News of the extended network of faculty, alumni, students, visiting researchers, and mission partners is regularly updated, and some of the big ideas or major events in Global Christianity are covered in the CGCM News.
Margaret Bendroth’s New Article
Visiting Researcher Margaret Bendroth recently published a new article in The Review of Faith & International Affairs.
Bendroth looks at how the legacy of the Pilgrims shaped religion in the United States up to the early twentieth century. To read the interesting article, check out “Who Owns the Pilgrim Fathers? American Protestants and a Contested Legacy,” in The Review of Faith & International Affairs 19, no. 3 (July 3, 2021): 46–54, https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2021.1954404
Dana Robert to Speak in Panel Discussion on “What is World Christianity?”
As a part of the Overseas Ministry Study Center's Online Study Program 2020-2021, Dr. Dana Robert will join a panel to discuss "What is World Christianity?". The event will take place on November 4, 9:30-11:00 am (EST). Dr. Robert will be a part of the panel with Afe Adogame, Alexander Chow, Jehu Hanciles, Brian Stanley, and Emma Wild-Wood.
To sign up and attend, see the OMSC info page here.
In Memory of Historian Wilbert R. Shenk
The CGCM remembers the life and legacy of Wilbert Shenk. He shaped the study of world Christianity in its early years and continued to be a mentor, model, and inspiration to many. His groundbreaking research and writing, particularly his work on historical figures and missiologists Henry Venn and Lesslie Newbigin, have been influential in the field. His presence at and participation in the American Society of Missiology was formative for colleagues and younger scholars. His extensive work on global Mennonite history, his own mission experience, extensive publications, and teaching career reflects his generous, engaged, and thoughtful presence as a friend, colleague, and missiologist.
To read more about Wilbert's life, visit Fuller Seminary's "In Memoriam" or Wilbert's obituary.
To listen to an interview with Wilbert full of stories of his missiological formation, click here.
Ruth Padilla DeBorst (’16) on the Legacy of John Stott
Dr. Ruth Padilla DeBorst ('16) was recently featured in a podcast series with Langham Partnership on the legacy of John Stott. Listen to her interview with Mark Meynell here!
Dr. Padilla DeBorst, a longtime leader with IFES and the Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamericana, is currently on the leadership board at the Comunidad de Estudios Teológicos Interdisciplinarios (CETI) and serves with the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT).
Michèle Sigg Receives Grant to Study the African Contribution to Global Anglicanism
Dr. Michèle Sigg, Executive Director of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (DACB), has recently received a substantial Constable Grant from The Episcopal Church for a project entitled "The African Contribution to Global Anglicanism." The funding will support the project team in producing six educational videos on the history of the Christian church in Africa, focusing on key figures from both the ancient church and the post-Reformation period. By providing accessible videos on key aspects of African Christian history, the project team aims to enhance the global church's awareness and appreciation of the African church, given that today Africa is the continent with the most Christian inhabitants. The videos will be licensed by Creative Commons to enhance access, and they are scheduled to be available in May 2022.
China Historical Christian Database Receives Competitive NEH Grant
Drs. Daryl Ireland, Eugenio Menegon, and Alex Mayfield recently wrote a proposal to receive a Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for continued development of the China Historical Christian Database. We are pleased to announce that their proposal was just accepted! The project was one of twenty projects chosen by the NEH to receive this generous funding. The project will further the digital mapping work of the Database, which charts Christian figures and institutions across China from 1550-1950, revealing the interconnection between missions, hospitals, schools, and other institutions, and illuminating the exchange of ideas and technologies between China and the West over four centuries.
Learn more about all the grant-winning projects at the NEH website, and more news about the Center's grant at the BUSTH website.
In Memory of Historian Andrew Walls
A great historian and pioneer of the study of world Christianity, Andrew Walls, has recently passed away. Walls spent his career as a teacher in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Scotland, where he established the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World at the University of Aberdeen (today the Centre for the Study of World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh). Prof. Walls was a dear friend and an intellectual inspiration to many scholars of mission and historians of Christianity. Many of these friends have written tributes to his legacy, which have been published in Christianity Today. You can read their words of thanks and appreciation, including a tribute from Dr. Dana Robert, here.
Daryl Ireland to Speak on Chinese Revivalist John Song
This fall, Dr. Daryl Ireland, CGCM associate director, will be giving a presentation about his recent book, John Song: Modern Chinese Christianity and the Making of a New Man (Baylor University Press, 2020). The event is part of the fall semester events being hosted by the Overseas Ministry Study Center at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Easten Law will host the conversation. Ireland's book was selected as one of "Ten Outstanding Books in Mission Studies, Intercultural Theology, and World Christianity" by the International Bulletin of Mission Research for 2020!
Event date: October 7, 9:30-11:00am.
You can register for the event here. For doctoral or postdoctoral students in world Christianity, mission studies, intercultural theology, and related fields, registration is free!
Alex Mayfield to Present on China Historical Christian Database
Dr. Alex Mayfield ('21), Principal Investigator with the China Historical Christian Database, will give a public presentation about the database at "Historical Network Research in Chinese Studies," an event hosted by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. Dr. Mayfield will present on Friday, July 30, at 10am EST. Registration is free but required. Learn more here!
Recorded Lecture with Margaret Bendroth Now Available
In spring 2021, Dr. Margaret Bendroth gave a public lecture entitled "Liberating the Ladies' Aid: Mainline Protestants and Feminism in the 'Between Times.'" This lecture was hosted by Dr. Christopher Evans in his graduate-level course at the BU School of Theology. The event was sponsored by the Center for Global Christianity & Mission.
Dr. Bendroth is a Visiting Researcher with the CGCM and the former longtime executive director of the Congregational Library in Boston.
Watch the video on the Center's YouTube channel!