Regnum Books, the publishing arm of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, has appointed Angus Crichton as its first dedicated director, a move the organization says marks a new stage in its development as a platform for theological scholarship from the Global South.
The appointment ends an arrangement in which OCMS Executive Director Paul Bendor-Samuel oversaw Regnum alongside his broader responsibilities at the center. Bendor-Samuel will remain in his OCMS role while Crichton takes on day-to-day leadership of the publishing operation on a part-time basis, according to an announcement from the organization.
Crichton brings more than two decades of experience in Christian publishing, with a particular focus on Christianity in Africa. Most recently, he served as Global Advocacy Manager at SPCK and has been involved in publishing projects in Uganda and across Anglophone Africa. He also held a research associate post at the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide, where he studied the early history of Christianity in Uganda and worked to make archival materials more accessible to researchers in the country.
His background spans research, teaching, and publishing partnerships with theological colleges and scholars across the African continent.
Bendor-Samuel said Crichton's appointment comes at a significant point for the imprint. "He brings extensive publishing expertise, deep relationships across the global Church, and a shared commitment to ensuring that voices from the Majority World are heard, valued, and strengthened," Bendor-Samuel said in the OCMS announcement.
Founded as an academic imprint connected to OCMS, Regnum publishes monographs, edited volumes, and shorter works aimed at making contextually grounded theological research available to a wider readership. The press has sought to give a platform to writers from regions where Christianity is expanding rapidly but where access to mainstream academic publishing remains limited.
Crichton said he sees the role as an opportunity to extend that work. "I look forward to building on that foundation through partnership, widening access, and helping bring important voices and research to readers across cultures and contexts," he said, according to the announcement.
The OCMS, based in Oxford, describes its mission as equipping individuals and institutions for theological research while fostering dialogue between academics and practitioners in the global church.
