Andrew MacDonald

Dr. MacDonald serves as the associate director of the WCBGC, overseeing the Center’s initiatives and as a key leader in its annual Amplify Conference.

An expert in American religious history, Dr. MacDonald received his Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School after an M.A. in Philosophy of Religion from Talbot School of Theology. His research is focused on the ways in which Protestant adapted their theologies and practices of mission, particularly in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Throughout his tenure at the WCBGC, Dr. MacDonald has lead research on the history and impact of several significant religious movements in America, including the rise of the Megachurch, the Jesus People Movement, and Digital Missiology.

His popular writings have appeared in Christianity Today, the Dallas Morning News, and Outreach Magazine. He is the co-author of Christians at our Best, published by Tyndale, and an editor of Formation for Mission, published by Lexham Press. Dr. MacDonald is adjunct faculty in several neighboring institutions while serving as Guest Professor at Wheaton College.

Ph.D. – Church History
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Dissertation– Late 19th Century American Urban Religion

M.A. – Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
Biola University

B.A. – American History
Queen’s University

In my dissertation research, I address explore how American Protestant churches and their pastors responded to late nineteenth century social and intellectual changes. My research focuses specifically on the evolution of Protestant social/theological imaginary from its pre-war devotion to national Christianization to its eventual fragmentation by the close of the century. I argue that this priority and the genuine conviction of its fulfillment placed increasing pressure upon urban churches who proved unable to live up to these expectations. These pressures provoked a series of missiological, theological, and political shifts that, in time, proved destructive to the evangelical consensus that established the imaginary in the first place.

Through my work at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center, I have overseen or contributed to a wide range of projects related to modern religious history or current issues in church culture, thought, and practice. In addition to the articles for CT I have either authored, co-authored, or edited, my work often focuses on long-term research projects involving national studies, archival work, and primary source interview collection.

Review of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory: Rethinking the things that matter most, by Jerry L. Walls. JETS, 58, no. 4 (2015): 872-876.

Review of Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago, by Heath Carter, Trinity Journal, 37, no. 2 (2016): 296-298.

Review of No Depression in Heaven: The Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Transformation of Religion in the Delta, by Alison Collis Green, Fides et historia, 49 no. 2 (Sum - Fall 2017): 116-118.

“The Substance of Doctrine: New England Calvinism and the Problem of Orthodoxy” in New England Quarterly, 91, no. 3 (2018): 418-447.

Review of Turning Points in the History of American Evangelicalism, edited by Hearth Carter and Laura Rominger Porter, Trinity Journal, (2019).

Stetzer, Ed and Andrew MacDonald. “How Can and Should We Reach and Train Our Future Pastors and Christian Leaders?” in Christian Education Journal, 17, no. 1 (2020): 160-176.

Review of Evangelical Gotham: Religion and the Making of New York City, 1873-1860, by Kyle B. Roberts, Fides et historia, 52 no. 1 (Win – Spr 2020).

Lederleitner, Mary, Andrew MacDonald, and Rick Richardson. Emerging Adults: Formation for Mission, (forthcoming with B&H, 2021).

Stetzer, Ed and Andrew MacDonald. Entrepreneurial Evangelicals: The story of how innovative church leaders transformed the global church, (forthcoming with the Buford Foundation and IVP, 2021)

Sweeney, Douglas and Andrew MacDonald. The Holy Spirit in the theology of Jonathan Edwards, (forthcoming with Lexham Press, 2022).

Stetzer, Ed and Andrew MacDonald, “The Influence of Corporate Innovation on Megachurch Leadership Culture,” in Handbook of Megachurch Studies edited by Scott Thumma, Afe Adogame, Damaris Parsitau, Jeaney Yip, and Chad Bauman. (forthcoming with Routledge Press, 2023)

MacDonald, Andrew and Oscar Merlo. Jesus is a Friend of Mine: An Oral History of the Jesus People Movement (forthcoming in partnership with Biola University, 2022-23)

MacDonald, Andrew and Rick Richardson. Turning Points in Contemporary Christian Worship, (forthcoming in partnership with Biola University, 2022-23)

“In Defense of Rights: Rethinking Just War in terms of Human Rights.” At the Talbot Philosophical Society at Biola University; Mar, 2011.

“Justifying Opportunity: Amartya Sen and a Human Right to Opportunity.” At the Talbot Philosophical Society; Nov, 2011.

“Voyeuristic Gaming and Moral Experience: Aristotelian Virtue Theory and video game morality.” At Technology and Human Flourishing Conference at Baylor University; Oct, 2012.

“Strong and Weak Potentialities: Reevaluating the Potentiality Argument.” At Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity 21st Annual Summer Conference; May, 2014.

“A War Betwixt Old and New: Calvinist Rhetoric in Nineteenth Century America.” At the Evangelical Theological Society Annual Conference; Nov, 2015.

“He Has Seen: African American Hermeneutics and Proslavery Biblicism.” At The Conference on Faith and History; Oct, 2016.

“In the Evangelical Sense: The Swing Trial and Late Nineteenth-Century Urban Protestantism.” At The Religion and Culture in the Americas Seminar at The Newberry Archive; Mar, 2018.

“Our City: History Creation and Late Nineteenth-Century Urban Evangelicalism,” At The Conference on Faith and History; Oct, 2018.

“The Missiological Implications of America’s History of Awakenings and Revivals,” At The Evangelism Leaders Fellowship; Jun, 2019.

• American Religious History
• History of Christianity
• History of Evangelicalism
• Theological History of Missiology
• History of Philosophy
• Philosophy of Religion

• Member, Society of Christian Philosophers
• Member, American Society of Church History
• Member, The Conference on Faith and History
• Recipient, The Waybright Leadership Scholarship (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) – 2013-2017
• Recipient, The Klauber Travel Fellowship (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) – 2016
• Recipient, Dissertation Research Travel Award (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School ) - 2017

 

• Lead researcher for:
    -   Stetzer, Ed. Christians in the Age of Outrage: How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst. Carol Stream: Tyndale, 2018.
    -   Stetzer, Ed. An Evangelical Reckoning: Hope for a Movement in Crisis. Westmont: IVP, 2022. [Forthcoming]
• Stetzer, Ed and Andrew MacDonald. Christians At Our Best: A Six-Week Guide to Living in the Age of Outrage. Carol Stream: Tyndale, 2019.
• Regular contributor to Christianity Today; example, “Don’t Look Away” and “Why Evangelicals Voted for Trump”
• Periodic contributor to Dallas Morning News, NAE Magazine, and Outreach Magazine; example, Evangelicals and Conspiracy Theories