Fuller Seminary Adds Two Church History Scholars to Its School of Mission and Theology

Fuller Seminary has appointed two scholars of church history and world Christianity, Yucheng Bai and Tom Whittaker, to the faculty of its Pasadena-based School of Mission and Theology.

The two, who will begin with the 2026–27 academic year, add depth in church history and world Christianity to the school, which is led by Dean Jeffrey Keuss following his appointment in the spring of 2025.

Bai earned a doctorate in religious studies from Duke University in May 2025 and holds a master of theological studies from Duke Divinity School. His research spans Chinese and American church history, the history of missions, church-state relations, and political theology. His dissertation, “American City on a Chinese Hill,” examined how some Chinese house-church figures came to embrace a strand of American Christian fundamentalism as a political theology.

Bai is co-author, with Ren Xiaopeng, of (Rongyao yu zhongfu: Meiguo jidujiao jianshi), or “The Glory and the Burden: A Brief History of American Christianity,” which the seminary describes as the first systematic introduction to American Christianity in the Chinese language.

“I am especially excited to join Fuller, where the evangelical faith is combined with cutting-edge intellectual work,” Bai said in the announcement. “I look forward to working with faculty and students from diverse backgrounds to grow together into missional-minded scholars and disciples.”

Whittaker works at the intersection of church history, American religious history, and world Christianity, with a focus on evangelical Protestantism and the Protestant missionary movement. He received a doctorate from Harvard University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago, and taught for five years at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas, before joining Fuller.

According to the seminary’s announcement, Whittaker’s first book, “The Missionary Republic,” covering American Protestant missions from 1787 to 1837, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press. He is also coediting, with D. Bruce Hindmarsh, a volume of George Whitefield’s diaries and autobiographical accounts for the same press.

“I am thrilled to be joining an intellectual community of Christian scholars from all over the world that continues to play a leading role in setting the agenda for theological and missiological reflection,” Whittaker said. “I look forward to mentoring students who are committed disciples of Jesus, incisive thinkers, and kingdom-oriented visionaries.”

Fuller Seminary, founded in Pasadena in 1947, is an evangelical, multidenominational graduate institution. Keuss praised both appointments in the announcement. “Fuller is so grateful to be a place that continues to attract top evangelical scholars committed to theological excellence in the service of the gospel,” Keuss said. “Both Dr. Whittaker and Dr. Bai represent the next generation of church history scholars who will be shaping our understanding of the movement of the church for decades to come.”

Both scholars have begun preparing for the 2026–27 academic year. The information was provided by Fuller Seminary in an announcement.