President
Rev Jonathan Li DThel
Rev. Li Jieren, Ph.D. in Theology. He served as a pastor in the early years at the Chinese Christian Church in Northern Europe and the Lutheran Diocese of Gothenburg in Sweden. He also served as the Chinese theological advisor to the World Council of Churches (WCC) and held visiting scholar positions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the University of Oxford. In 2024, Rev. Li founded the the Institute for Advanced Studies in Chinese Christianity and established Biola Initiative on Advanced Studies in Chinese Theology and Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology.
Pastor Li has served as the International Chinese Senior Pastor of Beijing International Christian Fellowship (BICF) since 2009. The church is currently transitioning into a multi-site international Chinese-speaking congregation. Beginning in 2022, Pastor Li initiated cross-border and inter-state church planting ministries, establishing international Chinese-speaking churches in Vancouver (2023) and Tokyo (2025).
Vice President of Publications
Dr. Ximian Simeon Xu
Ximian Xu (徐西面; preferred name: Simeon) is originally from Wenzhou, China, a city referred to as “China’s Jerusalem” by the BBC. He completed Master of Divinity (First Class Honours) at the School of Divinity, the University of Edinburgh, in 2013, followed by Master of Theology in History (Distinction) in 2017 and PhD in systematic theology in 2020 at the same School. His doctoral thesis explored the Dutch Neo-Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck’s idea of theology as the science of God and constructively articulated how this theological idea can help demonstrate the due place of theology in contemporary universities.
In 2021, Simeon joined the University of Edinburgh’s School of Divinity and Edinburgh Futures Institute as Kenneth and Isabel Morrison Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Theology and Ethics of AI, followed by Duncan Forrester Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities/Centre for Theology and Public Issues (2024).
Having lived in Edinburgh for about 12 years, Simeon joined the Faculty of Divinity as Senior Research Associate in January 2025. He also serves as Co-Director (with Prof. David Fergusson) of the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology, funded by Lux Mundi Inc. (USA).
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Thomas Li
Vice President for Theological Education
Dr. Leonard Sidharta
Native of Fuzhou, Fujian Province; Director of The Biola Research Initiative for Chinese Theology; Member of the American Society of Christian Philosophers.He studied theology and philosophy at Reformed Evangelical Seminary and Calvin University, and earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Purdue University.His primary research areas are systematic theology, philosophy, and apologetics.