James K. Wellman

James K. Wellman Jr. is Professor and Chair of the Comparative Religion Program in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Recently he has been named Term Professor in Global Christian Studies and is leading a new Initiative for Global Christian Studies. His areas of expertise are in American religious culture, history, and politics. He also works on religion and global issues, particularly related to religion, violence and human security. More recently Wellman has created a Cross Cultural Religious Literacy program, studying ways to encourage religious literacy across difference. Wellman’s publications include an award-winning book, The Gold Coast Church and the Ghetto: Christ and Culture in Mainline Protestantism (Illinois, 1999); edited volumes: Belief and Bloodshed: Religion and Violence Across Time and Tradition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007), and Religion and Human Security: A Global Perspective (Oxford, 2012). His 2008 monograph, Evangelical vs. Liberal: The Clash of Christian Cultures in the Pacific Northwest (Oxford), received Honorable Mention for the Distinguished Book Award by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. His 2012 book on Rob Bell and the New American Christianity gives a comprehensive study covering Bell's rise to prominence and the reasons for it (Abingdon, 2012). His most recent book, High on God: How the Megachurch Won the Heart of America (Oxford, 2020), gives a comprehensive theory and study of the success and failure of American megachurches. Wellman can be followed on twitter at wellman4444, and reached on his author Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JamesKWellman.