IMC Centenary Conference: Dana Robert’s Lecture and North American Panel
The IMC Centenary Conference concluded on Thursday, November 18th, after three days of virtual gatherings. The program included eight regional presentations on the history of missional collaboration and three public lectures.
Dana Robert delivered one of the three public lectures to the global, virtual conference attendees. Her lecture, "What happened in Lake Mohonk and its outcome," detailed the individuals, events, and movements that led to the founding of the IMC at Lake Mohonk, NY, in 1921. Dr. Robert highlighted innovative and forerunning mission themes and commitments evidenced in the work, relationships, and words of the early IMC. We will post the lecture for public viewing once it has been made available.
North American Regional Contribution
Following Dr. Robert's lecture, a panel of Executive Committee members from the North American Study Process on Missional Collaboration offered a regional presentation reporting on aspects of the history, research findings, and early observations. 
The panel was introduced by Dana Robert and moderated by Rev. Dr. Casely Essamuah. Dr. Ben Hartley offered a short lecture on the history of John R. Mott. Dr. Carlos Cardoza-Orlandi, Dr. Ronald Wallace, Dr. Christopher James, Dr. Julie Ma, and Dr. David Scott presented unique aspects of the study's findings to date. Mr. Andy Mott, the grandson of the late John R. Mott, attended as a special guest and offered words of reflection and gratitude. Dr. Essamuah concluded the presentation with a summary of initial findings for ongoing reflection.
The North American panel was one of eight regional presentations that included reports from New Zealand, Latin America, Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. The Study Centers and their research are a part of the ongoing IMC Study Process on Missional Collaboration. Findings from the eight regions will be presented to the WCC General Assembly 2022 and published later for a broader readership. The CGCM will post details as they are available.
“Reconciliation: Figuring out World Christianity amidst Conflicts,” CCCW Lecture Wednesday 24 November 2021, 4 pm GMT, Online
The fifth and final lecture in the CCCW Silver Jubilee Lecture series on Transfiguring World Christianity will be delivered on the topic “Reconciliation: Figuring out World Christianity amidst Conflicts,” by Dr Irini Thabet, Assistant Professor, Ain Shams University, Cairo, & Member ofthe Egyptian Senate, tomorrow, Wednesday 24th November, 4pm, GMT, Online. The Session will be chaired by Canon Sarah Snyder, Director, Rose Castle Foundation.
More information about the Lecture and the speaker is included in the flyer attached.
If you would like to join, please email centre@cccw.cam.ac.uk.
More information about the CCCW Silver Jubilee Lectures 2021is found here: Events - Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide.
Yale-Edinburgh Group Conference, 28-30 June 2022 World Christianity: Legacy and the State of the Field
The 2022 Yale-Edinburgh Group conference will offer a tribute to Andrew Walls and Lamin Sanneh, co-founders of the conference thirty years ago, as it engages with their legacy. This will be both retrospect and prospect. What have we learned from Walls, Sanneh, and their generation? In what ways has their legacy imposed limitations on the field, and in what ways do we need critically to consider new approaches to the study World Christianity? How have the approach, methods, and parameters of the study of World Christianity developed in recent years? For example, panels might consider the nature of translation as a predicate of the expansion of Christianity, as well as exploring new avenues of recent scholarship in World Christianity, such as the role of migration or theological evolution in mission, or the de-territorializing of Christian faith in the development of global Christianity.
In light of continuing uncertainty over the feasibility of international travel, the 2022 conference will be trialing a new format. This will combine in-person and online panels at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT, with “hub” panels in Edinburgh, Ghana, Kenya and Singapore. The conference timetable will allow participants to attend panels in multiple locations online. If travel conditions allow, a small number of bursaries will be available as usual for participants who wish to use Day Mission library resources and attend New Haven panels in person.
More details about the conference and where to submit your abstract will be available in the new year.
Chloe Starr, Emma Wild-Wood, Alex Chow
If you have any questions, please contact Martha Smalley here.
The International Missionary Council (IMC) Centenary Conference Public Sessions, November 16-18, 2021
THE IMC CENTENARY CONFERENCE 2021
The global ecumenical online conference will last for three days, Nov.16-18, and feature three public webinars and eight regional sessions.
The public lectures/sessions are as follows:
Public Session #1 - November 16th, 7:45 am - 8:15 am EST. Lecture by Marina Ngursangzeli Behera, "From the Margins of the IMC," followed by a Q&A.
Public Session #2 - November 17th, 9:30 am - 10:45 am EST. Lecture by Dana Robert, "What happened in Lake Mohonk and its outcome," followed by a Q&A.
Public Session #3 - November 18th, 10:30 am - 12:15 pm EST. Panel Discussion, "The past, present and future of cooperation in mission of World Christianity" with participants Heather Robinson (CWME), Dianet Martinez Valdez (WSCF), Paul (Sinwoong) Kim (Korea/diaspora), Mary Wanjiku Kihuha (Kenya/Africa), and Valdir Steurnagel (observer/ "rapporteur").
To attend these sessions, use the same Zoom link to register and attend: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvduGqqzspG9TVxUlreigXp_Tg23LX_AKD.
Dana Robert to Give Public Lecture for International Missionary Council Centenary Conference, November 17th
Dana Robert will deliver an online lecture on November 17, 2021, at 9:30, am (EST) for the IMC Centenary Conference hosted by the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland.
Her talk, "What happened in Lake Mohonk and its outcome," is one of three webinars open to public attendance over the three-day conference. The conference will include presentations on missional collaboration studies from eight world regions.
The founding of the International Missionary Council at Lake Mohonk one hundred years ago was a significant event in global mission collaboration. Dr. Robert's lecture and the broader conference will offer historical reflection and contemporary insight into the IMC, its international work, and its legacy a century later. This lecture will be a public webinar followed by a time of Q&A, both open to the public.
To register, follow the Zoom link and enter the webinar by 9:30 am (EST).
For more information about the IMC Centenary Conference, see the WCC article here and the CGCM IMC Study Process page here.
CGCM Alumna, Laura Chevalier (STH ’20), Speaks About Her Mission Journey at Houghton College
Laura Chevalier ('20), a CGCM alumna, was asked to speak at her alma mater, Houghton College, for their "New Vision" week on the topic, "God can use anyone in mission."
The idea was to encourage students to recognize that they play a part in God's mission no matter what they are studying. During the chapel service on Wednesday, Oct. 27, Laura shared her personal story in mission (pre-recorded) alongside three of her friends from Houghton College. To hear Laura's journey in mission, listen to and download the audio file here.
Then on Friday, Oct. 29, she spoke in chapel, and that talk is viewable on YouTube here. (The host introduces Laura around minute 13:50.)
Rady Roldan-Figueroa Interviewed on His New Book, The Martyrs of Japan
Dr. Rady Roldan-Figueroa recently gave a video interview on the topic of his new book, The Martyrs of Japan.
In the interview, Dr. Roldan-Figueroa, Faculty Associate of the CGCM, shared some significant findings of his interdisciplinary research focusing on the missionary work of three religious orders in Japan.
The book contributes to undercurrents in seventeenth-century history characterized by the period's global Jesuit, Franciscan, and Descalsed mission work. Dr. Roldan-Figueroa analyzed 380 books printed during the period and thereby explores the histories of publishers and publishing houses in Italy and Spain. He also explores the global connections and spiritual influence of this corpus of "travel" literature. One of the book's contributions is the reclassification of the literature on Japanese Christian martyrdom and persecution to religious/spiritual literature. Dr. Roldan-Figuero argues that the proliferation and influence of such literature were held a spiritual and religious purpose for the communities who printed it, received it, and passed it on.
The introductory chapter offers an overview of sixteenth-century Christianity in Japan. The rest of the book focuses on the roles, uses, and receptions of the body of literature produced between 1591-1700 that detailed Japanese persecution, prosecution, and martyrdom. The bibliography will prove valuable for scholars and students of the history of Japanese Christianity. Dr. Roldan-Figueroa uses several approaches in his research: history of missions, history of publication, a new approach to institutional history, and questions of how to classify the literature under study.
For a more detailed summary of the book, view the interview and hear Dr. Roldan-Figueroa explain some of the research discoveries, main arguments, and scholarly contributions held together in The Martyrs of Japan.
To buy a copy of the book, visit the publisher's page here.
The Reverend Jack Amick (STH ’06) and UMCOR’s Global Migration Program
The Reverend Jack Amick, STH alumn, is featured in a recent article announcing $10 million in grants for the work of Global Ministries and UMCOR.
The director of UMCOR's Global Migration Program, Rev. Jack Amick ('06), describes its primary goal to "support the church in its efforts to provide welcome to refugees and migrants of all types, regardless of where they are on the migration journey."
For more information about the grant announcements, to learn more about Global Ministries, UMCOR, and Rev. Amick, read the article here.
Anicka Fast (’20), Bruce Yoder (’16) and Unlikely Friends Mentioned by the Mennonite Mission Network
The Mennonite Mission Network's recent blog post mentions Anicka Fast ('20) and Bruce Yoder ('16), STH Alumni and former advisees of Dr. Dana Robert. Fast's research and Yoder's participation with the Congolese church and Mennonite mission are noted.
Through the post, blog author, Linda Hollinger-Janzen, reflects on Anicka's dissertation research, her current assignment in Burkina-Faso teaching African church history, and her chapter in Dana Robert's Festschrift, Unlikely Friends.
Hollinger-Janzen's reflections offer insight into historical Mennonite mission relationships in French-speaking Africa and present-day applications of friendship in mission through the lives of two STH alumni.
Read the blog post, "Expatriate women and house workers helped dismantle Mennonite segregation in Congo" by Linda Hollinger-Janzen, here.