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.
Telescope and Microscope
One of the challenges of global history is to bridge the particularities of individual lives and trajectories with the macro-historical patterns that develop over space and time. Italian micro-history, particularly popular in the 1980s–1990s, has excavated the lives of small communities or individuals to test the findings of serial history and macro-historical approaches. Micro-history in the Anglophone world has instead focused more on narrative itself, and has shown, with some exceptions, less interest for ampler historiographical conclusions.
Sino-Western interactions in the early modern period offer a particularly fruitful field of investigation, ripe for a synthesis of the global and the micro-historical. Cultural, social, and economic phenomena can be traced in economic and statistical series, unpublished correspondence, and other non-institutional sources, in part thanks to the survival of detailed records of the activities of East India companies and missionary agencies in China. Recent scholarship has started to offer new conclusions, based on such Western records and matching records in the Chinese historical archive.
In this article, Eugenio Menegon offers a methodological reflection on ‘global micro-history’, followed by four micro-historical ‘vignettes’ that focus on the economic and socio-religious activities of the Roman Catholic mission in Beijing in the long eighteenth century. These fragments uncover unexplored facets of Chinese life in global contexts from the point of view of European missionaries and Chinese Christians in the Qing capital—‘end users’ of the local and global networks of commerce and religion bridging Europe, Asia, Africa, and South and Central America.
“Telescope and Microscope. A Micro-Historical Approach to Global China in the Eighteenth Century - Forum Article," Modern Asia Studies 2019.
The Habit that Hides the Monk
Professor Eugenio Menegon has recently published an article on missionaries and clothing in China. “‘The Habit That Hides the Monk’: Missionary Fashion Strategies in Late Imperial Chinese Society and Court Culture.” In Catholic Missionaries in Early Modern Asia: Patterns of Localization, edited by Nadine Amsler, Andreea Badea, Bernard Heyberger, and Christian Windler. London: Routledge, 2019
Catholic Chinese Bishop Conference – Boston
On December 6, 2019, Professor Menegon coordinated a cordial and successful meeting with the leaders of the official and government-endorsed Catholic Chinese Bishop Conference at Boston College’s Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, where he is a Collaborative Scholar.
The delegation consisted of six members: Bishop Ma Yinglin 马英林 President of Bishop’s Conference of Catholic Church in China (BCCCC) and Bishop of Kunming diocese (Yunnan Province); Bishop Zhan Silu詹思禄, Vice President of BCCCC and Bishop of Mindong diocese (Fujian Province); Bishop He Zeqing 何泽清, Vice President of BCCCC and Bishop of Wanzhou diocese（Chongqing City）; Bishop Wang Renlei王仁雷, Bishop of Xuzhou diocese（Jiangsu Province）; Bishop Li Suguang 李稣光, Bishop of Jiangxi diocese（Jiangxi Province）; and Rev. John Chen Guangqian 陈广前their interpreter and Academic Dean of Shaanxi Catholic Major Seminary, Shaanxi City (Shaanxi Province).
The purpose of the Chinese Bishops’ trip was:
- to study how Catholic dioceses are run in the USA, to learn about the development and education of vocations, and to understand how to improve the relationship between the Church and society. They also hoped to learn about the operations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- To introduce the accomplishments of the Catholic Church in China during the past thirty years.
- To invite bishops and other responsible figures within the American Church to visit the Church in China.
The delegation first visited Chicago (December 1-3) and then St. Vincent Archabbey outside of Pittsburgh (December 3-5). The final stop was Boston (December 5-7), where they visited the Catholic St. John Seminary and Boston College, and met with Boston’s Cardinal O’Malley
At BC Menegon presented his 2010 monograph on Catholicism in Mindong, Ancestors, Virgins and Friars (Mindong is the diocese of visiting Bishop Vincent Zhan), and BU CGCM’s China-related research, including the Chinese Christian Posters website and the China Historical Christian Database in development.
Quid pro Quo? Missionaries and Their ‘Skill Capital’ in Qing Beijing
In the eighteenth century around thirty European Catholic missionaries lived in Beijing, partly employed in technical and artistic services at the imperial palace and at the Directorate of Astronomy, and partly engaged in religious work. Starting in 1724, however, the Yongzheng Emperor forbade Christianity in the provinces. Yet the foreigners, with semi-official permission, continued missionizing in the capital and its environs, employed Chinese personnel, purchased residences and other real estate, and built churches in the Imperial City, the “Tartar City,” and the Haidian suburb. The emperor and the Qing court (Manchu nobles, eunuchs, and other officials) allowed these Europeans to remain in Beijing and tolerated their religious activities in exchange for their exotic commodities and their services. The missionaries, on the other hand, used their skills and a relentless gift-giving strategy to create a network of support in the capital and beyond.
In his recent publication, "Quid pro Quo? Europeans and Their ‘Skill Capital’ in Qing Beijing," Eugenio Menegon uses documents in Chinese and European archives, to explore the figure of the missionary and clockmaker Sigismondo Meinardi, and his ‘quid pro quo’ artisanal activities at the Qianlong court. Technical skills, luxury articles and commodities became currencies of negotiation between divergent interests, contributing to weaken Qing imperial prohibitions, and to create ad hoc arrangements, tolerated by the emperor and benefiting the palace personnel, the missionaries, and their communities. Thus, spaces and objects of ‘leisure’ became grounds to rebalance traditionally asymmetrical relations of power, and shape social relations.
The essay is part of a larger work: Testing the Margins of Leisure: Cases from China, Japan and Indonesia. Edited by Rudolf Wagner, Catherine Yeh, Eugenio Menegon, and Robert Weller. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2019.
Call for Papers: Liberation & Reconciliation through Latin America
Engaging Liberation and Reconciliation through Latin AmericaDuke Graduate Conference in TheologyMarch 20–21, 2020Duke University | Durham NCThe sixth annual Duke Graduate Conference in Theology is pleased to invite proposals that engage the intersections of liberation, reconciliation, and Latin America. Proposals that engage these themes from a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives are welcomed including (but not limited to): systematic theology, liturgical studies, ethics, historical theology, world Christianity, political theology, and biblical studies. Strong proposals will also engage with experiences and voices from Latin American culture, people, and/or history.Submission GuidelinesPlease submit paper proposals of no more than 300 words by December 20. Proposals should be emailed as a .doc or docx to dgct2020@gmail.com. Please include your name, institution, and degree program in the e-mail. Proposals will be evaluated anonymously by peer review. Notifications of acceptance will be distributed by December 31, and final, full manuscripts will be due on 12pm, Monday, March 9. Presenters will have 15-20 minutes to present their papers in faculty-moderated panels. For up-to-date information, please visit the conference website at sites.duke.edu/dgct2020.About the Conference and ThemeThe Duke Graduate Conference in Theology provides an annual forum for graduate students from Duke and other institutions to promote and foster the exchange of ideas among those studying in various theological disciplines.March 24, 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the martyrdom Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero. During his time as Archbishop of San Salvador, Romero exhibited the rare and powerful combination of pastoral sensibility, theological attunement, and prophetic zeal, which he exercised on behalf of the poor and the oppressed people of El Salvador. The life of Romero is especially relevant today given current socio-political realities both in the U.S. and across the world, which make it seem almost impossible to pursue the work of liberation and reconciliation in tandem. The witness of Romero’s life and death continues to be a call for the church in Latin America and across the world to listen for the voice of Christ in the cries of the poor and the oppressed and to live in ways that bear witness to the liberating and reconciling work of Christ.
Call for Papers: Socio-Political Disruptions and Missions Praxis
The October 2020 issue of Global Missiology - English will take up the urgent theme of “Socio-Political Disruptions and Missions Praxis.” Regional case studies are welcome, as are papers that take up any number of related topics, including:
- The rise of global populism and of political radicalism, plus the challenges both present to nation-states as well as to Christians’ unified witness
- Accelerating phases of technology: the digitalization of the world, the turn to social media and big data (facebook, twitter, instagram), and resulting opportunities and challenges for missions praxis. (One example among many topics worth pursuing is how cross-cultural workers have been affected by increased availability of online entertainment and social media: whereas in the past a person or a group would have gone out for evangelism, some missionaries are spending more time watching movies and trying to cope with culture shock by turning inwards or homewards.)
- Global demographic transformations - including aging populations in the West and other “developed” nations such as Japan and South Korea, as well as younger populations in Africa - that carry vast implications for points of mission focus as well as for missions mobilization, funding, and generational missions visions. Exploration is needed also of the ministry implications of today’s more porous social, cultural, and class boundaries (caused by, for example, urbanization and intermarriages), for example neo-cosmopolitan people group reconfigurations and diffuse (mixed) group identities. There are new questions about mission among aging generations that rejected Christianity a few decades ago, but are now facing mortality.
- Increased migrations, displacements and refugees, as well as ethnic or racial marginality, associated with violence and other catastrophes. With such dynamic people movements all over the world, how might churches re-imagine discipling and socializing new generations of displaced people, including Christians? The much-discussed phenomenon of “reverse missions” relates here, but there is a need for more in-depth explorations.
- The “closing up” or “limitation” of certain frontier missions, e.g., China’s and India’s restrictions, Africa’s control of work permits. What kinds of stories are emerging in these areas? If you have been a missionary who has been displaced by restrictions, can you tell your story to GM?
- Increased mixing of Christian and other activists in both social activism as well as social relief. How has Christian mission been affected in specific areas?
Proposed titles with approximately 100-word abstracts are due as early as possible, with an absolute latest deadline of April 30, 2020. Full manuscripts of approved paper proposals will be due July 31, 2020. Manuscript guidelines can be found on the Global Missiology website at
http://ojs.globalmissiology.org/index.php/english/about/submissions#authorGuidelines.
Please address all submissions and questions to globalmissiologyenglish@gmail.com.
Call for Papers: Christian Revival and Renewal Movements
Christian Revival and Renewal Movements in 20th and 21st Centuries
DATES: 28 to 30 June 2020
VENUE: Hope Park Campus, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool L16 9JD, England
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ requires Christians to change their customary ways of thinking and living in their specific contexts. In this process, they seek to orient their heritages, contemporary situations and future aspirations towards the Lord Jesus Christ as well. They want to cultivate in themselves the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ and to adjust their priorities accordingly. In due course, small changes begin to occur; gradually, they grow into sizable movements of revivals and renewals. Revivals improve how Christians perceive themselves, their loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ, their practices of spirituality and social engagement. They resurrect and reinvigorate their study of the Bible, prayer, meditation, church attendance, and missionary witness. As they seek to relive in their diverse contexts the examples of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles, as mentioned in the New Testament, they revisit the ideals of dependence of God for beneficial directions and full human flourishing here and now in this world. They renew spiritual practices such as personal and corporate reading of the biblical texts, stewardship and simplicity, tithing and giving for missionary purposes. Their regenerated and revitalised spiritual and temporal life leads at personal and corporate level to revival and renewal movements; these want to be at home in their contexts; but they question the legitimacy of inherited prejudices, unjust structural systems and mechanisms for excluding the weak and underprivileged. The ripple effects of their spiritual revivals and renewals manifest themselves in transformations of communities both within and outside of the Christian congregations.
The Yale-Edinburgh Conference of 2012 explored different facets of ‘Religious Movements of Renewal, Revival and Revitalization in the History of Missions and World Christianity.’ The conference of the Andrew Walls Centre at Liverpool Hope University focuses its attention on the revival, renewal and revitalisation movements of World Christianity since the dawn of 20th century. During the past 120 years, Christianity has recorded an astonishing growth of African Christianity. During this period, several Christian movements in Asia, the Pacific and Latin America underwent renewals. While Euro-American Christians attempt to rejuvenate their denominational and confessional teachings and institutions, their post-Christian societies either tolerate or disregard their presence and witness in the public sphere. Diaspora Christian communities exist in all countries and they seek to renew the spiritual life of the people in their host countries. Christian missionaries from South Korea, Nigeria, Brazil, for example, serve in many countries in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Evangelism through conventional and digital mass media spread the Word of God and certain Christian traditions everywhere. Both friends and ‘foes’ engage with the claims and actual manifestations of Christianity in their immediate neighbourhoods. For instance, the early 20th century saw the rise of figures such as W.W Harris, Sampson Oppong, Garrick Braide and many others, inspired by African readings of Scripture, leading mass movements to Christian faith. The East African Revival, which has had a massive effect on whole churches in several countries, count they engage with the East African Revival among the Anglicans, began in one small Anglican mission party. The later part of the 20th century a youth-led charismatic movement re-shaping many churches originating from Western historic Protestant missions. The 21st century continues to see new movements, some of them under leaders perceived as embodying the restoration of the spiritual gifts of the apostolic age. Similar revivals and renewals are evident among the peoples of North East India, the Kachin, Karen and Chin of Myanmar, the Koreans (1903–1907), the Chinese (House Church movements), Vietnam, Cambodia and Central Asia. At present, several revival movements happen in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Pacific Realm, and in the Euro-American countries. Understanding their goals, theologies, work methods, successes and limitations would enrich our knowledge of contemporary World Christianity.
The organisers of this invite 300-word paper proposals on any aspect of the national or regional, denominational or confessional revivals, renewals and revitalisation of Christianity; they can also deal with the responses of the people other faiths and traditions respond to these revivals. You may email your paper proposal before 31 January 2020 to the organisers, namely to either Professor Daniel Jeyaraj (jeyarad@hope.ac.uk) or Dr. Harvey Kwiyani (kwiyanh@hope.ac.uk).
After the Selection Committee has chosen the papers, we will contact you in the first week of February 2020. Details of registration for conference and accommodation will be available soon online at https://store.hope.ac.uk/conferences-and-events. In the meantime, the organisers will be happy to answer your queries about this conference.
Professor Andrew Walls, Professor Daniel Jeyaraj and Dr. Harvey Kwiyani
Maryknoll 2019
This year’s meeting of the Eastern Fellowship of Professors of Mission held at Maryknoll was attended by 57 people from a total of 16 institutions—a record number on both accounts. The theme of “Visualizing Mission” fired the imagination of presenters and participants alike. On Friday, Maryknoll Father Larry Lewis unveiled jewels of “God images” and signs of divine presence in several mainstream American and foreign films, emphasizing the mission of fully living out one’s humanity for God. After dinner, filmmaker James Ault played an excerpt of his new film project on Mechanic Manyeruke, considered a father of gospel music in Zimbabwe. Daryl Ireland (Boston University) prompted lively discussion with his fascinating findings on the portrayal of the cross in the CGCM’s digital Chinese poster collection (www.ccposter.com). Saturday morning, James Kim (New Brunswick Theological Seminary) showed excerpts of two Korean documentaries and highlighted some of the painful history of the coming of Christianity to Korea and the work of western missionaries. Finally, brief presentations by Meg Guider (Boston College), Michèle Sigg (Boston University), and James Taneti (Union Presbyterian Seminary) launched a plenary discussion on “Missionaries in the Movies.” Themes that emerged from the conversation included the importance of visual resources for churches in Africa, the ongoing challenge of negative portrayals of mission and missionaries in mainstream media, and the role of missiologists in evaluating these images within the evolving curriculum of mission studies and world Christianity programs.
Aristocratic Patronesses of the Chinese Catholic Mission
What do a Chinese élite lady in Shanghai, a Portuguese duchess in Madrid, an Austrian queen in Lisbon, and a Bavarian countess in Augsburg all have in common? These women, in spite of distance in time and space, all became revered patronesses of the Jesuit missions in China in the early modern period.
Candida Xu (許甘第大, 1607-1680), granddaughter of the most prominent Chinese Catholic convert of the late Ming period, the imperial Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi 徐光啓, once widowed at age 46 poured her fortune and energies in religious endeavors within the Catholic mission, and became a paragon of patronage and holiness both for her compatriots and the European readers of her French (1688), Spanish (1691) and Dutch (1694) biographies.
The Portuguese noblewoman and heiress Maria de Guadalupe de Lencastre y Cárdenas Manrique, Duchess of Aveiro (1630-1715), cultivated a sprawling epistolary network with Jesuit missionaries across the globe, including several in China, financially supporting them, and receiving in return spiritual blessings and information on their activities.
Maria Anna Habsburg of Austria (1683-1754), Queen Consort of Portugal and Regent of Portugal from 1742 until 1750, through her Jesuit confessor, the Austrian astronomer of the China Portuguese mission Augustin Hallerstein, organized a lavish embassy to the Qianlong Emperor to save the Chinese church from annihilation.
Finally, Countess Maria Theresia von Fugger-Wellenburg (1690-1762), a descendant of the Fugger banking dynasty in Swabia, through the Bavarian Jesuit Florian Bahr, supported Chinese abandoned infants and acted as a chain of communication between the Qing and the Wittelsbach courts.
This presentation examines these prominent women’s interactions with, and patronage of, the Jesuit missionaries in China, and, how, through their correspondence, as well as their political and financial influence, they sustained a far-flung network of male ecclesiastical admirers and expressed feminine spirituality and influence across the continents.
Wednesday, November 13, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Annmary Brown Memorial, 21 Brown Street | Free and open to the public.
Missiological Conversations
In October, Anicka Fast published, "Sacred children, white privilege, and mission: the role of historical reflection in moving toward healthier relationships within the global church," in Missiology: An International Review 47, no. 4 (October 2019): 435-448. The piece was a response to a rebuttal to her 2018 article “Sacred children and colonial subsidies” which also appeared in Missiology. Both the rebuttal by Lawrent Buschman and her response appear in this (October) issue ofMissiology. The editor Rich Starcher offers an introduction to the conversation in which he states: “While the process was stressful, the resultant dialogue was so rich that one prominent ASM leader suggested that such conversations on other disputed/controversial issues would be a good feature in future issues of the journal.”