Moses Biney

Rev. Dr. Moses O. Biney is Associate Professor of Religion and Society and African Diaspora Studies at New York Theological Seminary, where was formerly Research Director for the Center for the Study and Practice of Urban Religion (CSPUR). He holds BA and DipEd degrees from Ghana’s University of Cape Coast; an MPhil from University of Ghana; and ThM and PhD degrees in Social Ethics from Princeton Theological Seminary. Rev. Dr. Biney is an ordained Presbyterian Minister of Word and Sacrament, with several years of pastoral experience, and currently serves as pastor of Bethel Presbyterian Reformed Church in Brooklyn, New York. His research and teaching interests include the religions of Africa and the African Diaspora, religion and transnationalism, religion and culture, urban ministry, and congregational studies. Rev. Dr. Biney is Moderator of the Conference of Ghanaian Presbyterian Churches in North America and a member of the editorial board of the World Christianity Journal. He has published several essays on the religious practices and institutions of African immigrants in North America, transnational religious networks, urban religion and West African spirituality, including: “Building and Expanding Communities: African Immigrant Congregations and the Challenge of Diversity" (2013); “Ghanaian Presbyterians in the United America: Why Some Join American Denominations and Others Don’t” (2015); “Transnational Religious Networks: From Africa to America and back to Africa” (2015); “African Christianity and Transnational Religious Networks: From Africa to America and back to Africa” (2016); and "Spirituality From the Margins: West African Spirituality and Aesthetics” (2019). Rev. Dr. Biney is the author of From Africa to America: Religion and Adaptation among Ghanaian Immigrants in New York (New York University Press, 2011), and his co-edited book World Christianity, Urbanization and Identity is forthcoming from Fortress Press.