Since the publication of his ground-breaking doctoral thesis, Making Evangelical Missionaries, 1789–1858 (1984), Associate Professor Stuart Piggin has authored more than 100 academic articles and seven books, several of which have become classics in the field. While his most distinguished contributions to international religious history have centered on the history of Evangelical Christianity, his work has also extended into critical historical studies such as his analysis of the Mount Kembla Disaster of 1902 (Oxford University Press, 1992). His scholarship spans critical, social, and political dimensions of Evangelical Christianity across the English-speaking world.

One of his landmark works, Evangelical Christianity in Australia: Spirit, Word and Work (OUP, 1996), redefined the interpretation of Protestant Christianity’s influence—and of religion more broadly—on Australian history, politics, and society. This book set a new agenda for understanding religion’s role in national development.

Stuart has also played a pivotal role in shaping public understanding of religious history. He delivered presentations at the first National Forum on Australia’s Christian Heritage in Parliament House, Canberra, and established the Centre for the Study of Australian Christianity while serving as Master of Robert Menzies College at Macquarie University from 1990 to 2004. A committed mentor, he has supported numerous early-career and established researchers, supervising a steady stream of PhD students and leading an ongoing seminar on Christian history through the Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience at Macquarie University.

He became a member of the Association for the Journal of Religious History in 1990 and later served on its Executive. During a challenging period when the original Association was struggling to transition after the retirement of its founding generation, Stuart played a leading role in negotiations that led to the creation of the Religious History Association. The 2010 amalgamation of the Association for the Journal of Religious History and the Religious History Society—culminating in the name he proposed for the new organisation—was a defining moment for the field. He served as Secretary of the Religious History Association from its formation in 2010 until 2013.

For over three decades, Stuart Piggin has been at the heart of religious history scholarship in Australia. His leadership, vision, and scholarly output have been instrumental in advancing the discipline within the Australian academic landscape.