Faculty Profiles

Dr. Robert Gallagher's fields of specialization include research into biblical theology of mission, the expansion of Christianity from postapostolic times to 1800, and leadership development of ministry workers. His research interests are biblical cross-cultural narratives, hermeneutics of mission theology, Lukan biblical theology of mission, and pneumatology and ministry.

Gallagher has had a number of career trajectories such as material engineer, high-school teacher, minister of religion, and professor of intercultural studies. He is an ordained minister of the Australian CRC Churches International, and the Christian and Missionary Alliance in the United States. In addition, he has served as the president of the Midwest Mission Study Fellowship (2019-2020), and the American Society of Missiology (2010-2011).

His interests include watching period dramas, romantic comedies, and English mysteries, together with activities such as hiking and biking with his wife, and spending time with his five children and ten grandchildren.

Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA
Ph.D., Intercultural Studies, 1998

Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA
M.A., Theology, 1992

Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA
M.A., Missiology, 1991

University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
M.St.Ed., Education, 1983

University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
B.A., History & Philosophy of Science, 1980

University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
B.Sc., Material Engineering, 1975

• American Society of Missiology (President, 2010-2011; Editorial Comm., 2015-present)
• Association of Professors of Mission
• Evangelical Missiological Society (VP Corporate Affairs, 2014-2021)
• International Association for Mission Studies
• Midwest Mission Studies Fellowship (President, 2019-2020)
• Society for Pentecostal Studies (Missions Chair, 2000-2005)

• Jesus Reaching Across Cultures - October 12, 2021 - Gration Lecture, Wheaton College, IL 
• Who is the Greatest Among Us? - September 29. 2019 - International Baptist Church, Hong Kong 
• Road Trip: Jerusalem (Acts 4:23-31) - July 15, 2018 - Christ Community Church
• Professional Statement

Hollywood’s Missionary Women                                                                                                                                                              American Society of Missiology - June 21, 2021, Notre Dame, IN 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Prison Spirituality                                                                                                                                             Association of Professors of Mission - June 20, 2021, Notre Dame, IN 

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg’s Pietistic Mission Model                                                                                                                             Evangelical Missiological Society - October 9, 2020, Dallas, TX 

 Francis of Assisi’s Mission to Muslims                                                                                                                                                 Evangelical Missiological Society - September 14, 2019, Dallas, TX

Jesus and Money: the Dark and Light Sides of Kingdom Economics                                                                                                  American Society of Missiology - June 15, 2019, Notre Dame, IN  

Dying to Witness: Francis’ Mission to Muslims. 
North Central Evangelical Missiological Society - March 16, 2019, Deerfield, IL

Luther’s Reformation Mission
Society for Pentecostal Studies - March 1, 2019, Lanham, MD

Early Lutheranism in Scandinavia
Annual Evangelical Missiological Society - October 12, 2018, Dallas, TX

The Uniqueness of Christ in a Polarized World
Association of Professors of Mission - June 15, 2017, Wheaton, IL

Local-Church Chinese Immigration
Society for Pentecostal Studies - March 1, 2017, Springfield, MO

Chinese Immigrants in Chicago
North Central, Evangelical Missiological Society - October 14, 2016, Deerfield, IL

Soteriology in Luke-Acts
International Association for Mission Studies - August 7, 2016, Seoul, South Korea

Women Missionaries in Film
American Society of Missiology - June 20, 2015, St. Paul, MN

Covenantal Mateship in Australia
American Academy of Religion - November 23, 2014, San Diego, CA

Mission in Changing Landscapes
World Mission Institute - April 25, 2014, Chicago, IL

St. Paul’s Missionary Methods
Annual Evangelical Missiological Society - September 21, 2012, Chicago, IL

God’s Mission to Philistines
International Association for Mission Studies - July 18, 2012, Toronto, Canada

• MML 512: Leadership and Spiritual Formation
• MML 513: Theological and Systematic Foundation of the Missio Dei
• EVAN 558: Personal Development and Leadership
• INTR 504: Perspectives in Global Outreach
• INTR 514: Spiritual Formation & Witness
• INTR 514: Spiritual and Professional Formation
• INTR 521: Historical Foundations
• INTR 522: Contemporary Mission History
• INTR 531: Theological Foundations
• INTR 533: Great Thinkers in Mission
• INTR 534: Mission in Acts
• INTR 535: Holy Spirit & Mission
• INTR 556: Leadership Development
• INTR 561: Intercultural Communication
• INTR 571: Film & Mission
• INTR 667: Leadership in Cultural Context
• INTR 693: Intercultural Studies Capstone
• INTR 694: Missiology Mentoring Seminar

• Biblical Cross-Cultural Narratives
• Hermeneutics of Mission Theology
• Lukan Theology of Mission
• Pneumatology and Mission

Christianity and Missions. In Handbook of Christianity and Culture, Yaakov Ariel, Gregor Thuswaldner, and Jens Zimmermann, eds. New York: Routledge (in publication, 2021).

Rome: God’s mission That the wolf and the Lamb live and eat together. In Doing Mission Among Human Civilizations, Charles E. Van Engen, Jude Tiersma-Watson, and Stephen E. Burris, eds. Eugene, OR: Urban Loft Publishers (2021): 189-210. 

Centrality of the Cross: God’s Historic Plan of Salvation in Lukan Perspective. In Christ Among the Nations: Narratives of Transformation in Global Missions. With Paul W. Lewis, DeLonn L. Rance, and Sarita Gallagher Edwards. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 62. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2021): 3-11. 

The Holy Tears of a Weeping Harlot: Love that Saves. In Christ Among the Nations: Narratives of Transformation in Global Missions. With Paul W. Lewis, DeLonn L. Rance, and Sarita Gallagher Edwards. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 62. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2021): 12-24. 

Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Models the Way of Salvation: Early Eighteenth-Century Pietist Missions in Southern India. In Christ Among the Nations: Narratives of Transformation in Global Missions. With Paul W. Lewis, DeLonn L. Rance, and Sarita Gallagher Edwards. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 62. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2021): 25-38. 

Christ our Savior: How Can We Baptize All These Melanesians? In Christ Among the Nations: Narratives of Transformation in Global Missions. With Paul W. Lewis, DeLonn L. Rance, and Sarita Gallagher Edwards. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 62. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2021): 39-49. 

A Beloved Servant at Death’s Door: Faith that Sanctifies. In Christ Among the Nations: Narratives of Transformation in Global Missions. With Paul W. Lewis, DeLonn L. Rance, and Sarita Gallagher Edwards. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 62. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (in publication, 2021): 68-82. 

The Wittenberg Connection in Scandinavia: The Catalyst of the Reformation within Historical Complexity. In Sixteenth-Century Mission: Explorations in Protestant and Roman Catholic Theology and Practice, Robert L. Gallagher and Edward L. Smither, eds. Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press (2021): 60-90.

Communicating the Transforming Global Mission of Christ in Story. In Christ Among the Nations: Narratives of Transformation in Global Missions. With Sarita Gallagher Edwards, Paul W. Lewis, and DeLonn L. Rance. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 62. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2021): 191-214.

Dying to Witness: Early Franciscan Mission to the Muslim World. In Practicing Hope: Mission in Global Crises, Jerry M. Ireland and Michelle L. K. Raven, eds. Evangelical Missiological Society Series, No. 28. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Publishers (2020): 93-118. 

Teaching the Uniqueness of Christ in an Increasingly Polarized World. With Luisa J. Gallagher. In Teaching Mission in the Complex Public Arena: Developing Missiologically Informed Models of Engagement, Robert A. Danielson and A. Sue Russell, eds. Association of Professors of Mission Series. Wilmore, KY: First Fruits Press (2019): 117-134.

Beyond the Boundaries. In Breaking through the Boundaries: God’s Mission from the Outside In. With Sarita Gallagher Edwards, Paul Hertig, and Young Lee Hertig. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 59. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2019):171-183.

The Spirit’s Revolution: Breaking through the Boundaries of Superiority (Peter in Acts 10-11). In Breaking through the Boundaries: God’s Mission from the Outside In. With Sarita Gallagher Edwards, Paul Hertig, and Young Lee Hertig. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 59. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2019): 145-170.

Philistine Migration: Biblical Case Studies of Non-Israelite Migrants as Missionaries (King David and the Gittites in 1 & 2 Samuel). In Breaking through the Boundaries: God’s Mission from the Outside In. With Sarita Gallagher Edwards, Paul Hertig, and Young Lee Hertig. American Society of Missiology Series, No. 59. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2019): 71-93.

Transformational Teaching: Engaging in a Pneumatic Teaching Praxis, Thinking Theologically about Language Teaching: Christian Perspectives on an Educational Calling, Cheri L. Pierson and Will Bankston, eds. London: Langham Global Library (2017): 135-162.

Good News for All People: Engaging Luke’s Narrative Soteriology of the Nations, Contemporary Mission Theology: Engaging the Nations Robert L. Gallagher and Paul Hertig, eds American Society of Missiology Series, No. 53. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books (2017): 193-202.

Historic Models of Teaching Christian Mission: Case Studies Informing an Age of World Christianity, Teaching Christian Mission in an Age of World Christianity Robert A. Danielson and Linda F. Whitmer, eds. Association of Professors of Mission Series. Wilmore, KY: First Fruits Press (2017): 127-150.

Coming to Gath: Migration as Mission Among the Philistines, International Association for Mission Studies Series VanThanh Nguyen and John M. Prior, eds. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications (2014): 29-45.

Engaging in Pneumatic Mission Praxis, Transforming Teaching for Mission: Educational Theory and Practice Robert A. Danielson and Benjamin L. Hartley, eds. Association of Professors of Mission Series. Wilmore, KY: First Fruits Press (2014): 117-149.

Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s, St. Roland’s, or Ours?, Missionary Methods: Research, Reflection, and Realities Craig Ott and J.D. Payne, eds. Evangelical Missiological Society Series, No. 21. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library (2013): 3-22

Inner and Outer Dimensions of Mission: A Historical Survey of the Role of Spirituality in Latin American Protestant Missiological Writings, Journal of Latin American Theology: Christian Reflections from the Latino South 8:2 (Fall 2013): 87-101

Mission from the Inside Out: An Integrative Analysis of Selected Latin American Protestant ‘Writings’ in Spirituality and Mission, Missiology: An International Review 40:1 (January 2012): 9-22.

The Integration of Mission Theology and Practice: Zinzendorf and the Early Moravians, Mission Studies: Journal of the International Association for Mission Studies 25:2 (October 2008): 185-210.

Zinzendorf and the Early Moravians: Pioneers in Leadership Selection and Training, Missiology: An International Review 36:2 (April 2008): 237-244.

‘Me and God, We’d be Mates’: Toward an Aussie Contextualized Gospel, International Bulletin of Missionary Research30:3 (July 2006): 127-132.

Christ Among the Nations: Narratives of Transformation in Global Missions.
With Paul W. Lewis, DeLonn L. Rance, and Sarita Gallagher Edwards.
American Society of Missiology Series, No. 62.
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2021

Sixteenth-Century Mission: Explorations in Protestant and Roman Catholic Theology and Practice.
With Edward L. Smither.
Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021

Breaking through the Boundaries: Biblical Perspectives on Mission from the the Outside In 
With Paul Hertig, Young Lee Hertig, and Sarita Gallagher Edwards
Orbis Books, 2019

Encountering the History of Missions: From the Early Church to Today
With John Mark Terry
Baker Academic, 2017

Contemporary Mission Theology: Engaging the Nations
Edited with Paul Hertig
American Society of Missiology Series
Orbis Books, 2017

Landmark Essays in Mission and World Christianity
Edited with Paul Hertig
Orbis Books, Illustrated edition, 2009

Footprints of God: A Narrative Theology of Mission
Edited with Charles Van Engen and Nancy Thomas
Wipf and Stock, 2011

Mission in Acts: Ancient Narratives in Contemporary Context
Edited with Paul Hertig
American Society Of Missiology Series
Orbis Books, 2004

The Missional Expansion of the Early Church