Brett Knowles

Brett Knowles has served the Pentecostal movement for more than fifty years as an elder, ordained pastor, missionary, Bible teacher and Bible School principal, speaker and National Ministry Training Coordinator. He holds three theological degrees—including a PhD in Church History—from the University of Otago, where he taught Church History in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He has also served on the staff of Sekolah Teologi Tinggi, Tawangmangu, Central Java, Indonesia and, latterly, as Director of Academic Resources and Senior Lecturer in Church History at Sydney College of Divinity in Australia, from post which he retired in 2008. He continues to contribute to teaching, the supervision and examination of postgraduate students and research.

Dr. Knowles’ research interests include Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, New Zealand Christianity and Culture, Cross-Cultural Aspects of Christianity in the Asian Region—especially prior to 1500 CE—and the Early Church. His primary area of expertise is New Zealand Pentecostalism and he has published several books and numerous articles in this field. He has also edited and coedited a number of academic publications for the University of Otago. He is currently involved in the E21 Global Scholars Consultation, a select group of international Pentecostal and Charismatic scholars—led by Chairman Dr. Vinson Synan and Co-Chairman Dr. Amos Yong—in preparation for the 2015 Empowered21Global Congress in Jerusalem.