Baptist Scholars International Roundtable (BSIR)
The Baptist Scholars International Roundtable
Formerly known as Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy, the BSIR promotes scholarship from Baptist perspectives across the ages and around the globe by facilitating a scholarly forum for exchange of ideas. This community is international, intergenerational, interdisciplinary, and invites a diversity of Baptist affiliations. At the heart of the Roundtable is formation for academic stewardship in which a newer generation is welcomed into an international Baptist Academy and formed to preserve and sustain both academic and faith communities. At annual roundtable meetings, hosted at Christ Church, Oxford, England, senior scholars (BSIR Fellows) and a Visiting Fellow engage with the developing ideas of doctoral students, early-career and mid-career faculty (BSIR Scholars) presenting papers selected through a competitive process.
Location and Leadership
Christ Church, Oxford, England, provides a stable community for the BSIR to return and engage with Baptist scholars in the United Kingdom and globally, while tours of Regent's Park College and Angus Library and Archive forge a unique connection to historical Baptist presence in England. Annual gatherings for worship, fellowship, and paper presentation take place during the summer and are centralized around a theme. The BSIR publishes its work periodically (see here) and remains connected through a virtual network. Emeritus Director and BSIR Fellow, Dr. Roger Ward of Georgetown College, KY established and led the program (formerly known as Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy) from July 2004 to July 2018. Dr. Kim Kellison, Dr. Laine Scales and Dr. João Chaves currently direct the BSIR from its administrative hub, Baylor University Department of Religion, Waco, Texas.
Currents in Religion
Hear BSIR Co-Directors Laine Scales and João Chaves speak about the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable and their new book Baptists and the Kingdom of God (Baylor University Press, 2023).
The 2025 Baptist Scholars International Roundtable will take place August 2-6, 2025.
The Baptist Scholars International Roundtable (BSIR) invites proposals for its 19th annual meeting, to be convened at Christ Church, University of Oxford, August 2-6, 2025. Our Distinguished Fellow for 2025 Dr. Raimundo Barreto, Associate Professor of World Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary. The 2025 BSIR conference theme will be “Baptists and Global Missions.” Scholars from a broad array of disciplines will consider how Baptists worldwide have thought about missions and engaged in missionary work—as well as how locals of different backgrounds appropriated, resisted, and/or disseminated the message and work of Baptist missionaries. We are particularly interested in approaches centered around Baptist groups outside the United States and Europe, even if such groups are studied in relation to Baptists in the West.
Each year, BSIR accepts seven papers from international scholars for discussion at the Roundtable. BSIR Fellows offer responses, followed by group discussion. To promote a vibrant conversation, all participants agree to prepare in advance for engagement with each paper. BSIR offers publication opportunities in journals or edited volumes.
We encourage participation by scholars from all career stages, especially junior scholars and doctoral candidates. While papers should pertain to the Baptist expression of Christianity, scholars from all faiths are welcome.