About

About Me
Hi! My name is Christopher B. James.  I am associate professor of evangelism and missional Christianity at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, where I oversee the Master of Arts in Mission and Discipleship. I hold a PhD in Practical Theology from at Boston University School of Theology with a dual-concentration in Church; Society and Evangelism and a connection with Center for Global Christianity and Mission.  I also have degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div) and Wheaton College (B.A.) and a certificate from the Renovare Institute. 



My research interests include: ecclesiology, congregational studies, missional theology, evangelism, spiritual formation, discipleship, contemplation and action, the urban West, American Evangelicalism, Lesslie Newbigin, and church planting/new monasticism/emerging church.  

I'm also Executive Director of Missio Madison and the lead researcher for the Dane Churches Project

Through my work, I hope to bring together contemporary movements in missional ecclesiology and spiritual formation in the context of the church as we attempt to discern faithful forms of Christian community and mission in the rapidly changing modern West.  

I am the author of Church Planting in Post-Christian Soil: Theology and Practice (Oxford University Press: 2017) as well as several articles and chapters -- some available here on Academia.

If you'd like to contact me regarding questions or invitations to teach, speak, or publish, click here.

Why "Jesus Dust"?
There's an old saying from around the time of Jesus, that a good disciple is one who stays close enough to be covered in the dust kicked up by the feet of the Rabbi they follow.  I post here in hopes that I, and others, might be covered in the dust stirred by Jesus.