MEET THE TEAM

Dr. Patricia Christian | Assistant Project Leader

Canisius College | Buffalo, NY

Dr. Christian is a quantitative and statistical sociologist with much experience in quantitative research on Christianity, especially in Central America.  Christian assisted Wadkins in the Templeton funded El Salvador project and has published numerous articles on the project such as: “Pentecostal Power in El Salvador: The Latest Survey Evidence.”  Latin American Research Review, Vol 50, No. 1, 140-159.

Dr. Afe Adogame | Regional Leader of Africa

Princeton Theological Seminary | Princeton, New Jersey

Dr. Adogame, who was born and raised in Nigeria, is a leading scholar of the African Diaspora and Evangelical and Pentecostal expressions in African megachurches. His teaching and research interests are broad but tend to focus on interrogating new dynamics of religious experiences and expressions in Africa and the African Diaspora, with a focus on African Christianities and new indigenous religious movements; the interconnectedness between religion and migration, globalization, politics, economy, media and the civil society. Author of many books and articles, Adogame’s recent publications include: The Public Face of African New Religious Movements in Diaspora: Imagining the Religious ‘Other’ (Ashgate, 2014); Engaging the World: Christian Communities in Contemporary Global Societies (Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series. Regnum, 2014); and ed., Who is Afraid of the Holy Ghost? Pentecostalism and Globalization in Africa and Beyond (Africa World Press, 2011).  

Dr. Andrew Johnson | Regional Leader of Brazil

Metropolitan State University | Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Johnson was the director of the successful Templeton funded Project in Brazil, through the Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative.  This project involved a study of Christianity inside of the prisons and surrounding neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, and it resulted in If I Give My Soul, published by Oxford University Press in 2017, and an accompanying documentary film by the same name. Most recently Johnson worked with the Center for the Study of Religion and Civic Society on their Religious Competition and Creative Innovation project in Los Angeles and Seoul, and published several articles as part of that project.

Dr. Chad Bauman | Regional Leader of India

Butler University | Indianapolis, IN

Dr. Bauman is an historian of religion and focuses primarily on Christianity in India.  Most recently, through the auspices of the Templeton funded, Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative, Bauman published by Oxford University Press as Pentecostals, Proselytization, and anti-Christian Violence in Contemporary India, and focuses on Pentecostalism in India and its relationship to violence against Christians there. Professor Bauman is currently working on a project commissioned by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs at Georgetown University and the Center for Civic and Human Rights at Notre Dame University.

Dr. Jeaney Yip | Regional Leader of Indonesia

University of Sydney | Sydney, Australia

Dr. Yip is an organizational sociologist and her research is multidisciplinary.  It involves the study of discourse and identity in relation to organizations specifically in contexts such as religion.  Dr. Yip has studied megachurches in Southeast Asia ever since she wrote her dissertation on the subject.  She has published extensively on churches in Australia (Hillsong), Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.  Most recently she published “Reaching the City of Kuala Lumpur and Beyond: Being a Pentecostal Megachurch in Malaysia,” in Pentecostal Megachurches in Southeast Asia: Negotiating Class, Consumption and the Nation, ed. Chong T, ISEAS publishing, Singapore, 2018; and '"Whatever Works": The Marketplace Mission of Singapore's City Harvest Church', Journal of Macromarketing, vol. 36, no. 4. 

Dr. Joel Tejedo | Regional Leader of The Philippines

Asia Pacific Theological Seminary | Baguio City, The Philippines.

Dr. Tejedo is a sociologist who for the past five years has been part of the The Tyndale Research Center on Social Theology in Cambridge England, and the Lausanne Global Consultation on Prosperity, Simplicity and the Gospel.  He was also part of the study group of ISEAS Research Center on Pentecostal Mega Churches in Asia and published a chapter on Filipino megachurches in their recently published anthology.  Tejedo has also published two books on Religion and social capital, How Filipino Pentecostals Build Communities (Sambayanihan Publishers, 2011) and The Church in the Public Square: Engaging our Christian Witness in Society (Sambayanihan Publishers, 2016).

Dr. Kwangsuk Yoo | Regional Leader of South Korea

Kyung Hee University | Seoul, South Korea

Dr. Yoo is a Research Professor of Kyung Hee University. He teaches Religion and Ecology, Religion and Modern Culture, and Philosophy of Religion. His research topics deal with a theoretical and empirical construction of religious rationality, religious growth and decline in the East Asian context.  He has done a few individual and collective research projects funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea or the John-Templeton Foundation. He received a MA and Ph.D of religious studies from the University of Ottawa, Canada.

Tyler Kauffmann | Film Director

Canisius College | Buffalo, NY

Tyler Kauffmann is a director/producer/editor with extensive experience in international videography, educational films, and promotional video content. He has worked for over a decade with faith-based and non-profit organizations, and is currently a video and media director at The Chapel, a megachurch in Buffalo, New York. He is also the director of the documentary "The Poverty Parallel", filmed on-location in Tanzania, which won two Telly Awards.

Mary Ann Langlois | Grant Manager

Canisius College | Buffalo, NY

Mary Ann Langlois has worked with grants for over 35 years, the last 12 years at Canisius College. She is responsible for all administrative contact with the John Templeton Foundation regarding reports, budget changes, and closeout. Mary Ann works with the Grant Budget Manager to ensure the project is managed according to the guidelines.

Maggie Burkard | Budget Manager

Canisius College | Buffalo, NY

Maggie Burkard, Academic Affairs Support and Grant Budget Manager, has worked at Canisius College for 12 years. She is responsible for monitoring grant budgets, processing payment of all expenses and preparing financial reporting required by the John Templeton Foundation.