The World Is My Parish

Wesleyan and Methodist traditions respond to our world's deepest challenges.

The World Is My Parish: Glad Tidings of Salvation in an Age of Crisis presents the compelling plenary presentations from the 15th Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, held at Keble College, Oxford, August 4-11, 2024.

In an era defined by interconnected global crises, economic inequality, systemic racism, climate collapse, political corruption, and social violence, this collection explores how Wesleyan and Methodist traditions offer vital resources for understanding and responding to our world's deepest challenges. Drawing on their rich heritage of salvation theology and holiness doctrine, leading scholars examine how these traditions can inform public theology for our troubled times.

What can Scripture teach us about addressing contemporary crises? How did early Wesleyans and later Methodist communities tackle social injustice, and what can we learn from their example? How might doctrines of salvation and atonement guide efforts to dismantle racism, sexism, and classism? What does a faithful Christian mission look like amid climate disruption and social upheaval?

These essays demonstrate that Methodist theological traditions are far from antiquated—they provide sophisticated frameworks for understanding salvation not merely as individual spiritual experience, but as God's transformative work in a world crying out for healing. For scholars, pastors, and anyone seeking theologically grounded responses to our age of crisis, this collection offers both ancient wisdom and fresh perspectives on the Gospel's power to address our most pressing challenges.