”Migrant religiosity enriches theological discourse”

”Things were starting to move” — that was the theme of Ulrich Schmiedel’s inaugural lecture at Lund University in September 2024, and it also became the theme of an issue of Uppdrag Mission. ”From your perspective, what do you see starting to move?” was the question that we asked some of Ulrich’s colleagues in different countries and some parish and diocese workers in the Church of Sweden. Dion Forster,  DTh (Systematic Theology), PhD (New Testament), professor of Public Theology at the Faculty of Religion and Theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Extraordinary Professor at the Faculty of Theology of Stellenbosch University, plus Research Fellow at Wesley House in Cambridge, sent us these impressions:

Global Public Theology thrives when it embraces the voices and perspectives of theologians from the Majority World, particularly those reflecting at the intersections of faith and public life. By creating space for diverse insights, Public Theology moves beyond the dominance of Western epistemologies, engaging more inclusively with the complexities of faith in a globally entangled religious landscape. Migrant religiosity, the growing influence of African and other non-Western Christianities, and the persistence of religion in public spheres, challenges secularization narratives and enriches theological discourse. Such inclusivity not only enhances Public Theology but also offers deeper understandings of faith and public life in a pluralistic, interconnected world.