Faith in Motion: Religious Perspectives on Immigration

Dear Colleagues,

Migration worldwide is at its historic peak, including forced migration and internal displacement. However, while all major faith traditions include principles that call for hospitality to the stranger, religious nationalism is growing globally, spreading attitudes of superiority to outsiders that obscure the contributions of immigrants and discourages guestfriendliness. Yet, there is a transnational aspect to faith that offers a powerful counterforce to these trends. As Michael Budde states about Christianity, “When Christians take ecclesial solidarity as their starting point for discernment - political, economic, liturgical and otherwise - it makes them members of a community broader than the largest nation-state, more pluralistic than any culture, more deeply rooted in the lives of the poor and marginalized than any revolutionary movement, more capable of exemplifying the notion of ‘E pluribus unim’ than any empire past, present or future.”  

This Special Issue of Religions will include contributions from a diverse group of migration scholars around the world who are also deeply committed to their religious faith and who write about the intersection of faith and migration. They will each explore a different aspect of the potential and actual impact of transnational faith on migration. Some will bring a social sciences perspective; others will approach the question with the primary lens of missiology or theology. Chapters will focus on topics such as intergenerational dynamics and discipleship in Ethiopian Diaspora churches in North America, transnational identity and exchanges among Muslim migrants in South Korea, the theology of a moving god, and sanctuary movements and transnational faith. While we will benefit from authors with a variety of religious perspectives and affiliations, we will pay particular attention to contributions that respond to the serious and urgent challenge of Christian nationalism to ecclesial solidarity. 

We hope that this Special Issue will spark further study on the issue for the benefit of both scholars and practitioners. Our ultimate goal is the faithful welcome of and solidarity with migrants as a testimony to the positive power of faith in our world.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. The abstract should clearly state the focus of the paper, what is novel about it, as well as its main findings and conclusions. Please send this to the Guest Editors, and cc the Assistant Editor of Religions, Clare Chai, at clare.chai@mdpi.com. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue, and full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Alexia Salvatierra
Dr. Sam George
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• migration
• forced displacement
• transnational faith
• Christian nationalism
• missiology
• multifaith partnership
• hospitality