Bruce Yoder, PhD
Core Adjunct Faculty
About Bruce
Bruce is a scholar of world Christianity and mission history and Co-Executive Coordinator for Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission. His academic interests grew out of living and working in Latin America and Africa in roles related to community development, missions, and theological education for twenty-six years.
Bruce is fascinated by the resilience and diversity of the world Christian movement and the webs of relationships that birthed and nurture it. Through his engagement with students and colleagues, he seeks to increase his and others’ intercultural and historical understanding and demonstrate how transnational engagement shapes practice and theology. Bruce鈥檚 current focus is on the evolution of mission thought and practice among groups in the Anabaptist tradition over the twentieth century.
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
- 鈥淢ission Engagement in Nigeria in an Epoch of Partnership: A Case in the Anabaptist Tradition.鈥� Anabaptist Witness 5, no. 2 (October 2018): 105-124.
- 鈥淢ennonite Mission Theorists and Practitioners in Southeastern Nigeria: Changing Contexts and Strategy at the Dawn of the Postcolonial Era.鈥� International Bulletin of Mission Research 37, no. 3 (2013): 138-144.
Book Chapters
- 鈥淒ialogue as Theological Method: Mennonite Missionaries, West African Churches, and 21st Century Anabaptist Identity.鈥� In Recovering from the Anabaptist Vision: New Essays in Anabaptist Identity and Theological Method. Studies in Anabaptist Theology and Ethics 1, edited by Laura Schmidt Roberts, Paul Martins, and Myron Penner, 127- 149 London: T&T Clark, 2020.
Encyclopedia Articles
- 鈥淲estafrika (Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso) und Zentralafrika (Kongo, Angola)鈥� with Francisca Ibanda in Mennonitisches Lexikon Band V, ed. Hans-J眉rgen Goertz. Posted January 27, 2018. http://www.mennlex.de/doku.php?id=loc:westafrika_und_zentralafika.
- Bio – 鈥淲eaver, Edwin (1903-1989) and Irene (Lehman) (b. 1910), Pioneer Missionaries Among African Initiated Churches,鈥� History of Missiology website. Posted October 1, 2011. http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/w-x-y-z/weaver-edwin-1903-1989-and-irene-lehman-b-1910/.
- Bio – 鈥淎upiais, Francis (1877-1945), Missionary, Educator and Ethnographer,鈥� History of Missiology website. Posted January 23, 2010. http://digilib.bu.edu/mission/missionary-biographies/aupiais-francis-1877-1945.
Other Publications
- Review of Unless a Grain of Wheat: A Story of Friendship Between African Independent Churches and North American Mennonites, (Carlisle, UK: Langham Publishing, 2021), in Journal of African Christian Biography 7 no. 2 (April, 2022)
- Review of The Many Faces of Jesus Christ by Volker K眉ster, (Maryknoll, N. Y.: Orbis Books, 2001), in The Review of AICs: A Practitioner鈥檚 Journal Produced by and for the Network on AICs and Missions 12 no. 3 (Sept.-Dec. 2001): 74-76.
Conference Papers
- 鈥淪tructures of Preservation and Access and the Desire for Stories that Build Understanding and Empathy,鈥� a paper presented at The Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism鈥檚 symposium 鈥淧ower and Preservation: Enabling Access to the Sources Behind Our Stories,鈥� at Goshen College, Goshen, IN, June 16-19, 2019.
- 鈥淢ennonite Missionary Contributions to the Emergence of 鈥榃orld Christianity鈥� as a Field of Study,鈥� a paper presented at the Mennonite Scholars and Friends Annual Forum at the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature 2018 annual meetings at Denver, CO, November 16, 2018.
- 鈥淒ialogue as Theological Method: Mennonite Missionaries, West African Churches, and 21st Century Anabaptist Identity,鈥� a paper presented at the Humanitas Anabaptist- Mennonite Centre鈥檚 conference 鈥淎nabaptist Theology: Methods and Practices,鈥� at Trinity Western University, Langley, BC, June 7-9, 2017. Page 3
- 鈥淩eligious Innovation and Vitality in Southeastern Nigeria in the mid-20th Century: The Critique of British Colonial Rule as a Clue to the Emergence of African Initiated Churches,鈥� a paper presented at the American Society of Missiology Conference, Techny IL, June 19, 2011.
- 鈥淧artnering with Emerging Leadership Training Initiatives,鈥� with Nancy Frey, a paper presented at the Shenk Mission Lectureship, Elkhart, IN, October 31, 2009.