Luis Tapia

ISGA Research Fellow (2021-2024)

About: Luis grew up in Valparaiso, Chile, and encountered Anabaptism through theological studies and pastoral ministry in the Baptist Church in Chile and the Mennonite Church in Ecuador. After finishing an MDiv in theology at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Luis began a PhD program in theology at the IBTS Centre/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. From 2021-2024 Luis served as a Research Fellow with the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism.

Luis currently teaches theology at the Seminario Bíblico Anabautista Hispano (Hispanic Anabaptist Biblical Seminary) and is the Director of Practical Leadership at AMBS. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Luis’s research is focused on the intersections of Ana/baptist theology, postliberal theology, U.S Latino/a theology, and mission and global Anabaptism.

Prior to studying at AMBS, he earned a Master in Philosophy from the University of Chile in Santiago de Chile; a Bachelor in Theology from Baptist Theological Seminary in Santiago de Chile; and a Bachelor in Education and a Bachelor in Philosophy from Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile.

Why are you passionate about research, education, and publishing related to global Anabaptism?

I’m passionate about the possibilities of advancing the Anabaptist faith tradition in different cultural contexts, such as the Latin American context and the U.S. Latino/a context. I’m also interested in theological education from an Anabaptist perspective and theological production within the Anabaptist tradition in the current postmodern context.

Publications:

“Bartolomé de Las Casas’s Coloniality as a Warning for the Christian Mission in Latin America.” In Journal of Latin American Theology: Christian Reflections from the Latino South, 19 no. 1, 2024, p. 11-33. ISSN: 1669-8649.

Co-authored with Jamie Pitts. “Anabaptist Theology.” In St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology, edited by Brendan N. Wolfe et al. University of St Andrews, 2022–. Article published October 19, 2023. https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/AnabaptistTheology.

Review of Atando Cabos: Latinx Contributions to Theological Education, by Elizabeth Conde-Frazier. Reading Religion, American Academy of Religion (AAR), September 22, 2022. https://readingreligion.org/9780802879011/atando-cabos/.

Review of A Gospel for the Poor: Global Social Christianity and the Latin American Evangelical Left, by David C. Kirkpatrick. Anabaptist Witness 1 vol. 9 (April 2022): https://www.anabaptistwitness.org/journal_entry/david-c-kirkpatrick-a-gospel-for-the-poor-global-social-christianity-and-the-latin-american-evangelical-left/.

Public engagements and presentations:

“Christian Nonviolence Here and Now: William Stringfellow’s Rejection of an Ideological Pacifism.” Paper presented at Eighth Biennial Graduate Student Conference, Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, Toronto, Ontario, June 15, 2018.

“Perspective from Emerging Leaders”. Panelist at Mennonite Mission Network Consultation: The Mission of God and Global Partnerships, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, January 10, 2018.

“A Testimony of the Holy Spirit’s Work in Ecuador.” Paper presented in the panel “The Holy Spirit as Divine Reality in the Mission of the Church, II,” 18th Believers’ Church Conference World, Spirit and the Renewal of the Church: Believers’ Church, Ecumenical and Global Perspectives, Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana, September 15, 2017.

Past and present engagement with the ISGA:

Translation to Spanish of Roth, John D., with Thomas Yoder Neufeld. ‘Believe and Be Baptized’: Conversations on Baptism in the Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition. Goshen, Indiana: Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, 2022.

ISGA Administrative Assistant, 2021-2022.