REMINDER: Call for Presentations ~ American Society of Missiology Annual Meeting 2022
PROPOSAL DEADLINE EXTENDED:
NOW DUE SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2022
The American Society of Missiology will meet June 17–June 19, 2022 at St. Mary’s College, South Bend, Indiana. The theme for this year’s annual conference is: The Ongoing Conversion of the Missionary. For a full statement of the conference theme and details about the hybrid format, please visit the ASM website. Registration for the annual meeting will open in February 2022. Please consider joining!
Call for Presentations
We know that conversion is central to the Gospels. Ongoing conversion is the lifelong process that takes place in the lives of those who live in a dynamic relationship with Christ and can affect the way the missionaries see themselves in carrying forward the coming of the kingdom of God. It is this relationship with the Lord that brings the kind of wisdom that has the potential to inspire transformative mission praxis.
Papers might address questions including (but not limited to):
- What are the dynamics of spiritual growth and how can this affect those to whom missionaries have been sent to be on mission?
- What helps the missionary to be sensitive to how the Holy Spirit is working in their life?
- How can political bipartisanship lead to more sustained opportunities that call us to ongoing conversion?
- What might be unexpected challenges to the integrity of persons facing issues of ongoing conversion?
- How does utilizing Spiritual Direction aid a person’s growth who is dedicated to transformative mission and understands the nexus of ongoing conversion and mission?
- How does the analysis of historical or sociological patterns of ongoing conversion in the lives of particular missionaries inform understanding their lives, work, and/or patterns of conversion?
- What’s the difference between doing mission work and living ongoing conversion that leads to living as true missionary disciples of the Lord?
- How does ongoing conversion encourage transformative mission?
- What areas of missiological study with other disciplines might open up new avenues of research on the theme of missionary conversion?
We also welcome presentations that fit the theme less formally, but which engage mission studies more generally.
Proposal submission deadline is Sunday, January 30, 2022.
For presentation proposal questions, contact Ben Hartley (ASM 2ndVP; hartleyb@spu.edu).
Adopting for God
Soojin Chung ('18) recently published, Adopting for God: The Mission to Change America through Transnational Adoption. The book explores the role missionaries played in the transnational adoption movement. Among other things, the book reveals how both evangelical and ecumenical Christians challenged Americans to redefine traditional familial values and rethink race matters. By questioning the perspective that equates missionary humanitarianism with unmitigated cultural imperialism, this book offers a more nuanced picture of the rise of an important twentieth-century movement: the evangelization of adoption and the awakening of a new type of Christian mission.
Ruth Padilla DeBorst (’16) joins Western Theological Seminary
Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst will be joining the faculty of Western Theological Seminary beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year to serve as the Richard C. Oudersluys Associate Professor of World Christianity.
Dr. Padilla DeBorst is a renowned practitioner, teacher, and speaker with decades of experience in ministry throughout Latin America through organizations such as the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), and Latin American Theological Fellowship. She has served the worldwide church through World Vision International, Resonate Global Mission (of the Christian Reformed Church of North America), and the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT), among others.
She has served on boards and councils ranging from the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization Latin America, A Rocha International, and the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies to the International Justice Mission and the American Society of Missiology.
Dr. Padilla DeBorst has also served as president of the Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios (CETI), dedicated to providing theological education to pastors and lay Christians throughout Latin America. In addition to her academic leadership, she has taught numerous courses through CETI as well as for theological schools throughout North America.
She earned her Ph.D from the School of Theology with concentrations in missiology and social ethics.
Essamuah (’03) Meets with the Pope
Casely Essamuah recently met with the pope. Essamuah is the secretary of the Global Christian Forum, which is a unique gathering of global Christian churches and organizations bringing together all the major streams of world Christianity. The GCF is an open space where all Christians can meet to nurture unity by fostering mutual respect and understanding as well as by addressing together common challenges.
You Must Remember This
Recently, Anicka Fast ('20) was interviewed by the Mennonite Missionary Network for a podcast on "You Must Remember This." Drawing on her dissertation, Fast reflects on how the stories of mission become the history of mission. She shares about why some stories get preserved and remembered, while others become forgotten. Plus, Rod Hollinger-Janzen gives insight into how AIMM (Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission) worked with Fast to unearth forgotten narratives from a century ago.
International Missionary Council Centenary
In November 2021, the World Council of Church's Commission on World Mission and Evangelism sponsored a global event to commemorate the formation of the International Missionary Council on its 100th anniversary. The three-day event included three plenary sessions, which were recorded and available for viewing. The presentation on "What happened at Lake Mohonk at its Outcome," was delivered by Prof. Dana L. Robert.
"What happened at Lake Mohonk and its Outcome"
"The past, present, and future of cooperation in mission in World Christianity"
Ireland, Mayfield, and Menegon to Give Lectures for the Institute of Qing History at Renmin University of China
中国人民大学清史研究所讲座Lectures by Institute of Qing History, Renmin University of China中外关系与中西文化交流系列第2讲
Sino-Western Relations and Culture Exchange Series, No.2中西文化关系史的新数字资源――中国基督教历史资料库（CHCD）：架构与展望New Digital Humanities Resource on Sino-Western Cultural Relations――China Historical Christianity Database: Structure and Prospect主讲人：马飞立（Alex MAYFIELD），波士顿大学神学院（School of Theology, Boston University）梅欧金（Eugenio MENEGON），波士顿大学历史系（Dept. of History, Boston University）主持人：刘贤（Xian LIU），中国人民大学清史研究所（Institute of Qing History, Renmin University）时间：12月10日December 10th(Friday)，9:00-10:30 am（Beijing Time）12月9日 December 9th(Thursday)，8:00-9:30 pm（US EST Time）腾讯会议(Tencent Meeting in China or VooV meeting abroad)：170-259-713会议密码(Password)：121010中外关系与中西文化交流系列第3讲
Sino-Western Relations and Culture Exchange Series, No. 3民国基督教海报的双重解读Interpretations on Chinese Christian Posters in Republican China主讲人：艾德恩（Daryl IRELANFD），波士顿大学神学院(School of Theology, Boston University)主持人：刘贤（Xian LIU），中国人民大学清史研究所（Institute of Qing History, Renmin University）时间：12月17日December 17th(Friday)，9:00-10:30 am（Beijing Time）12月16日December 16th(Thursday)，8:00-9:30 pm（US EST Time）腾讯会议(Tencent Meeting in China or VooV meeting abroad)：441-477-633会议密码(Password)：121717
Alumna Ruth Padilla DeBorst (’16): “Fleeing the hot spots: Climate change, migration and mission”
On November 16, 2021, BU STH alumna Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst ('16) delivered the Alexander Duff Lecture as part of COP26, entitled “Fleeing the hot spots: Climate change, migration, and mission.”
Her lecture is available on YouTube here and was followed by responses from two World Christianity Ph.D. students, Nuam Hatzaw and Alec Simpson, and a time of discussion.
The Alexander Duff Lecture was sponsored by the Church of Scotland and co-hosted by the Centre for the Study of World Christianity and the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (New College, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh).
Revisiting East Asia through Mission Collections
Conference Panel on Missionary Archives: register for the Zoom meeting at this link. The event will be recorded and will be posted online later as well. See attached abstracts.
New England Regional Association for Asian Studies Meeting
Monday December 6, 2021, 10:30-11:45AM US EST (16:30-17:45 Central European Time; 23:30-24:45 China time; 24:30-1:45AM, Japan/Korea)
at Harvard University (on Zoom).
Panel B1: “Revisiting East Asia through Mission Collections in New England”
(on resources at the BC Ricci Institute; Columbia University; Yale University; Harvard University; BU CHCD).
“Digital Frontiers: The China Historical Christian Database”
Alex Mayfield (Boston University)
“The Archival Collections on East Asia at the Yale Divinity Library”
Christopher Anderson (Yale University)
“The Harvard-Yenching Missionary Collection”
Sharon Li-shiuan Yang (Harvard-Yenching Library)
“The Ricci Institute: A Global Resource for the Interdisciplinary Study of Christianity in East Asia”
Mark Mir and M. Antoni Ucerler SJ (Boston College)
Dana Robert’s Extended Interview from Jesus the Game Changer Season 2
Dana Robert is a featured guest in the second season of Jesus the Game Changer. Host Karl Faase speaks to over 50 guests around the world about how and why the gospel spread to become a global faith. View the trailer here.
Dana Robert's expertise contributes to the series overall, and Olive Tree Media recently released an extended interview with her on several platforms.
To access Dana Robert's extended interview, view a shortened version on YouTube and the full interview as a podcast or on Olive Tree Media's streaming service.