This month, Langham Publishing had the privilege of attending the annual conference of the Society for the Study of Theology. The Society exists to promote excellence in the study of Christian Theology by facilitating and shaping theological thought, conversation and community and is for anyone with graduate-level interest in theology. The conference attracts a broad spectrum of theologians not just from the UK, but from Europe, the US and as far afield as Australia. This year the topic was “Grace and Theology.”
Around 200 people attended the event, reported by members of the SST committee as their best attendance to date, and there was good interest in our books of Majority World theology. Many attendees had never heard of Langham and were thrilled to see theological voices being published from around the world. Short papers were presented at the 2-day conference, along with plenary sessions and seminars, with N. T. Wright as the plenary speaker who closed the conference.
We had many encouraging conversations, both at the booth, and also as we shared our meals together on site at the University of Warwick. Two women we had the privilege of meeting were Dr Adesola Akala and Dr Dulcie McKenzie. Dr Akala is a New Testament scholar with a theological focus on Johannine and Pauline literature. She is a Research Fellow at St John’s College, Durham University and presented a short paper at the conference entitled “Grace, Glory and Truth in John’s Prologue.” Dr McKenzie is the lead tutor for Black and Asian Theology at The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Educationin Birmingham, and had been the keynote speaker at the launch of African Voices: Towards African British Theologies edited by Israel Olofinjana. 
Both of these women were inspiring and challenging, especially in providing us with a glimpse into the difficulties black women face as a result of systemic racism and sexism that still exists within the theological academy.
As we continue to spread the word about the excellent evangelical, academic books being produced by scholars from around the Majority World, at events such as the SST conference, it is a privilege to introduce people to our first-time authors, female writers, African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern contributors, and many more – all writing theology for the global glory of God and resulting in Langham Publishing reflecting the beauty and diversity of the body of Christ.
If you are interested in finding out more about how our books can be available in your library, to be used as a course book, or to be reviewed in a publication, please contact us at literature@langham.org. We’d love to hear from you.
