Dr Kirk Franklin - Melbourne School of Theology

Dr Kirk Franklin

Lecturer in Missional Leadership

Dr Kirk Franklin

Kirk grew up in Papua New Guinea (PNG) amongst the Kewa people as a missionary kid (MK). As an adult, he joined Wycliffe US as a media-communications specialist and served with SIL International and the local Bible Translation Association. While in PNG, Kirk met and married Christine from NSW who was teaching at SIL’s primary school. Later Kirk served with Wycliffe Australia in media-communications, governance and executive leadership roles. From 2008-2020, Kirk was the Executive Director of the Wycliffe Global Alliance—comprised of over 100 organizations. Kirk is now involved in research, training and teaching where he draws upon his years of mission executive roles and leading organizational change in a global mission agency. Kirk uses an interdisciplinary approach through the fields of missiology, intercultural studies, missional leadership and globalization. Kirk and Christine attend Warrandyte Community Church. The Franklins have three adult married children and three grandsons.

Qualifications

PhD, University of Pretoria, South Africa
MA (Theology), University of Pretoria, South Africa
BA Honours (Theology), University of Pretoria, South Africa
BA (Intercultural Studies), Tabor Victoria

Publications

Franklin, Kirk. Collaborative Missional Leadership: The Art of Working Together in God’s Mission. Oxford, UK: Regnum Books International, 2025. Franklin, Kirk. Liderazgo Misional Colaborativo: El arte de trabajar juntos en la misión de Dios. Oxford, UK: Regnum Books International, 2025. Franklin, Kirk. “Reimagining Missions: Paradigms, Paths and Partnerships,” WEA Missions Commission, 6 January, 2025, https://weamc.global/paradigms-paths-partnership/ Franklin, Kirk. “Navigating AI in Academia, Innovation with Ethical Stewardship,” NEXUS, November 2024, Australian College of Theology. Franklin, Kirk and Bendor-Samuel, Paul, with Crough, Deborah. The Mission Matrix: Mission Theologies for Diverse Mission Landscapes. Oxford, UK: Regnum Books, International, 2024. Franklin, Kirk and Van Wynen, Susan, with Crough, Deborah. A Missional Leadership History: The Journey from Wycliffe Bible Translators to Wycliffe Global Alliance. Oxford, UK: Regnum Books International, 2022. Franklin, Kirk. “Book Review: Advanced Missiology: How to Study Mission in Credible and Useful Ways by Kenneth Nehrbass”, Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies, 39(2), 2022, https://doi.org/10.1177/02653788221092929 Franklin, Kirk. “Book Review: New Contributions to Missional Hermeneutics” [Sun Chan Kwon, A Missional Reading of the Fourth Gospel, Oxford: Regnum, 2022 and Mark A. Simon, Living to the Praise of God’s Glory: A Missional Reading of Ephesians, Eugene: Wipf & Stock], Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies, OnlineFirst, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1177/02653788221112558. Franklin, Kirk. “Implications of Identity in Global Mission”, Missiology: An International Review, 5(1) 2023, https://doi.org/10.1177/00918296221117709 Franklin, Kirk and Van Wynen, Susan. ‘The Future of the Bible Translation Movement Survey Analysis and Report’. Wycliffe Global Alliance, 2020. https://www.wycliffe.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Survey-Report-May-2020.pdf. Franklin, Kirk. “Searching for Shalom: Transformation in the Mission of God and the Bible Translation Movement”, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 76(4), a5879, 2020. https://hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/5879. Franklin, Kirk. “A Missiology of Progress: Assessing Advancement in the Bible Translation Movement”, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies, 76(1), a5786, 2020. https://hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/5786. Franklin, Kirk. “Culture Does Affect Our Spirituality—South Pacific Case Study”, Taylor, William, Hahn, Geoff, and Amaraj, John (eds.), Spirituality and Mission. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2018. Franklin, Kirk. “Mission and Spirituality”, Taylor, William, Hahn, Geoff, and Amaraj, John (eds), Spirituality and Mission. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2018. Franklin, Kirk. “How can the Reformation’s focus on faithfulness to Scripture inspire us for mission?”, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 74(1), a4817, 2018. https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/4817. Franklin, Kirk with Crough, Dave and Deborah. Vers Un Leadership Missional Mondial. Oxford, UK: Regnum, 2019. Franklin, Kirk with Crough, Dave and Deborah. Lideranca Missional e Global, Londrina, Brazil: Descoberta Editora Ltda, 2017. Franklin, Kirk with Crough, Dave and Deborah. Hacia un Liderazgo Misional y Global. Oxford, UK: Regnum, 2017. Franklin, Kirk with Crough, Dave and Deborah. Towards Global Missional Leadership. Oxford, UK: Regnum, 2017. Franklin, Kirk. “Leading in Global-Glocal Missional Contexts: Learning from the Journey of the Wycliffe Global Alliance”, Transformation, 34(4), 2017. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0265378817724343. Franklin, Kirk. “A Model for Leadership Communities in Global Contexts”, Barentsen, Jack, van den Heuvel, Stephen. and Lin, Peirong (eds). The End of Leadership? Leadership and Authority at Crossroads, Vol. 4, Christian Perspectives on Leadership and Social Ethics. Leuven: Peeters, 2017. Franklin, Kirk and Niemandt, C.J.P. (Nelus). “Polycentrism in the Missio Dei”, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 72(1), 2016, https://hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/3145. Franklin, Kirk. “A Paradigm for Global Mission Leadership: The Journey of the Wycliffe Global Alliance”, PhD Thesis. University of Pretoria, South Africa, 2016. Franklin, Kirk. “Hvad betyder det for den Globale Kirke, at Kristendommen kan Kontekstualiseres Ubegrænset?,” Dansk Tidsskrift for Teologi og Kirke, vol 1, 2015. Franklin, Kirk and Niemandt, C.J.P. “Funding God’s Mission: Towards a Missiology of Generosity”, Missionalia 43(3), 2015. Franklin, Kirk, and Niemandt, C.J.P. “Vision 2025 and the Bible Translation Movement”, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 2014. https://hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/1332. Franklin, Kirk. “Mission und Spiritualität”, Evangelikale Missiologie, (1)13, 2013. Franklin, Kirk. “The Wycliffe Global Alliance: From A U.S. Based International Mission to a Global Movement for Bible Translation”, MA Thesis. University of Pretoria, South Africa, 2012. Franklin, Kirk. “Accountability in Mission Partnerships: Case Studies from Wycliffe Global Alliance”, Bonk, Jonathan, Accountability in Missions: Korean and Western Case Studies. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2011. Franklin, Kirk and Hardin, Karol. “Karl J. Franklin—His Story”, in McElhanon, Kenneth and Reesink, Ger (eds), A Mosaic of Language and Cultures: Studies Celebrating the Career of Karl J. Franklin. Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2010. Franklin, Kirk. “Mission and Spirituality”, Connections: Journal of the WEA Mission Commission, 8(1), 2009. Franklin, Kirk. “Leading in Mission at a Higher Level: How to Become a Reflective Practitioner in Mission Leadership”, in Evangelical Mission Quarterly, 2009. https://emqonline.com/print/2342. Franklin, Kirk. “The Apostle Paul, Asian Diaspora and Mission”. Global Missiology, (1)4, 2006. http://ojs.globalmissiology.org/index.php/english/article/view/161. Moore, Hyatt and Franklin, Kirk. A Day in the Life of the Bible. Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1991.

Presentations

‘Birthing Vision 2025: An Account of Faith, Urgency, and Global Collaboration’, Wycliffe Australia Gathering, Kangaroo Ground, VIC, 5 May 2025. ‘Introduction to Third Space: Creating space for meaningful dialogue leading to deeper collaboration across cultural and contextual gaps’, Forum of Bible Agencies International (FOBAI) Annual Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1 April 2025. ‘Towards a Missiological Perspective of Collaboration: Insights from Scripture and Global Mission’, Montagu Barker Lecture, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK, 26 November 2024. ‘Partnership and the Church: The Church as a Partner’, SIL Global Church Engagement Conference, Oxford, UK, 9 September 2024, via Zoom. ‘Prepare the Way’ (two sessions), Activate Conference of Mission Interlink Victoria, Clayton Church of Christ, Victoria, 24 August 2024. ‘An Introduction to Cultural Intelligence’, AARE (Australian Association for Religious Education), Heidelberg, Victoria, 12 August 2024. ‘Responsible Use of AI in Research and Scholarship,’ Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK 9 July 2024, via Zoom. ‘The Future of Western Missions’, Webinar for the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Association of Mission Studies, 19 April 2024. ‘A Case Study: A Journey of Leading in Polycentric Theory and Practice in Mission’, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK, 15 September 2020. ‘Nationalism, Embeddedness and Identity in the Paradigm Shift from Western Missions to Global Mission: Reflections, Analysis and Implications for Today’, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK, 30 June 2020. ‘Global Missional Collaboration’, Inter-mission seminar, Oslo, Norway, 5 November 2019. ‘The Role of Missional Leadership in Creating Third Spaces’, Global Megatrends and God’s Mission’, Finnish Lutheran Mission, Ryttylä, Finland, 25 January 2019. ‘What is Our Theology of Advancement and Progress and What Milestones are Imminent?’, Forum of Bible Agencies International (FOBAI), Albuquerque, USA, 2 May 2019.

Affiliations

Associate Faculty Global Missional Leadership, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies
Associate, World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission
Teaching Pastor, Warrandyte Community Church

Supervision

Kirk can supervise PhD and DMin in these areas: Mission studies, Christian leadership and management, missional leadership, collaboration in mission, and cross-cultural mission.

To contact Dr Kirk Franklin use the contact details below

Email: mst@mst.edu.au