Dr Candis Berends

Dr Candis Berends

A nomadic immigrant, Candis has lived in North America, Northern Africa, Europe, East and Southeast Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands. She has experience in teaching Bible courses to post-graduate literature students in secular classrooms and working with the church in a variety of overseas contexts. Her keen interests are history and literature, and her areas of focus within those fields include cross-cultural encounters, marginalized voices, the presence of pain and alterity, and portrayals of “the other,” particularly portrayals directed to children in historical texts. Currently, Candis is working on reframing her Ph.D. dissertation into a book exploring the relationship between British culture and historical mission. She has publications in Evangelical Quarterly and Brill’s forthcoming Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History 1500-1900.

Research interests

The history of indigenous mission, especially regarding China, Japan, Korea, and India; the relationship between mission and imperialism; Anglicanism’s participation in historical mission; ecumenical and education movements; missionary societies; missionary texts; portrayals of missionaries in modern and post-modern literature

Dr Jennifer Belcher

Dr Jennifer Belcher

Jennifer and her husband Ron serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators and are seconded to SIL in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Jennifer works in Scripture Use with a focus on oral programs such Oral Bible Storytelling and Story-Based Trauma Healing. She also co-manages a guest house and training center with her husband in Alotau, PNG

Jennifer received a Doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Her research focus is on forgiveness and the impact that the Story-Based Trauma Healing workshop has on forgiveness.

Dr Catherine Austin

Dr Catherine Austin

Catherine has experience in pioneer ministry in East Asia as well as ministry experience in Australia. She has a Bachelor of Psychology and PhD in Sociology, and her research has focused on Australian identity, belonging, social identity theory, cultural awareness, inclusion, diversity, migration and mobility. She is experienced in discourse, frame, comparative, and thematic analysis; in-depth interviews; focus group facilitation; ethnography; and surveys. She’s currently exploring the intersection of sociology, psychology, and missiology, with a particular interest in contexualisation.

Google Scholar

Research interests

She’s currently exploring the intersection of sociology, psychology, and missiology, with a particular interest in contexualisation.

ANC Research Training

Focusing on missiological, qualitative research

We are pleased to announce the start of ANC research training. Our training will be an informal, mentored approach focusing on participants’ specific interests, rather than simply presenting information. Note: The focus of the ANC is intercultural ministry and qualitative research.

Introduction to qualitative research

We will run two “Introduction to qualitative research” sessions in 2024:

  1. Wednesday 7th February 6-8pm (Sydney, Australia time)
  2. Monday 1st July 5-7pm (Sydney, Australia time)

The cost for attending an “Introduction to research” session is A$20. (Australian dollars)

10 Module Research Course

We will also run a 10-module research course (3 weeks each) that steps participants through the process of doing qualitative research. It is possible to sign up for the whole course or to just choose individual modules, as relevant. It is also possible to start at any time in the year and continue into the next year.

Here is the list of modules (with dates for 2024):

  1. Module 1 (Understanding Scholarship – What makes research different from normal personal investigations?) – February 12th – March 1st
  2. Module 2 (Research Question – Working out specifically what to research) – March 18th – April 12th [around Easter]
  3. Module 3 (Literature Review – Working out what knowledge already exists regarding what you want to research) – April 22nd – May 10th
  4. Module 4 (Ethics – How to do research without exploiting or harming others) – May 20th – June 7th
  5. Module 5 (Methods overview – Understanding how to do research involving people) – June 17th – July 5th
  6. Module 6 (Specific methods – How to match your research question to the right research method to discover helpful answers) – August 5th – 23rd
  7. Module 7 (Gathering data) – September 2nd – 20th
  8. Module 8 (Analysing data) – October 14th – November 1st
  9. Module 9 (Writing up research) – November 11th – 29th
  10. Module 10 (Publishing – Ensuring that the most relevant people hear about and are influenced by what you have learnt through your research) – December 2nd – 20th

Costs

The cost for the year-long course is as follows:

  • ANC members – A$30 per module or A$200 for the whole course
  • For those who are not ANC members – A$50 per module or A$450 for the whole course

All monies collected by the ANC are used to cover the administrative costs of the ANC and for research grants. The teaching is done on a voluntary basis by ANC Mentors.

Sign up

If you would like to sign up for ANC research training please use the linked application form.

If you have any questions, please email Dr Evelyn Hibbert.

Dr Tamie Davis

Dr Tamie Davis

Tamie Davis served with CMS Australia in Tanzania from 2013-2023 in association with St John’s University of Tanzania and Tanzania Fellowship of Evangelical Students (TAFES). She is passionate about recognising and heralding God’s work in the majority world church, especially among women. Her PhD explored the prosperity theology of TAFES women and how it is a theology of discipleship.

Orcid

Research interests

African theology, women’s theology, feminism and feminist theology, prosperity theology, hermeneutics, worldview paradigms, women in World Christianity

Dr Louise Simon

Dr Louise Simon photograph

Louise Simon has lived and worked in both East and Southeast Asia. She currently teaches in the areas of cultural anthropology, language acquisition, and world religions at CMS-Australia’s training college, St. Andrew’s Hall, in Melbourne. She is also an adjunct lecturer in missiology at Ridley College, Melbourne. As part of her role equipping cross-cultural workers, she undertakes research and writing on women in Islam for the When Women Speak network. In addition, Louise has extensive experience teaching English as an Additional Language in the adult education sector both in Australia and overseas. Louise’s PhD in East Asian Studies from the Australian National University was a participant observation study of Chinese high schools, examining the effects of the National University Entrance Examination on students and teachers.

ORCID

Research interests

Cultural anthropology; cross-cultural awareness and training; second language acquisition; women in Islam; East Asian studies; Southeast Asian studies.

Dr Jeannette Shubert

Jeannette Shubert (PhD Intercultural Education) is an Associate Dean of Academics at East Asia School of Theology (Singapore). In addition to her teaching and mentoring roles, she provides oversight for Advanced Studies programs, Formation, and Faculty Development. She has taught at seminaries in the Philippines, United States, and Kenya as well as a non-formal training program in Russia. She has focused on leadership development through theological education, discipleship, and formation. She also holds ThM and DMin degrees as well as a MSc in counselling. She has served with Cru since 1981.

Her PhD explored a gap in the literature related to mentoring within Asian theological education. Her grounded theory multi-case study identified that participation in faculty-led mentoring groups was a liminal experience that drew Asian theological students from 11 countries into a relational mentoring process with long-term impact in their perspective, lives, and ministries.

Research interests

orality, cultural dimensions of teaching and learning, theological education, mentoring, formation, leadership development, faculty development, discipleship, TCKs in mission contexts

Dr Patricia Harrison

Patricia has over 40 years of experience in Education, having taught in schools, university, and above all, in theological colleges, and has participated in training school teachers and ESL teachers.  She has taught Missiology, Anthropology, Linguistics, Cross-Cultural Communication, TESOL, Ethics and other subjects at several ACT and SCD theological colleges. She has also been an adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and has taught intensives in Latvia, the Philippines and other countries.

Over a number of years, Patricia has supervised students in their Master’s and Doctoral research with various theological colleges. These include London School of Theology/Middlesex University, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies/ Open University, Alphacrucis College, Tabor College Adelaide, and Asia Graduate School of Theology Alliance and other institutions.  She serves on the Programme Board of the MA program in Theological Education of London School of Theology, and on the Academic Board of the Australian College of Christian Studies. She is also on the Board of Worldview, the WEC college in Tasmania (now affiliated with Melbourne School of Theology).

Patricia served for about a decade with the World Evangelical Alliance Theological Commission as an international consultant in Theological Education, working with many missions and denominations on all continents. In retirement, she continues similar consultancy on request. Patricia is also well known in Theological Education by Extension circles, and has conducted numerous workshops on this around the world.  She currently serves as an honorary Senior Advisor to the INCREASE Association, which works with TEE programs across Asia, Russia and the Middle East.  (In this region alone there are currently about 100,000 TEE students.)

Research interests

teaching & learning in cross-cultural theological education; theological education by extension (TEE); language & literacy in mission and in international theological education  – and more generally, missiology and cross-cultural communication; Christian social and political ethics

Dr Birgit Herppich

Birgit teaches Practices of Mission at the School of Intercultural Studies of Fuller Theological Seminary and has been working in cross-cultural contexts with WEC International for almost 30 years. She served eight years in Ghana where she trained leaders and organized the children’s ministry department of the Evangelical Church of Ghana, as well as coaching new missionaries in their cultural adjustment and language learning. Since 2015 she is the International Membership Department Coordinator for WEC International. In this role she coaches national leaders and coordinates the preparation of new missionaries from almost 60 different nations for work in cross-cultural contexts around the world.

Her studies and research interests focus on the history and present realities of intercultural missionary training and practice, especially in Africa. They include the history of global Christianity and the current global missionary movement, especially in and from Africa, Contextualization, Intercultural Theology, Spirituality and Leadership Development. Her PhD focused on the missionary training of the largest German mission in the nineteenth century and its (often adverse) effects on their work in Ghana. Her passion is to minimise in present day contexts the dynamic of Trained Incapacity which her research revealed.

Research interests

the history of the global Christian movement, especially in Africa; African missionary engagement and migration; missiology, contextualization, intercultural communication and cross-cultural ministry; education and training in and for intercultural contexts; Christian spirituality and leadership development.

Dr Evelyn Hibbert

Evelyn has experience in pioneer church planting. She had the privilege of being involved in discipling, leadership development and theological education for a movement of thousands of people to Christ after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Evelyn is working on developing accessible theological training for these believers who are now scattered across Western Europe.

Evelyn has had an international ministry helping cross-cultural workers with strategic planning, church planting, multicultural teamwork, and developing and evaluating training programs (face-to-face and online) at all levels from pre-literate adult learners to doctoral research students.

ORCID, Academia, Google Scholar

Research interests

cross-cultural and multicultural ministry generally, insider movements, women’s movements, gendered space, leadership, cross-cultural teaching and learning, cross-cultural hermeneutics, academic literacy