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.
Migration, Human Dislocation, and Mission Accountability
"Migration, Human Dislocation, and Mission Accountability" will serve as the theme for the upcoming forum hosted by the Global Mission Leadership Forum, Nov. 7-10, in Sokcho, South Korea. Jonathan Bonk, CGCM faculty associate, chaired the meetings held this summer in preparation for this invitation only forum.
Engaging Theology, Theologians, Theological Education in (or from) Majority World Contexts
The Evangelical Missiological Society (EMS) will be holding its annual meeting in Dallas, TX, from September 15-17. For registration information, see the EMS website: https://www.emsweb.org/
Inter-University Council for East Africa
Representing the private universities in Burundi, Daewon Moon attended the recent meeting of the Quality Assurance Committee of the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) which was held in Kampala, Uganda. Established in 1970, the IUCEA has strived for improvement of higher education and promotion of academic research among its 115 member universities. Academic cooperation among them has initiated and facilitated practices such as student exchange, collaborative research, credit transfer, and standardization of fee structures. Daewon Moon has been working since 2014 at International Leadership University Burundi, where he supervises the bachelor's and master's programs in theology.Biography in Latin American Pentecostalism
In his recent book, Tales of Mutual Influence: Biography as Missiology in Latin American Pentecostalism, Angel D. Santiago-Vendrell (BuSTH alumnus and professor of evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary) explores the role of biography in the Pentecostal missionary endeavor in Latin America. Following the movement across the 20th century, Santiago-Vendrell describes its journey beginning with early American missionaries, its transmission in Latin America, and then its return to the United States through Latino/a migrant communities.
Transnational Missionary Movements
In the fall of 2017, Dr. Dana L. Robert will be a Senior Research Fellow at the Leibniz Institute of European History in Mainz, Germany. While there, she will also address the Roman Catholic and Protestant Missiological Societies on Transnational Misionary Movements. On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the two societies will meet together for the first time.
West African Pentecostalism
In Global Renewal Christianity: Spirit-Empowered Movements, Past, Present, and Future, vol 3: Africa and Diaspora, Nimi Wariboko surveys the everyday theology of West African Pentecostals. It is an opportunity to explore what Pentecostal faith looks like in Africa at home, work, among the family, and church.
Eugene Carson Blake Scholarship
North American students wanting to study at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland, may apply for the Eugene Carson Blake Scholarship. The scholarship covers the costs of attendance. It does not cover travel expenses or personal spending.
Priority will be given to students under 40 who have at least an undergraduate degree in theology or two years of a Master of Divinity/Theology.
For more information contact Melissa.davis@pcusa.org.
More information:
- Meet the 2016-2017 recipients of the Eugene Carson Blake Scholarship
- Learn more about the Ecumenical Institute and download the application
- Read a reflection on the Bossey experience by Bossey graduate Sabrina Slater
- More about the ministry of Eugene Carson Blake at the Presbyterian Historical Society
- Learn about the history of the Scholarship
Architecture and Faith in China
In his most recent article on "The Action of Christian Buildings on their Chinese Environment," Michel Chambon describes how Christian church structures in Fujian shape the faith of those who gather inside, as well as what they communicate to those who only peer at the buildings from outside. He argues that buildings are actors which make the presence of God tangible.
Call for Papers: Currents, Perspectives, and Methodologies in World Christianity
Princeton Theological Seminary is organizing an international, interdisciplinary conference on the direction of World Christianity from January 18-20, 2018.
The last few decades mark a significant watershed in the study of World Christianity as an emerging field, its development into an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary endeavor in particular. Most scholarship now characterizes World Christianity as a ‘polycentric’ faith whose adherents have become more demographically robust in the majority world than in Europe and North America. Additionally, while the primary focus in World Christianity continues to be Christianity’s burgeoning presence in the global South (Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific), scholars are increasingly aware of the diffusion of global South Christianities in a variety of South-South and South-North diasporas. Reflection on the complex history and reality of Christianity not only as a world religion but also as a pluricultural, global phenomenon is an on-going need. While research on Christianity’s cross-cultural, transnational, and diasporic manifestations has burgeoned, interrogation of theory and methodology, grounded in case study research, should be an on-going process as well. The conference seeks to inquire into the state of the field by providing a common interdisciplinary space for intellectual encounter and exchange.
Paper or Panel proposals should be submitted via email to: worldchristianityconference@
Yale-Edinburgh Meeting
June 29 - July 1, the Yale-Edinburgh Group on the History of Christian Mission and World Christianity met in New Haven, Connecticut. The topic addressed at this annual meeting was "Migration, Exile, and Pilgrimage in the History of Missions and World Christianity." It was the largest gathering in the group's history, which included a significant contingent from Boston University. Michele Sigg presented on "Women Missionaries, Intercultural Marriage, and Exile: Desert or Promised Land for the Early Work of the Lesotho Mission?" Daryl Ireland delivered a paper on "Migration and Conversion: An Exploration in the Journals of John Sung." Tyler Lenocker spoke about "The Impact of Post-World War II Immigration on American Evangelical Christianity in Boston." The Center for Global Christianity & Mission was also able to announce that the Old & New in Shona Religion website is complete, and that the Dictionary of African Christian Biography is being upgraded.
