Justin Eller
Thesis title: Nos acompañamos: Evaluating the Significance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Theology of Missional Accompaniment
PhD supervisors:
Background
The Rev. Justin Eller (he/him/él) is a PhD by distance student.
He currently serves as an Assistant to the Bishop in the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Justin has previously served as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)'s Regional Representative in South America, relating to the ELCA's companion Lutheran churches in Argentina-Uruguay, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. His ministry centered around accompaniment and interculturality.
His first call was with the Iglesia Evangélica Luterana Boliviana (IELB) as a Pastoral Team Educator in the areas of Lutheran confessions, pastoral identity, liturgy, and contextual Lutheran identity with Bolivian pastors and lay leaders. He was also an instructor at the Instituto Superior Ecuménico Andino de Teología (ISEAT), teaching Church History, New Testament, Worship & Liturgy, and Biblical Greek.
Qualifications
BS (North Carolina State University), MDiv (Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago)
Responsibilities & affiliations
American Academy of Religion, Member, 2024-present
International Transformative Learning Association, Member, 2025
Research summary
Justin tends to engage in teología en conjunto (communal theology) with research interests often found at the intersections of missiology, critical pedagogy, decolonizing-liberation theologies, interculturalidad, Lutheran contextual identity development (especially within the Latin American and Caribbean context), and practical theology.
Current research interests
Missiology, ecclesiology, transformative learning, decoloniality, interculturality, anti-imperial Christianity, Christian education, mission formation, biblical and confession hermeneutics from the Global SouthConference details
“Wade in the Water: Experience the Troubling of Transformative Learning,” 15th Biennial International Transformative Learning Conference, Siena, Italy (September 2024).
Papers delivered
“Post-indoctrination: Teaching Lutheran doctrine in a mission context,” 12th International Congress for Luther Research, Helsinki, Finland (August 2012).