Michael Hakmin Lee, Ph.D.

Rev. Dr. Michael Hakmin Lee is Associate Professor of Ministry & Leadership and serves as the program director for the M.A. in Evangelism & Leadership and the M.A. in Ministry Leadership.

Michael was born in Seoul, Korea, and immigrated with his family to the United States. While studying at the University of Texas at Austin to pursue a career in medicine, he sensed God’s call to vocational Christian ministry as he neared graduation. After graduation, he worked as a teacher and pastor while completing his Th.M. in Systematic Theology and Intercultural Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He later earned a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and taught at several institutions before coming to Wheaton College.

As a missiologist, Michael’s research focuses on contemporary challenges and opportunities for Christian discipleship and gospel witness. His research and publications include topics such as artificial intelligence and Christian mission, theology of religions and religious pluralism, race and ethnicity, technology and social media, Christian unity, and Christian deconversion. His forthcoming book, Shipwrecked Faith: Making Sense of How and Why Evangelicals Leave the Christian Faith, will be published by Baker Academic in fall 2027. He is also co-editing Theological Anthropology for Missional Engagement, scheduled for publication in fall 2027 in the Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series. Michael currently serves as Vice President of Finance for the Evangelical Missiological Society.

Michael also serves his community as an elder in a local church, a USA Judo-certified judo instructor, and a travel baseball coach.

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Ph.D., Intercultural Studies

Dallas Theological Seminary
Th.M., Systematic Theology

University of Texas at Austin
B.A., Biochemistry

• Missiology
• Intercultural Studies
• Religious Conversion and Deconversion
• Race and Ethnicity
• Theology of Religions

Lee, Michael Hakmin. Shipwrecked Faith: Making Sense of How and Why Evangelicals Leave the Christian Faith. Forthcoming, fall 2027. Baker Academic.

Lee, Michael Hakmin, Linda Saunders, and Jessie Udall, eds. Theological Anthropology for Missional Engagement. Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series, no. 35. William Carey Publishing, forthcoming 2027.

Lee, Michael Hakmin. “Cultural and Cross-Cultural Discourse and Faith, Hope, and Love.” In Fractured Virtues: Renegotiating Faith, Hope, and Love in a Broken World, edited by Ronald T. Michener and Mark A. Lamport. Cascade Books. Forthcoming November 2026.

Lee, Michael Hakmin. 2025. “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Mission of God: Engaging AI through the Lens of God’s Redemptive Story.” In Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series, no. 33, edited by Larry Caldwell, Marty Shaw, and Enoch Wan. William Carey Publishing.

Lee, Michael Hakmin, and David Pederson. 2024. “Graduate Distance Education at Wheaton College: Moving from Viability and Efficacy to Refining Pedagogy and Best Practices.” Journal of the Evangelical Missiological Society.

Cook, Andy, Dee Crye, D. A. Horton, Todd Korpi, Joshua Laxton, Michael Lee, Andrew MacDonald, Ed Stetzer, Andrea Summers, and Daniel Yang. 2024. “North American Regional Report: Advancing the Great Commission.” Lausanne North America.

Lee, Michael Hakmin. 2023. “So That the World Will Know: Reflections on an Evangelical Theology of Christian Others and the Missiological Priority of Christian Unity.” In Ambassadors of Reconciliation: God’s Mission through Missions for All, edited by Geoff Hartt, Michael A. Ortiz, and Manuel Bohm. Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series, no. 31. William Carey.

Lee, Michael Hakmin. 2022. “The Medium Is the Message: Reflections on Disciple-Making in the Age of Social Media.” In Communication(s) in Mission: Opportunities and Challenges of Communicating God’s Mission, edited by Marcus Dean, A. Scott Moreau, A. Sue Russell, and Rochelle Scheuermann. Evangelical Missiological Society Monograph Series, no. 30. William Carey.

Lee, Michael Hakmin. 2022. “No Longer Christian: Why People Are Leaving the Faith and How We Can Respond.” Outreach 21 (1): 46–50.