Alumni
The Global Christian Forum Committee chose Dr. Casely Essamuah
The Global Christian Forum Committee chose Dr. Casely Essamuah to serve in the central role of its Secretary. Dr. Essamuah will take up the position on 1 July 2018, following the retirement of the Rev Dr Larry Miller who has led the GCF for the last six years. Dr. Essamuah will be presented as ‘Secretary elect’ to the third global gathering of the GCF, which occurs in Bogota, Colombia April 24-27, 2018.
Casely Essamuah as the next Secretary of the Global Christian Forum
Dr. Casely Essamuah, BUSTH alumnus, has been selected as the next Secretary of the Global Christian Forum which brings together traditional ecumenical, evangelical and Pentecostal churches. He received his Th.D. in 2003 and has written a book titled, "Genuinely Ghanaian: History of the Methodist Church Ghana, 1960-2000." Read the full article here.
Church Planting in Post-Christian Soil
Christopher James, BUSTH alumnus, was awarded the Gold Medal in Theology for his book Church Planting in Post-Christian Soil by the Illumination Book Awards. Book Description: "Christopher James attends carefully to stories of ecclesial innovation taking place in Seattle, Washington-a city on the leading edge of trends shaping the nation as a whole. James's study of the new churches founded in this "post-Christian" city offers both theological reflection and pragmatic advice."
Mission and the Methodist Connexion in Southern Africa
The Methodist Church of Southern Africa installed the leader of its Mission unit, Rev. Dr. Kenaleone Ketshabile ('12), as the new bishop of the Kimberly, Namibia, and Bloemfontein District. The District is mostly rural and rich in many languages including Afrikaans, English, Sesotho, Setswana, etc. Its vision and mission is aligned with the Connexional one – that Methodist people are called to proclaim the gospel of healing and transformation.
Dance as Metaphor of Cross and Mission in Contexts of Trauma
The trauma of violence, discrimination, and war continue to mark the lives of countless Christians throughout the globe. Such trauma is particularly acute in contexts where the public life of Christians is threatened and marginalized by the increasing influence of religious radicalism in the public sphere, notably in the Indonesian context of BuSTH alumna Rev. Dr. Septemmy Lakawa, professor of Jakarta Theological Seminary. Dr. Lakawa was a keynote speaker at the 2017 Asia Mission Conference in Yangon, Myanmar. In her speech on October 16th, she emphasized the role of dance in healing from the trauma experienced by Christians who are witnesses to acts of violence.
Killing our Children’s Children
Surveying ecological disasters around the world, Visiting Researcher Kapya Kaoma delivered sharp warnings that an earth-theology must be developed, or we will be "killing our children's children." Dr. Kaoma delivered his message during the Gunther Wittenberg Lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Ujamaa Centre in South Africa. His entire lecture has been made through Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa.
World Christianity and the Fourfold Gospel
The third issue of World Christianity and the Fourfold Gospel came out in March 2017. Many CGCM alums and faculty associate are involved with this journal—Dr. Yeon-seung Lee as managing editor; Dr. Dana Robert, Dr. Sung-deuk Oak, Dr. Myung-soo Park, and Dr. Brian Clark on the advisory board. Dr. Yeon-seung Lee also contributed an article entitled "Korean Initiative of the Rural Reconstruction by the YMCA in Colonial Korea." Readers are encouraged to submit articles to the journal. 
GRACE Anglican Church in Joondalup
Dr. Gift Makwasha, Boston University School of Theology alumnus, was commissioned as the first full-time priest for GRACE Anglican Church in Joondalup. Dr. Makwasha moved to Perth from Zimbabwe with his family in late February to take up the position. The parish held a commissioning service on March 16 to welcome Dr. Makwasha, performed by Assistant Bishop of Perth Jeremy James. Full article can be found here.
Contemporary Mission Theology
Goals of Frontier Church Planters and Other Missionaries According to the Serampore Form of Agreement
In 1805 the famed missionary trio of William Carey, William Ward, and Joshua Marshman, along with six other men of the British Baptist Missionary Society who were stationed at Serampore, India, set forth for themselves, and a stream of new missionaries arriving from England, eleven “great principles” (as they called them) to explain their commitments and aims. The Serampore Form of Agreement (SFA) articulates a more robust and biblical understanding of the church planter’s life and ministry than typically does the popular contemporary literature on missions that is consumed by US American evangelicals.
Travis Myers, STH alumnus, recently published an article titled "The 'Peculiar Qualifications' and Goals of Frontier Church Planters and Other Missionaries According to the Serampore Form of Agreement (1805)" in Journal of Global Christianity. His article demonstrates Serampore Form of Agreement's early-nineteenth-century signers’ attention to culture learning and avoiding offense, to building rapport and diligent evangelism, to proper doctrine and patient disciple-making, as well as to indigenous churches and missionary oversight. Throughout the article, he suggests several points of application to certain contemporary issues in missions, especially those related to best practices in the field and missionary qualifications.