Alphonso F. Saville, IV is an Assistant Professor of American Religious History and Mission at the Charlotte Campus of Union Presbyterian Seminary. From 2021 to 2023 he was an Associate Research Scholar with The Crossroad Project.  His forthcoming book, The Gospel of John Marrant: Conjuring Christianity in the Black Atlantic, is the first full-length study of North America’s first black ordained minister and explores how black religious thinkers and practitioners utilized religion as a cultural response to the systemic and interpersonal oppression produced by racial slavery and social proscription. A second book project tentatively titled The Problem of God and Slavery at Georgetown, explores the history of slavery at Georgetown University and analyzes how debates on slavery shaped and informed discussions about the nature of God, religious experience, and public life in America. Saville earned his PhD in Religion at Emory University, and has been awarded research fellowships at Dartmouth College, William & Mary University, and Georgetown University.  

In 2024 he produced D-Vine Spirituals and Sacred Sound in Memphis for the Crossroads Project's SPIRIT HOUSE website.