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.
Mutual Love
At the Global Christian Forum's third Global Gathering, Christians were called to peace, unity, and costly discipleship. The meetings were held in Bogota, Columbia, and three graduates who were part of the CGCM were speakers at the event (Essamuah, Zurlo, Padilla DeBorst). A full report is available in the WCF's newsletter.
Call for Papers: Chinese Christian Art and Literature
Dates: May 3-5, 2019 (arriving on the 2nd and departing on the 6th)
Place: Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
The Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University invites papers that examine the relationship between Christianity and art or literature in Chinese societies. We welcome scholarly research papers that analyze art or literary works by Christian artists or writers, art criticism or literary criticism from a Christian perspective, or biographical or empirical studies of Christian artists or writers. Both the term art and literature are broadly understood. Art includes all forms of the fine arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, and even performing arts. Literature includes all genres of creative writing: novels, poems, essays, nonfictions, and even playwrights.
We also invite Chinese Christian artists and writers to present personal reflection papers about their faith and creative work. Personal reflection papers should reflect on personal conversion, Christian beliefs, and the impact of faith on their artwork or writing. In addition to the paper, the Chinese Christian artist/writer should also submit three to five samples (digital copies) of their works. Concurrent with this conference will be an art exhibit of Chinese Christian artists.
Based on submitted abstracts, we will select 20 participants to make presentations. Hotel expenses for the presenters will be covered and arranged by us. A limited number of travel funds is available to subside transportation costs for those who apply.
Deadline to submit abstracts: December 14, 2018. The abstract should be between 500 and 1,000 words. Please include a brief c.v., 3-5 samples (copies) of artworks or published writings (for artists), and a note about whether or not applying for a travel subsidy and if so, how much. We will notify the selected participants and travel funds by December 31, 2018.
Deadline to submit draft full paper: March 31, 2019. The paper should be no less than 5,000 words, with proper footnotes and referenced bibliography. We plan to publish a volume of the edited papers.
Please submit your abstract, c.v., note about travel subsidy, and full paper to Lily Szeto lszeto@purdue.edu.
Bartolomé de las Casas
For scholars of world Christianity, Bartolomé de las Casas is a fascinating figure. A missionary to the New World, he struggled to express a theology that could address the extraordinary conditions that colonial expansion and colonization created. In Bartolome de las Casas, O.P.: History, Philosophy, and Theology in the Age of European Expansion, prominent scholars from such disciplines as history, Latin American studies, literary criticism, philosophy, and theology come together to think about the man and his message. The volume was edited by David T. Orique, O.P. (Providence College) and Rady Roldán-Figueroa (Boston University), who also co-wrote the introduction and have chapters of their own in the volume.
Pedagogical Dilemmas in the Global Church
After publishing an article about power and privilege in relation to colonial subsidies and the education of missionary children in the Belgian Congo, Anicka Fast received feedback from people around the world. Their comments spurred her to explain her larger project, and the aims of her research. She also reflects on the complexity of writing history and getting it 'right.' Published in Anabaptist Witness, her reflections on the task and challenge of writing mission history are rich food for thought.
Ambivalent about Mission?
The Council of International Anabaptist Ministries held a symposium on "The mission of God and global partnerships." Anicka Fast shared ideas about "Reclaiming Mission," for those ambivalent about the very idea.
Anabaptists in Nigeria
In 1958 a group of congregations in southeastern Nigeria solicited affiliation with the North American Mennonite Board of Missions (MBM), declared themselves Mennonite, and sought missionaries and assistance. MBM responded by sending missionaries and by providing assistance to Mennonite Church Nigeria (MCN) and others in the region. The collaboration between MCN and MBM developed during a period when partnership was becoming a primary paradigm in the Protestant missionary movement as well as in the Anabaptist tradition.
In his recent article, R. Bruce Yoder ('16) highlights five themes in the missiological discourse about partnership during the last half of the twentieth century and uses those themes to explicate aspects of the engagement between MCN and MBM during the same period. The themes are (1) collaboration, (2) context, (3) reconfiguration of mission structures, (4) bilateral and multilateral approaches, and (5) ambiguity. The first section examines partnership in the Protestant mission movement. The second shows that these themes also arise in Anabaptist mission discourse. The third section presents the case of Mennonite Church Nigeria and Mennonite Board of Missions, showing the partnership paradigm to be a compelling missionary vision while clarifying challenges that may require consideration of additional mission models.
Mission and Transformation in Burundi
Daewon Moon (PhD '18) and Joenghwa Park spent an afternoon at Boston University, describing their work in holistic mission in Burundi. Together they showcased how churches, schools, and global connections interact to create a healthy and vibrant community.
Call for Papers: Yale-Edinburgh Group
Diversity and Difference in Custom, Belief, and Practice in the History of Missions and World Christianity
That World Christianity is diverse, goes without saying; and any serious study of the missionary movement from the West, inseparable from the history of World Christianity, reveals not only diversity, but evident, often deeply held and sometimes strongly asserted difference. Sometimes the causes of difference lie in the Christian histories of Europe or America; transported to Africa or Asia, the distinctions, even if losing their original significance, remained sources of organizational division within African or Asian churches. Within missions, differences of age or of social or educational background have sometimes had quite as much influence on events as has theological divergence; and the same has been the case with differences arising from ethnic or cultural factors in churches. In both missions and churches movements seen by some as bringing renewal and revival have been seen by others as vehicles of disruption and confusion.
In both missions and churches, too, policies and priorities have changed over time, sometimes in response to movements of religious activity or theological reflection, sometimes independently of either. Some tensions are built into the nature of Christian mission: the call to daring faith and self-sacrifice goes out along with the call to devout prudence and responsible use of scarce resources, and some hear one sound while others hear the other. And there have always been maximalists and minimalists in mission: those whose vision embraces all creation and all human society, and those whose vision is unwaveringly concentrated on one thing needful. Both forms of vision have had an impact on World Christianity.
The degree of diversity in the interests, specialist knowledge, and perspectives of our members promises a rich and revealing time together as we pursue this theme, and studies are set before us of diversity and difference - whether in the same location at the same time, the same location at different times, or in different locations.
Please direct any questions about the theme essay or the 2019 meeting to my Yale email address (Christopher.j.anderson@yale.edu).
Call for Papers: Mission Amid Global Crises
“Mission Amid Global Crises”
2019 Evangelical Missiological Society Theme
Call for Papers
Today perhaps more than ever before, global missionaries encounter numerous forms of crises and human suffering in the normal course of their work. Whether it’s poverty in Africa, a Tsunami in southeast Asia, human trafficking in India, or refugees in Europe and America, the likelihood that missionary efforts will intersect with some form of global crisis appears to be on the rise. What does this mean for mission theology and practice in the 21stcentury? How will these events shape the future of the church engaged in the missio Dei? These issues raise important missiological questions for the church, including:
- How do these realities impact the ongoing debate between holistic missions advocates and those who emphasize proclamation?
- What are the implications for indigeneity when it comes to responding to global crises? How can disaster relief efforts build on the knowledge and cultural insight of local churches and local believers? How can local believers be an integral part of disaster response?
- What contextual theologies are coming from the global south that inform modern mission praxis as it relates to human suffering?
- What do global crises mean for North American and European churches, especially in light of materialism and individualism that often characterize Western churches?
- How does the concept of missio Dei relate to responding to human need?
- What are churches among the poor doing to respond to crises in their own communities?
- How do global crises especially affect women and children? How can the church on mission serve the needs of women and children in crises?
Papers are solicited that address these and other related topics from missiological, theological, historical, sociological, and/or regional perspectives.
To propose a paper, send a topic title and 200-300 word abstract to marcus.dean@houghton.edyour regional EMS vice president. Paper proposals aubmitted by January 23, 2019, will receive priority consideration for acceptance. Accepted papers should be 4500-7000 words in length and use Chicago Turabian author-datecitation format. Selected papers presented at the regional meetings will be invited to be presented at the annual EMS meeting in Dallas, September 13-15, 2019, leading to the possibility of being published as a chapter in the EMS Annual Compendiumfor 2020.
2019 EMS conference chairs:
Kirsten Priest (kersten.priest@indwes.edu)
Michelle Raven (Michelle.Raven@ciu.edu)
Jerry M. Ireland (irelandj@evangel.edu)
Call for Papers: Korean Christianity
Call for Papers: UCLA 2019 Im Conference of Korean Christianity
The UCLA Center for Korean Studies is pleased to announce that the 2019 Im Conference of Korean Christianity will be held at 10383 Bunche Hall on April 26 – 27, 2019.
The conference aims to give scholars in all Korea-related and world-Christianity fields an opportunity to present their researches on Korean Christianity, especially on the topics related to (1) Christianity in North(ern) Korea (2) Colonialism and Christianity, 1910-1945, and (3) Christianity, Nation Building, and US-Korea Relations, 1945-1965.
The papers dealing with the following issues and related issues are to be considered by the selecting committee—(1) Critical issues of Christianity in northern Korea, 1890-1945; Christianity in North Korea, 1945-1988 or 1988-2018; North Korean refugees and Christianity, 1995-2018 (2) Protestantism and colonial modernity; Roman Catholicism and colonial modernity; Christian nationalism and Pro-Japanese collaboration; colonialism and Christian education; and the colonial medical hegemony and Christian medical work. (3) Conflict between Christianity and Communism, 1945-1955; Christianity and the American Military Rule, 1945-1948; the Korean War and Christianity, 1950-1953; Christian Ideas of the Nation, 1945-1955; Christians and the Syngman Rhee Government, 1948-1960, or Global Connections of Korean Christianity, 1945-64.
The paper should be one that has not been published in an academic journal or a book yet. The conference is open to doctoral students, postdocs, and junior professors. It is also open to all applicants in the world, but preference will be given to those who are in the US and Canada.
Applicants should submit a short CV and proposal/abstract (within 400 words) by December 31, 2018, and the full paper (7,000-10,000 words) by March 15, 2019, to professor Sung-Deuk Oak. The result of the application will be notified by March 22.
Airfare (round trip), accommodations (a single room, 2 nights), and local transportation fees (shuttles from home to airport and LAX to UCLA) will be funded to all accepted participants.
All presenters will have a 40-minute talk and 15 minute-discussion session at the conference.
For further information, see the program webpage (http://koreanchristianity.humnet.ucla.edu) and contact Dr. Hyung-Wook Kim, assistant director of the UCLA Center for Korean Studies (hyung-wook.kim@international.ucla.edu).