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.
150th Anniversary of Methodist Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society
On March 23, 1869, eight women gathered at Tremont Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston and founded the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. To commemorate the event, the School of Theology held a dedication ceremony of the stain-glass windows that came from the Tremont Street church that memorialized the women who started the society. Dana L. Robert gave a lecture about the "First Women of Theology," and how they were intertwined with the beginning of Boston University. In fact, she explained, on the same day Massachusetts Governor William Claflin chaired the first public meeting of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society in Boston on May 26, 1869, he also went to the state house and signed the charter for state legislature to found Boston University. “It was the same people,” Robert explained. “The publicity, though, of the woman’s meeting got more press coverage.”
Joining the Choir
Nicolette Manglos-Weber's new book, Joining the Choir: Religious Membership and Social Trust Among Transnational Christians was published by Oxford University Press, and recently reviewed by the American Academy of Religion's Reading Religion.
New Book
Nimi Wariboko, the Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics, has recently published a new volume: Ethics and Society in Nigeria: Identity, History, Political Theory. This pathbreaking book constructs a socio-ethical identity of Nigeria that can advance its political development. Its method is based on the rediscovery of the practices and principles of emancipatory politics and a retrieval of fundamental virtues and capabilities that go to the core of the functioning of pluralistic communities. Ethics and Society in Nigeria: Identity, History, Political Theory critically engages history, myth, political philosophy, and religion to demonstrate that Nigeria has an unfolding historic identity that can serve as a resource for sustaining increasing levels of human flourishing and democratic republicanism.
Located at the intersection of history and political theory, this work identifies the nature of Nigeria's moral problem, forges the political-theoretic discursive framework for a robust analysis of the problem, and shows a pathway out of the nation's predicament. This three-pronged approach is founded on the retrieval of moral exemplars from the past and critical engagement with history as a social practice, philosophical concept, discipline of study, form of social imaginary, and witness of the flows of contemporary events. Using this methodology, author Nimi Wariboko analyzes various forms of political, religious, and revolutionary identities that have been put forth by different groups in the country and then examines their usefulness for the transformation of Nigeria's problematic socio-ethical identity.
Methodist Mission Bicentennial
April 8-10, Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church will sponsor a conference to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Methodist missions. The theme of the conference is “Answering the Call: Hearing God’s Voice in Methodist Mission Past, Present, and Future.” The event will celebrate Methodism’s mission heritage and look to the future of Methodist mission.
It will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, at the Emory University Conference Center Hotel. The dates for the conference were chosen to coincide closely with the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Missionary Society on April 5, 1819, formed to support the work of John Stewart, a free African-American, among the Wyandotte Native American people of Ohio.
David Scott ('13) is organizing the event and three people from the CGCM will be presenting at the conference: Dana Robert, Michele Sigg, and Mikio Miyagi.
Aspiring to Be an Three-Mile-an-Hour People
"Aspiring to Be a Three-Mile-an-Hour People," is the latest article from Visiting Researcher Jon Bonk. It recently appeared ion Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology.
What is Truth: Lenten Preaching Series
Pilate’s question to Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), resonates through the ages, as we each stand before God wrestling with questions of meaning and identity. In our time, the idea of truth is under attack in new ways, challenging our coherence as a society and the witness of the church.
This Lent, the annual preaching series at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (138 Tremont Street) in Boston will feature bishops, scholars, a poet and a journalist engaging the question, “What is truth?”
The series takes place on Thursdays, March 7-April 11, 12-1:30 p.m., featuring a simple worship service with guest sermon, followed by a light lunch and conversation with the preacher. Everyone is welcome.
• March 7: Bishop Gayle E. Harris;
• March 14: Sally Haslanger—Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies, MIT;
• March 21: Regie Gibson—Poet, writer, educator and national poetry slam champion;
• March 28: Jonathan Cavillo—Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Theology;
• April 4: Matthew Bell—Reporter, Public Radio International’s “The World”; and
• April 11: Bishop Alan M. Gates.
Questions may be directed to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (617-482-4826, ext. 221 or kvetiac@diomass.org ).
Salvation Army Posters in China
The recent collaboration between the CGCM and other institutions to create a digital repository of Chinese Christian posters has spurred some wonderful new historical work. The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre has created a post about the work of the Salvationist's in China, drawing together both the posters images and other photographs and artifacts from its own collection.
Call for Papers: Dynamics of Indigenization
A Special Issue of the Journal of Presbyterian History
The Journal of Presbyterian History (JPH) invites submissions for a special issue on “The Dynamics of Indigenization”, which will consider the history of global Christian communities that arose within the Presbyterian and Reformed traditions or through contacts with Presbyterian missions. This special issue will approach indigenization in terms of how communities adapted to local needs and conditions, or responded on the ground to governments, dominant faith groups, and broader societies. In its thematic focus, it draws inspiration from the scholarship of the late Lamin Sanneh, who illuminated how Christianity “translated” into diverse cultures and how Christians engaged with peoples rooted in other religious traditions. Articles should reflect original historical research and draw on Presbyterian or Reformed archives and sources. The guest editors for this special issue are Bonnie Sue Lewis, Connie Shemo, and Heather J. Sharkey.
For more information on the Journal of Presbyterian History, see https://www.history.pcusa.org/history-online/publications/journal-presbyterian-history Note that JPH favors articles that combine scholarly rigor with a clear and lively prose style. Its target audience includes both professional historians and general educated readers.
Articles should range from 5,000 to 7,000 words, including notes. The deadline is March 1, 2020. Send submissions to jph@history.pcusa.org
II International Conference on Bartolomé de Las Casas
The first International Conference, “Bartolomé de Las Casas, O.P.: History, Philosophy, and Theology in the Age of European Expansion,” held in 2016, was a landmark event for Lascasian scholarship. In response to this success, Providence College is pleased to invite interested scholars to our next gathering: “II International Conference on Bartolomé de Las Casas.” Moreover, the organizers programmed this Lascasian conference to coincide with the III International Conference on the History of the Order of Preachers in America, to be held July 17-19th (Wednesday-Friday) at Providence College. Participants can benefit from and contribute to the rich combination of unique research interests afforded by these two international gatherings. Below you will find the program for both conferences. For more information visit: Las Casas Conference. Or contact David Orique, O.P., Ph.D., Cynthia Folquer, O.P., Ph.D., or Rady Roldán-Figueroa, Th.D. at Lascasasconference2019@gmail.com or opamerica2019@gmail.com.
Call for Papers: Yale-Edinburgh Group
This is the official Call for Papers for the Yale-Edinburgh Group on the History of the Missionary Movement and World Christianity conference, which will be held at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut June 27 – June 29, 2019.
We are accepting proposals for papers on any aspect of the conference theme: Diversity and Difference in Custom, Belief, and Practice in the History of Missions and World Christianity.
Please review the following webpage for an essay on the theme http://divinity-adhoc.library.yale.edu/Yale-Edinburgh/2019theme.htm
Please submit your paper proposal as an email attachment to Chris Anderson (christopher.j.anderson@yale.edu) by March 1, 2019. Your proposal should include your name, academic affiliation/status, and a one paragraph abstract of the proposed topic. If your proposal is accepted, you will be notified by March 15. Each paper will be limited to 20-25 minutes, followed by discussion. Full papers are welcomed in advance and, if received by June 25, will be available for download by conference participants.
Preliminary information about the meeting is available at http://divinity-adhoc.library.yale.edu/Yale-Edinburgh/2019y-einfo.htm
If you plan to attend the conference, please submit the following pre-registration formhttps://web.library.yale.edu/divinity/yale-edinburgh/2019-registration-form
If you need a letter of invitation in order to obtain a visa or institutional funding, please indicate this on the registration form.The registration deadline is April 30, 2019.
Participation in the meeting is limited to members of the Yale-Edinburgh Group, which consists de facto of the members of the “Missions” listserv. If you know of people who may be interested in participating in the conference but are not members of the listserv, please ask them to contact me.
Information about a small number of fellowships sponsored by the Yale Divinity Library’s David M. Stowe Fund for Mission Research will be forthcoming next week. These fellowships are available to cover travel and accommodations expenses of early career scholars who wish to attend the conference and spend some time at the Yale Divinity Library doing research.