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.
Multicultural Ministries
Methodist Churches in Europe have responded to refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, but the presence of new people has required congregations to think deeply about language, worship, and unity. The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries responded with a pilot project to train pastors and laity leading congregations affected by migration. The first session of the Institute for Multicultural Ministry was held Aug. 22-30 at The United Methodist Church of Germany Educational and Training Center in Stuttgart. Among the presenters were Dana Robert, and graduates John Calhoun, David Scott, and HiRho Park.
Research Fellowships in Intercultural History of Christianity
Chinese Christian Poster Workshop
Baylor University Press sponsored a weekend workshop on Chinese Christian posters. Together (L-R), Lian Xi, Joseph Ho, Chloe Starr, Dana Robert, Francisca Ireland-Verwoerd, Daryl Ireland, Peter Zarrow, and Cade Jarrell outlined a volume on Christian posters and how they illuminate Chinese Christian identity and Chinese history.
CGCM in Winnigpeg
Research Professor, Jon Bonk, his wife Jean, and Casely Essamuah ('03), who is currently the Secretary of the Global Christian Forum met up in Winnipeg after celebrating full communion between the United Church of Canada and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Mission Week
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary will host a three day conference on "Re-imaging Global Mission," October 1-3, 2019. Allen Yeh from BIOLA and Dana L. Robert will be the keynote speakers.
Turning Points in Mission History, 1600-2000
Dana L. Robert presented a public lecture at the Royal Dutch Institute in Rome, September 11, 2019. Her tour of Turning Points in Mission History were part of a larger discussion on missions and conversion.
New Book: Indian Trinitarian Theology of Missio Dei
The Trinity, which has been left out for long as an esoteric mystery, has recaptured the imagination of theologians and elicited remarkable trinitarian formulations from across theological traditions. This contemporary development has forced the church to review its dogma, spirituality, and Christian practices through the lens of this central doctrine of the Christian faith. One of the important and essential upshots of the doctrine has been the reclamation of a theocentric and trinitarian understanding of mission as the missio Dei. In view of the modern renewal of the Trinity and the global expansion of Christianity, P.V. Joseph explores insights and perspectives from the trinitarian thoughts of St. Augustine and the Indian theologian Brahmabandhab Upadhyay that can inform missio Dei theology relevant for the Indian context.
“P. V. Joseph, in his landmark, An Indian Trinitarian Theology of Missio Dei, brings into conversation two of the most important themes in contemporary missiology; namely, Trinitarian missiology and the missio dei. The fact that his work highlights this theme throughout the history of the church makes this volume an indispensable addition to missiology. I heartily recommend it.”
—Timothy C. Tennent, President, Asbury Theological Seminary
“P. V. Joseph is an emerging and highly gifted Indian theologian whose work promises to make very significant contributions to a truly indigenous and contextualized Indian Christian understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity and the field of missiology. Joseph demonstrates keen analytical skills and a thorough grasp of both Western and Indian theological writings on the Trinity, as well as the ability to relate theology to missiology and the mission of the Triune God into the world. I commend his book to pastors, teachers, seminarians, and all who would like to enlarge their understanding of the Trinity in the context of our globalized, multicultural world today.”
—John Jefferson Davis, Professor of Systematic Theology, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
“At a time when World Christianity is going through a theological crisis in which Trinity is replaced by a Christo monism and mission is reduced to membership drive, P. V. Joseph invites theologians everywhere to reclaim mission as the ontological vocation of the church rooted in the loving relationship within and proceeding from the Trinity. He ably brings in theological resources from St. Augustine of North Africa and Brahmabandhab Upadhyay of India who have taken both Trinity and missio Dei seriously in their writings. While offering a historical survey of Trinity and missio Dei, Joseph takes care to address the missiological challenges emerging from liberational movements, including the Dalit movement in India. Students of theology and mission will find this book helpful in understanding the rich contours of Trinity and missio Dei.”
—M. Thomas Thangaraj, Professor Emeritus of World Christianity, Emory University
New Book: Faithful Friendships
Friendship isn’t always given a lot of thought—and lately, it doesn’t get a lot of time and effort, either. But in a world of busy and isolated lives, in which friendships can too easily become shallow, tenuous, and homogeneous, Dana Robert insists that good friendships are a vital and transformative part of the Christian life—a mustard seed of the kingdom of God. She believes Christians have the responsibility—and opportunity—to be countercultural by making friends across cultural, racial, socioeconomic, and religious lines that separate people from each other.
In this book Robert tells the stories of Christians who, despite or even because of difficult circumstances, experienced friendship with people unlike themselves as “God with us,” as exile, as testimony, and as celebration.
Jesus was a friend to his disciples. Through Jesus’s life and the lives of his followers down through the ages, Faithful Friendships shows readers how friendship can become life-changing—and even worldchanging.
—United Methodist Women
“In a world increasingly starved for close, long-term personal relationships, Dana Robert’s meditation on Christian friendship is a delightful read. She brings her deep knowledge of Christian mission and her own spiritual journey into a reflection about how relationships that seem so unequal to others can be deep and forming friendships that extend across great differences. This work does not take power differentials or cultural boundaries lightly but gives attention to the personal relationships that arise in settings of mission and service in a gentle and appreciative way that may open our eyes and give us language for some of these relationships in our own lives.”
—author of Accidental Preacher
“Dana Robert has been that rare combination of renowned scholar and committed church mission leader. In this book, Dr. Robert does a marvelous job of reclaiming the practice of friendship as essential to Christian ethics and church life. I’ve just returned from a bruising at the United Methodist General Conference, full of talk of division and schism. I’m thinking, ‘Dana Robert’s guidance and wisdom, just when we need it. What a gift.’”
—author of The Crucifixion
“What a remarkable—and unusual—book Dana Robert has given us! Though esteemed as a scholar of church history and mission, she has ranged far beyond academic categories to explore the deepest human needs and to reflect on the models of friendship she has seen in Christian communities. This is not a sentimental book; her copious illustrations depict Christian commitment across boundaries, often in peril. Preachers and church leaders of all stripes will value the way she has woven biblical and theological insights together with her own warmhearted message. Dana Robert is herself a friend in the church’s need.”
— Bishop, Florida Conference, The United Methodist Church
"When we follow Jesus, we discover along the way that God blesses us with the gift of friendship. These relationships, in turn, make a life of faithfulness, hope, and joy possible. Dana Robert is one of our most distinguished missiologists, and in Faithful Friendships, her reflections are deeply rooted in the gospels, in richly varied stories of Christian mission, and in our own need for the diverse gifts of the people God places along our journeys.”
— World Vision International
“Poignant portrayals of sacrificial and joyous, subversive and life-giving friendships. Deep friendships that untie knots of binding nationalism, racial, ethnic and cultural difference and become seeds for societal healing and reconciliation. Robert’s offering is a provocative invitation to all who yearn for God’s goodness in the world.”
— Duke Divinity School
“Refusing to be torn apart by wars, revolutions, and systemic injustice and oppression, the individuals in Faithful Friendships manifest their faith and humanity in noble acts of friendship that defies the boundaries of race, nationality, class, religion, and culture. An inspiring read.”
Call for Proposals: China, Christianity, and the Dialogue of Civilizations
The US-China Catholic Association will host a conference on “China, Christianity, and the Dialogue of Civilizations” to take place March 13-15, 2020 on the campus of Santa Clara University. This conference will examine efforts to locate engagement between Christianity and Chinese civilization in the context of shared values and the common good. See conference homepage for more information: www.uscatholicchina.org/conference-2020.
Conference organizers seek proposals for panels from potential panel conveners. Panels will address a given topic from several mutually illuminating perspectives, taking into account Catholic and other Christian experience. Panels that have already been proposed include:
- The Sino-Vatican accord in historical and comparative perspective
- Sinisization of religion: Meaning and application
- Youth culture and contemporary society
- Environmental issues, faith communities and the common good
Panel conveners can simply invite contributors and moderate the resulting session, or they can also present, in which case the USCCA would work with the convener as needed to arrange for a session moderator.
A note about this particular conference model: Attendees will include both academics and people involved in various faith communities. The goal is to make the insights of the academic community and the perspectives of its various disciplines available to the larger, informed public.
Panels will also form the basis of “state of the question” chapters in an edited volume. These chapters need not recap the sessions in question, but rather, taking into account the proceedings of the conference, they will provide an intelligent commentary on the issues raised, again, for the larger, informed public.
Panel conveners will have right of first refusal for the chapter related to their panel. Publisher and parameters will be finalized in consultation with potential contributors.
To propose a panel session, send an email to USCCA.Conference@gmail.com with:
- Working title
- Panel description (200 words or so)
- Possible contributors (optional)
Soft deadline for submission: September 20, 2019.
For inquiries contact:
Anthony Clark, Professor of Chinese History, Whitworth University
AClark@Whitworth.edu
Stephanie Wong, Assistant Professor of Theology, Valparaiso University
Stephanie.Wong@Valpo.edu
Michael Agliardo, SJ, Research Scholar, Santa Clara University and
Executive Director, US-China Catholic Association
MAgliardo@SCU.edu
Yale-Edinburgh 2020: Oral, Print, and Digital Cultures in World Christianity and the History of Mission
Studies in world Christianity and the history of mission have not been afraid to engage the topic of culture. However, they have mostly referred to the encounters of Western Christian cultures with another, whether that be Confucian and Hindu culture, or the indigenous cultures of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania. This year's theme uses the language of culture to speak about three different mediums in which the Christian message is communicated and the Christian life is practiced. These cultures have developed somewhat chronologically, but they also simultaneously coexist in the contemporary world.
Oral culture is a vivid dimension of Christian expression, from the psalms of David to the sermons of Jesus and the prayers of the saints. Methodist missionaries, following the legacy of the Wesley brothers, readily preached and sang their faith. Christian hymnody has found local expression, be it in African American spirituals or ghazals and bhajans in India. Prophecy and glossolalia are often regarded by Pentecostals and charismatics as indicators of the faith. Christ's passion has been recalled in the Philippines through the indigenized form of the pasyón epic, whereas apparitions of the Virgin in Guadalupe and La Vang and of Saint George in Palestine have been vehicles to narrate the faith.
Print culture has also been an important medium for Christianity. Missionaries used print to propagate their message with vernacular Bibles and hymnbooks, catechisms and apologetic tracts. The widespread translation and dissemination of The Pilgrim's Progress has globalized seventeenth-century Puritan Christianity and provided a narrative for expressing local virtues. The Western printing press, introduced by missionaries to Shanghai, helped transform the treaty port into a major hub of print capitalism. Christian magazines and lantern slides were used to convey images of distant peoples to sending churches and mobilize publics against slavery and opium, whereas vernacular novels, short stories, and periodicals have contributed to the formation of independent nation-states and to unify diasporic populations.
As we have entered the digital age, the growing digital culture has opened up new vistas for world Christianity and the history of mission. New methods have been created to engage our subject, from the digitization of archives to the visualization of missionary populations on maps alongside centers of political and religious power. Digital technologies have opened up new possibilities for mission across borders, Christian public engagement over social media, and connecting Christian migrants around the globe. Yet Christian online activities have also been curtailed by forms of state censorship such as the Great Firewall of China. Digital media also exposes hierarchies of resourcing, showing which Christian communities have access to the technological infrastructure for a vibrant online presence and which communities are marginalized by their poverty or lack of expertise.
Oral, print, and digital cultures may transcend societies, but they find unique expressions throughout world Christianity and the history of mission. We anticipate our conference will open up a lively interdisciplinary conversation among historians, theologians, and social scientists studying religion, as well as to include scholars of other disciplines, such as media studies and digital humanities.
A statement on the theme, written by our conveners, is available at the Yale-Edinburgh Group website through the link below:
http://divinity-adhoc.library.yale.edu/Yale-Edinburgh/2020theme.htm
A Call for Papers will be announced to the list and made available on the website in January 2020.
Please direct any questions about the theme essay or the 2020 meeting to Dr. Emma Wild-Wood (emma.wildwood@ed.ac.uk) and Dr. Alexander Chow (alexander.chow@ed.ac.uk).