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.
Gina Zurlo Named Distinguished BUSTH Alumna
Congratulations to Dr. Gina Zurlo, who was recently named one of the 2021 Distinguished Alums of the BU School of Theology, in the category of Emerging Leader. Dr. Zurlo is recognized for her pioneering research in global religious demography and women in world Christianity. Read more about Dr. Zurlo and the other Distinguished Alums here!
Applications Open for Global Ecumenical Theological Institute 2022
Sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute is now accepting applications for its program next year, which will take place between July-September 2022 and will have online and residential components. The theme for 2022 is "Christ's Love (Re)Moves Borders." The residential phase will occur in conjunction with the WCC meeting at Karlsruhe, Germany. BU alumna Kelly Fassett ('19) was selected as a participant in one of the earlier cohorts attending the Institute.
The Institute has several themes of study, including Healing Memories (Historic-Theological Track); Kairos for Creation (Eco-theological Track); Witness from the Margins (Practical-Diaconal Track); Engaging with Plurality (Intercultural-Interreligious Track); Body Politics: Body, Health and Healing (Just Relations Track); 4th Industrial Revolution & AI: Human Identity in the Context of Global Digitisation (special plenary).
Learn more about the program and how to apply at the WCC's website.
Dana Robert to Speak at New Wilmington Mission Conference
Dr. Dana Robert will be speaking at the New Wilmington Mission Conference, which will take place on July 16-19, 2021. First held 115 years ago, the Conference is one of the oldest continuing mission-related gatherings taking place in the United States and is connected to the Presbyterian church. Find the conference schedule here, and learn more about all of the conference speakers here.
Jonathan Calvillo Recognized for Work on Southern Californian Latinx Protestantism
Dr. Jonathan Calvillo was named one of the Public Fellows in Religion and the American West due to his expertise in New Mexican Methodism and Southern Californian Latinx Protestantism. The Fellows program is sponsored by the New-York Historical Society, and the research of the Fellows will support the creation of a traveling exhibit in 2022 on the various religious traditions that shaped, and were shaped by, the westward expansion of the United States. Learn more about the fellowship here!
Public Lecture with Prof. Philomena Mwaura on Mission in Africa
The University of Applied Sciences for Intercultural Theology Hermannsburg (FIT) is hosting a public lecture with Professor Philomena Mwaura on the topic of "Integrity of Mission in the Light of the Gospel. Witness of the Spirit Among Africa's Gospel Bearers and Through Them Worldwide Beyond." Learn more in the event flier.
Prof. Mwaura is also an Advisor for the Dictionary of African Christian Biography.
The lecture will take place on Thursday, 8 July 2021, 19:00 (CEST = German Summer Time).
Zoom info:
https://zoom.us/j/2307708683?pwd=aytDL3Y4N01VMzAyUjBqcVJDY3gvZz09
Meeting-ID: 230 770 8683
Kenncode: j2XKg9
Summer 2021 Work from Current Students & Recent Alumni
Several of the current graduate students and recent alumni affiliated with the CGCM are doing exciting academic work during the summer of 2021. Check out some of the titles of their exciting new work below!
(Additional titles will be added as the summer goes on.)
Alex Mayfield ('21, Project Director, China Historical Christian Database):
- "Arrows Flying to the Five Continents: Hong Kong and the Structures of Pentecostal Print Culture, 1907-1942," Yale-Edinburgh Annual Meeting, June 2021.
- "A Pentecostal Prisoner of War: Resistance and Obedience in Occupied Shanghai," Annual Meeting of the Association of Professors of Mission, June 2021.
- “The China Historical Christian Database,” Network Research in Chinese Studies, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University, July 2021.
Anicka Fast ('20)
- "Catholicity, Memory, and the Missionary Encounter: Toward an Ecclesiological Framework for World Christian History," American Society of Missiology Annual Meeting, June 2021.
- Article: “Understanding Religion and Politics in Africa: A Call for the Re-Enchantment of the Scholarly Imagination,” Journal of Religion in Africa 49 (2019): 145-161.
Tyler Lenocker ('20)
- "Urban Mission in Post-War Boston and (re-)Organizing Evangelical Community," American Society of Missiology Annual Meeting, June 2021.
- Panelist for “World Christian Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition,"American Society of Missiology Annual Meeting, June 2021.
Laura Chevalier ('20)
- “Tracing the Missional Lineage of Holiness and Early Pentecostal Homes for Children,” Missiology Seminar, Asbury Theological Seminary, Lexington, KY (online), March 2021.
- Dissertation presentation as a part of a panel on “Recent Holiness Dissertations,” Wesleyan Historical Society Meeting (Online), March 2021. (Dissertation title: “Becoming ‘Children of God’: The Child in Holiness and Pentecostal Mission Discourse and the Making of Global Evangelical Movements, 1897-1929")
- Serving as co-editor for the forthcoming Dictionary of Pentecostal Mission (T&T Clark) with Jerry Ireland, Robert Gallagher, and Paul Lewis.
Younghwa Kim ('16)
- "The Korean Church and American Missionaries after the Korean War," American Society of Missiology Annual Meeting, June 2021.
- “Among Dissenters and Friends: The Doukhobor Migration to Canada of 1898 and the Persecution Narrative that Propelled It," Annual Meeting of the Association of Professors of Mission, June 2021.
- “The Written Word that Relocated an Oral Culture: Print Media and Its Role in the Doukhobor Migration of 1898," prerecorded presentation at the Yale-Edinburgh Annual Meeting, June 2021.
Christopher Ney (PhD candidate):
- "UCC and Pentecostal Church of Chile," Yale-Edinburgh Annual Meeting, June 2021.
Morgan Crago (PhD student):
- “Protestant Missionaries in a Catholic Country: Baptism for Protestant Converts in the 19th Century Evangelical Missions to Brazil," Fourth Annual Florovsky-Newman Week, Eighth Day Institute, Wichita, KS, June 2021.
Other less-recent graduates have also been active in presenting at missiological societies this summer!
David W. Scott ('13, CGCM Visiting Researcher)
- "Mission and Migration, the Twin Antagonists of Geographically Based Church Structures," American Society of Missiology Annual Meeting, June 2021.
Titus Pressler ('95)
- "Irrepressible Vision: Pakistani Christians’ Mission amid Persecution," Annual Meeting of the Association of Professors of Mission, June 2021.
Honoring Brian Stanley, Leading Historian of World Christianity
At this year's meeting of the Yale-Edinburgh Group on World Christianity and History of Mission, a special gathering was held to honor the historical work of Dr. Brian Stanley, Professor in World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh. The gathering also celebrated the publication of a volume co-edited by Dr. Emma Wild-Wood and Dr. Alexander Chow, Ecumenism and Independency in World Christianity: Studies in Honour of Brian Stanley (Brill, 2021). CGCM Director Dr. Dana Robert and Dr. Marina Wang of VID Specialized University gave commemorative addresses on this special occasion. See the recording below:
Video Highlighting CGCM Digital Projects
For the 2021 meeting of the Yale-Edinburgh Group on World Christianity and the History of Mission, Dr. Daryl Ireland (CGCM Associate Director) and Dr. Michèle Sigg (Executive Director of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography) organized a video highlighting some of the Center's digital projects. They highlight the Dictionary and the China Historical Christian Database in particular. Check it out below!
Christian Theology in a Chinese Idiom
Visiting researcher Dr. Jesse Ciccotti recently gave a lecture on "Christian Theology in a Chinese Idiom," sponsored by ChinaSource. Watch the lecture video below! The lecture is also available for download, as is Dr. Ciccotti's suggested reading list on the topic. Learn more about the lecture and Dr. Ciccotti's research interests at the ChinaSource page.
Festschrift Honors Alumnus Rev. Dr. Heigo Ritsbek
A new festschrift, Scripta Amicis (Tallinn, 2021), with essays in Estonian and English, honors the life and work of Rev. Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, Patriarch of the Anglocatholic Church. Dr. Ritsbek studied under Prof. Dana Robert at the Boston University School of Theology, graduating in 1996 with a DMin. Dr. Ritsbek's autobiography, Tagasivaade (2020), is also available. Throughout his life, he has ministered in many countries around the world, including Estonia, Germany, United States, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Latvia, the Ukraine, South Africa, Uganda, France, Canada, Finland, Russia, Georgia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Denmark, Lithuania, and Italy.