and the current Africa Regional Director for Overseas Council. Scholar Leaders supported John during his PhD in Educational Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, USA.
- David Kirwa Tarus, Leader Studies graduate and current executive director of the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA).
Isaac, Munther. Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2025.
“I am not a politician. I am a theologian by training and a pastor to multiple churches, and, for me, speaking about Gaza is primarily a pastoral mandate.”
Munther Isaac is a Palestinian Christian theologian who serves as pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour. He also directs the Bethlehem Institute of Peace and Justice as well as the Christ at the Checkpoint conferences. Scholar Leaders supported him for his PhD studies at the Oxford Center for Mission Studies.
Horton, Michael S., Elizabeth W. Mburu, and Justin S. Holcomb, eds. Prophet, Priest, and King: Christology in Global Perspective. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2025.
This collaborative volume brings together leading Majority World scholars to explore Christ’s identity through his roles as prophet, priest, and king. Drawing on diverse global perspectives, it offers a unified yet contextualized Christology that deepens the church’s shared understanding of Jesus and affirms the global, catholic nature of Christian faith.
It includes contributions from:
- Nelson Morales Fredes, dean and professor of Bible and Bible Exegesis at the Central American Theological Seminary (SETECA) in Guatemala. Scholar Leaders had the privilege of supporting Nelson during his PhD studies in New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL, USA.
- Wageeh Mikhail, Scholar Leaders’ Director of Engagement with Islam and director of the Network of Centers for Christian-Muslim Relations (NCCMR). He has published and spoken widely on medieval Arab Christianity. Scholar Leaders supported Wageeh for his PhD in Arab Christian Theology at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Sebahene, Alfred, ed. Faith and Public Life: Rethinking Church in the 21st Century. Langham Global Library, 2025.
This edited volume gathers global Christian voices to reflect on the Church’s public witness amid shifting cultural, social, and missional realities. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by hope the essays call for renewed engagement with the world –one that embraces Christ’s reconciling love and reimagines the Church’s role in advancing justice, faith, and transformation in today’s complex contexts.
It features contributions from several SL fellowship members, including:
- Current Leader Studies scholar and co-leader of the IFES Latin America Logos & Cosmos Initiative, Alejandra Ortiz;
- Sunday Bobai Agang, Leader Studies graduate and associate professor of Ethics, Theology, and Public Policy at ECWA Theological Seminary in Kagoro, Nigeria;
- Eva Wong Suk Kyun, director of the Malaysia Pentecostal Research Centre and member of the Women’s Peer Leader Forum;
- and David Kirwa Tarus, Leader Studies graduate and current executive director of the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA).
Coming later this year:
Munayer, John S. and Samuel S. Munayer, eds. The Cross and the Olive Tree: Cultivating Palestinian Theology amid Gaza. Orbis Books, 2025.
Publication Date: September 24
This multivocal volume brings together Palestinian theologians from Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Diaspora to reflect on the meaning of Christian theology for Palestinian life today. The contributors aim to bear witness to a Gospel that resists death and seeks the flourishing of life.
Preorder your copy here.
John S. Munayer, co-editor of the volume, is the Director of International Engagement at the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue. A current Leader Studies scholar, he is pursuing a PhD in World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Fisk, Bruce N. and J. Ross Wagner, eds. Being Christian After the Desolation of Gaza. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2025.
Publication Date: September
In this urgent volume, Christian voices –Palestinian, Jewish, Latin American, and USian– grapple with the moral and theological crisis raised by Gaza’s desolation and the troubling support it continues to receive from many who claim the name of Christ. These essays emerge from years of lived experience, prayerful dialogue, and a shared commitment to just peace. With humility and conviction, the contributors invite readers to listen deeply, question assumptions, and consider what faithful Christian witness demands in the face of profound injustice and suffering.
It features contributions from various SL fellowship members and friends, including:
- Ruth Padilla DeBorst, renowned Latin American theologian and missiologist, and participant of the Women’s Peer Leader Forum;
- Current Leader Studies scholar Anton Deik;
- and Yousef Kamal AlKhouri, academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College.
Preorder your copy here.
Syniy, Valentyn. Serving God Under Siege: How War Transformed a Ukrainian Community. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2025.
Publication Date: October 9
When Russia invaded Ukraine, a seminary president led his students and faculty to safety, and kept their mission alive. Part memoir, part wartime theology, part call to courage – this is essential reading for anyone who refuses to look away from the cost of faithfulness in a broken world.
Preorder your copy today here.
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Each of these publications reminds us that theology is never abstract. It’s forged in context, refined through serious reflection and experience, and aimed toward faithfulness.
We celebrate the voices of these scholars who are contributing to the global Church’s witness through these powerful works.
An earlier version of this post was included in our summer newsletter.