Call for Papers for Study Group “Religious Freedom, Persecution and Mission” at IAMS General Assembly 2026 in Pretoria

In addition to the general call for papers found on the IAMS website IAMS 2026 Assembly we would like to encourage you especially to submit paper proposals that may be presented in the sessions of our IAMS Study Group “Religious Freedom, Persecution and Mission”. 

As explained in the description of our study group on the IAMS home page, we encourage participants to explore a wide range of topics related to mission, religious freedom and persecution. Please see the list of suggested topics here: IAMS Study group Religious freedom. Since we are interested in exploring the intersection between religious freedom and mission, the proposed papers should have relevance to both fields. This typically involves an interdisciplinary approach, combining different fields of research. For example, this may include exploring links between religious freedom and theology of mission, biblical basis of mission and religious freedom, the role of religious freedom in mission history, intercultural theology, or applied missiology, etc. It could also be approached from the perspective of a non-theological academic discipline, such as sociology of religion, legal studies, political science, and others. 

Considering the conference topic “Walking Together in Mission: Facing Global Challenges for a Sustainable World” and its subsections, the following associations come to mind:

Walking Together in Mission: Mission is inherently a shared journey that requires collaborative effort and collective wisdom. The concept of walking together in mission highlights the global church’s responsibility to support and stand alongside Christians under pressure for their faith. Relevant paper topics for our study group could include historical explorations of the contribution of the suffering church to the development of the global mission theology; importance of solidarity with the persecuted; religious freedom advocacy as part of applied missiology, exploration of different forms of partnering with and support to the persecuted church, how persecution shapes mission theology and praxis, as well as other topics.

Facing Global Challenges for a Sustainable World: Ongoing conflicts, the relentless influx of refugees, and escalating global economic inequalities contribute to increasing political polarization, exacerbating tensions and fostering opposition to differing viewpoints. Most of the global challenges have a direct impact on those persecuted for their faith and often make their plight even harder. Relevant paper topics for our study group could include exploring the impact of growing nationalism and right-wing extremism on mission and religious freedom; the impact of politization of religious freedom on church and mission; mission and discipleship among refugees from countries with high levels of religious persecution (Iran, North Korea, etc); the intersection between climate crisis and persecution, as well as best practices examples from the persecuted churches in addressing these challenges, 

These are just examples of possible topics. Any other topic relevant to the theme of the Assembly and addressing the intersection between mission and religious freedom is warmly welcome. This call for papers is not limited to the members of this study group. We warmly encourage you to share it with colleagues, students and other relevant persons who could be interested in submitting a paper relevant for the work of this study group.  

Please follow the procedures outlined in the general call for papers and submit to the address provided there. When submitting your paper, we strongly encourage you to specifically state that you wish your contribution to be placed in the study group “Religious Freedom.” We would also appreciate it if you could copy us (RLilleaasen@fjellhaug.no, vh@stefanus.no) when submitting your paper proposal so that we are aware of the submission.

Study group’s Convener: Dr. Robert Lilleaasen

Email: RLilleaasen@fjellhaug.no

Study group’s Co-convener: Vija Herefoss

Email: vh@stefanus.no