On Sunday, August 23, we will welcome guest preacher Stephen R. DiTrolio to First Church for a special message focused on the mission of the church.

Stephen is a PhD candidate in the Department of History and Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary, specializing in “Religion in the Americas.” Born in Costa Rica, he grew up in Argentina and returned there after graduating from a university in the United States.

He is a historian of religion and politics in Latin America. His dissertation examines the interplay among Protestantism, nationalism, and political history in 20th-century Argentina’s print culture. He is the recipient of the HTI Dissertation Fellowship, Kuma Yu Paper Prize, Julian Gwyn Essay Prize, and the Louisville Doctoral Fellowship, and is the Jackson Scholar for Latin American Studies (Baylor University), among other awards. Stephen has served as Assistant Editor for the Journal of World Christianity, Managing Editor for The Occasional, and, previously, Book Review Editor for the Journal of Presbyterian History. As a native Spanish speaker, he is an active translator of books, essays, and chapters in edited volumes. In 2026, he translated both Pope Leo XIV’s biography, written by Elise Ann Allen, and Pope Francis’ I am asking in the Name of God for Penguin Random House. 

Stephen holds a BA in Theological Studies from the University of ValleyForge and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has also completed coursework in the Sociology of Culture program at the Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina.