Theology in the Americas (Organization)

Theology in the Americas (TIA) was formed in 1974 by Father Sergio Torres and others who brought together a multiracial coalition of approximately sixty action/reflection groups comprised of both Catholics and Protestants to begin the process of exploring the meaning of Liberation Theology for North America. The first set of conversations culminated in a conference in August 1975 in Detroit known as Detroit I, where two hundred North American and Latin American theologians, social activists, and community and church leaders of all races and ethnic groups met to explore the possibilities of Latin American "theology of liberation" for its possible relevance to North America.

The Detroit I Conference established a network of projects or affinity groups including The Black Theology Project, the Hispanic Project, the Women's Project, Quest for Liberation in the White Church, the Task Force of Professional Theologians, Labor and Church Dialogue, Asian Americans in the North American context, and Native Americans and Red Theology. From 1975 until the Detroit II Conference in August 1980, each project developed its own agenda held its own conferences, made its own statements in line with the overall TIA direction, and at times made some effort to establish inter-project dialogue. The Detroit II Conference either included or gave rise to the following projects: Asian American/Pacific Theology, Black Theology Project, Church and Labor Project, Hispanic Project, Native American Project, Theologians Task Force, Women's Project, and the Alternative Theology Project, later called the White Affinity Group. The conference was attended by over 550 individuals and saw the emergence of the Inter-Ethnic-Indigenous Peoples' Caucus which represented a significant advance in inter-project dialogue between the black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American participants

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