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.
Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures
Dr. Jesudas Athyal's edited volume Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures has recently been published by ABC-CLIO. Here is what Amazon has to say about this exciting new volume:
In this unprecedented profile of the religions of Southeast Asia, scholars from around the world explore the faiths, spiritual practices, and theological dogmas of the region. The book contains a fascinating collection of accurate, detailed articles; informative sidebars; and an extensive list of reference materials, all of which uncover beliefs in that part of the world. Discussions of ancient religions, combined with a look at contemporary trends, feature topics such as religious fundamentalism, secularism, and globalization.
Through 150 alphabetically arranged entries, this encyclopedia investigates the religions and religious traditions of countries such as Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, and the Philippines, among others. Written in an accessible style, this comprehensive reference looks at a variety of belief systems, including Buddhism, Confucianism, tribal practices, Hinduism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism. A selected, general bibliography offers a listing of the most important print and electronic resources on the topic.
Civil Disobedience as a Spiritual Discipline
The Revitalization of Latin American Christianity
The Costas Consultation held its annual meeting on February 27, 2015 at Boston University. The theme of this year was “The Revitalization of Latin American Christianity.” Ruth Padilla DeBorst reflected on integral missions, Dr. Margaret Guider addressed the Church-State relations in Latin America, Dr. Roberto Miranda spoke on the Latin American Pentecostalism and Dr. Todd Hartch gave a presentation on the Rebirth of Latin American Christianity and the relationship between Catholicism and Protestantism in Latin America. There was an engaging closing panel and lively discussion concerning the present influence and future of Latin American Christianity. Diverse Boston Theological Institute students from the Holy Cross, Boston College, Harvard, and BU attended the consultation.
You can see Dr. Roberto Miranda’s full address online courtesy of Brandt Gillespie, AV Director of the Congregation Lion of Judah:
by Soojin Chung
Churches in Dialogue
You are invited to attend the following ecumenical event:
Dr. Dana Robert to Speak at Candler’s Prophetic Voices Conference
CGCM director Dr. Dana Robert will be speaking at Emory's Candler School of Theology's Prophetic Voices Conference. The aim of the conference is to consider some of the major challenges that Christianity will be facing in the next century. The conference will be held March 18-20.
The following comes from the conference's website:
Candler is bringing together a dozen renowned theologians to discuss theological challenges facing the church, the world and the shape of theological education in the next century.
The three-day conference seeks to be prophetic—in the sense of truth-speaking rather than future forecasting—about the pressing theological issues facing the world in the next 100 years, and the resources for engaging them.
Candler faculty will deliver five major addresses, each followed by panel presentations by guest scholars. The program includes times for worship and discussion among participants.
To learn more, please visit the website: http://news.emory.edu/stories/2015/03/upress_prophetic_voices/campus.html.
Gina Zurlo’s Work on Middle Eastern Christianity Cited by CNN
As Assyrian Christians face increased violence and uncertainty, CGCM student and associate director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity Gina Zurlo insight and expertise helped CNN answer the question "Can Christianity in the middle east survive?" We strongly encourage you to read the article!
American Society of Missiology Call for Papers
ASM Annual Meeting 2015
The American Society of Missiology (ASM) will meet June 19-21, 2015 at Wheaton College. The primary theme for this year’s annual meeting is Missio-logoi: The Many Languages of Mission. A related symposium, especially but not exclusively for younger scholars of mission, will focus on publishing in the field of missiology (current trends and future prospects). Confirmed plenary speakers include Lamin Sanneh (Yale University), Kirsteen Kim (Leeds Trinity University, UK), Terry Muck (Louisville Institute), and Stanley Skreslet (ASM President). Carey Newman, the director of Baylor University Press, will give a special presentation on the symposium theme.
Call for Papers
In relation to this year’s ASM theme, missio-logoi are understood to be words, images and other forms of human expression that relate to Christian mission. Through such discourses, critics and proponents alike discuss, analyze and/or portray Christian mission. When presented as missionary speech, missio-logoi are also a vital means by which evangelists and other Christian witnesses attempt to share the claims of the gospel with others, while inviting them to become fellow disciples of Jesus Christ. When part of outreach, missio-logoi may take many different forms, whether spoken, written or embodied in life by some other means.
Papers are invited that address particular aspects of the conference theme, such as:
- Visual arts, music and missionary outreach
- The new media and cross-cultural evangelism
- Narrative theologies of mission in action
- Architecture and other forms of globalized church culture as missionary speech
- The reception of missionary discourses
- Hidden discourses in the archives
- Historiographical depictions of mission
- Portrayal of mission(aries) in film and fiction
- Ways of speaking about mission in the secular academy (e.g., paradigm theory, interculturaltheology, interfaith dialogue, World Christianity)
- Secular discourses about Christian mission
- Publishing trends in missiologyHigh-quality papers not directly related to the conference theme will also be considered, as space allows. To submit your title and 200-word abstract (Deadline January 30, 2015), click on the following link:
To submit a paper proposal: http://goo.gl/forms/e42rEWLaKF
Confirmation of accepted papers expected by March 2, 2015
Organizing a panel
This year it is possible again for a team of three to four scholars to coordinate and submit a session proposal focused on some common sub-topic that relates to the primary theme of the conference, the symposium theme, or another subject. This could involve a session of up to four papers or three papers and a respondent. Each person would individually submit her/his paper proposal and then the session organizer would submit separately below a session title and 300-word abstract, along with a list of the participants for that session. Again, the deadline is January 30, 2015.
To submit a panel proposal: http://goo.gl/forms/tCvqFDVMpp Confirmation of accepted panel proposals expected by March 2, 2015
The prospects for missiology are bright. Over the past few years, we’ve seen significant growth in attendance at our annual meeting and a rapid increase in the number of papers presented in the parallel sessions. Do plan to participate and join us at Wheaton College this year, while also encouraging your colleagues and students to take advantage of the wonderful ASM program that is coming together.
Questions?
If about papers proposals or session proposals, contact Paul Kollman (ASM 2nd VP; pkollman@nd.edu)
If about the ASM travel pool, contact Duane Brown (ASM treasurer; debrownphd@gmail.com) If about the conference in general, contact Stan Skreslet (ASM President; sskreslet@upsem.edu)
International Association for Mission Studies Seoul Conference Call for Papers
Call for Papers
14th Assembly of the
International Association for Mission Studies
August 11–17, 2016
Seoul, South Korea
Conversions and Transformations:
Missiological Approaches to Religious Change
No matter what the goal of mission activity is considered to be, mission aims at transformation of some sort. The issue of conversion – a traditional goal of much Christian missionary activity – is much debated, both within and between religious communities. This is often due to the controversial methods and aims some Christian communities have employed. The nature of the transformation brought about by religion is also a contested field: Is it “purely” spiritual or does it also have social, cultural, political and other dimensions? The Scripture and the different Christian traditions abound with ideas, models and impulses about the types of religious change to be followed and those that are rejected. The way Christians perceive the nature of religious conversion and transformation influences the ways they relate to other Christians and to the people of other faiths. In this way, religious change, as viewed from theoretical, theological, ethical and practical perspectives, occupies a central place in the field of mission studies.
This 14th IAMS Assembly will examine issues of conversion and religious change from the multiple perspective shaping contemporary mission studies. The issues of conversion and religious change have not received enough scholarly attention by missiologists and Christian theologians working in the discipline. In many ways the questions of conversion and transformation have been dealt with by other sciences, such as social studies, general psychology and psychology of religion, philosophy, developmental studies, etc. At the same time, these questions have often been answered by theologians and missiologists employing historical or denominational approaches to conversion and transformation. Merely historical or denominationally specific approaches to such questions can keep theologians from the wider exchange of views important for Christian life issues.
One of the aims of the 2016 IAMS Assembly is to contribute towards creating a space for critical and constructive dialogue among scholarly disciplines, different Christian traditions and varying contextual backgrounds. From this perspective, we would expect to see paper contributions that relate mission studies with other relevant disciplines and sciences so that issues of conversion and transformation are critically analyzed and theoretical approaches to religious change in interreligious contexts are elaborated.
We welcome papers on mission, conversion, transformation and the various missiological approaches to religious change from the perspective of the main fields of the IAMS Study Group, as well as from other scholarly fields of study. Other paper topics are welcomed, too, provided they contribute to the wider exploration of Christian mission and mission studies.
While preparing for the 2016 Assembly, please keep in mind the following information.
IAMS-2016 Study Groups
The academic procedure of the 2016 Seoul Assembly includes presentations of panel papers and session papers within the framework of the work of IAMS’ seven study groups. These are:
● BISAM: Biblical Studies and Mission
● DABOH: Documentation, Archives, Bibliography and Oral History
● Healing/Pneumatology
● Gender in Mission
● Religious Freedom and Mission
● Theology of Mission (including analysis of WCC-document Together towards Life)
● Interreligious issues
All papers accepted should be presented within one of the Study groups. When proposing your paper, please think of which Study group your theme of research belongs to.
Timeline
1. Proposed topics with 250-word abstract are due by 31 August 2015.
2. Applicants will be notified of the acceptance of their papers in November and December 2015.
3. Draft papers of 2000 words are due by 31 May 2016.
Guidelines for writing paper:
1. Papers presented during the conference are not to exceed 2000 words or 20 minutes to allow 10 minutes to be allocated to questions and answers.
2. If conference participants intend to submit their papers to Mission Studies for publication after the conference, they should develop them to between 6000 and 10,000 words, including notes.
3. Authors are expected to strictly adhere to the Style Guide for Mission Studies
http://missionstudies.org/index.php/journal/style-guide-for-mission-studies/
Process governing acceptance of paper
1. All proposals with abstracts will be reviewed by the IAMS Academic Committee who will finalize the Seoul programme in early 2016.
2. Applicants will be notified of the Academic Committee’s decision by the end of January 2016.
3. If additional clarifications are needed, paper presenters and the Chairs of the seven IAMS Study groups will additionally review the submitted paper abstracts and notify the paper presenters by 31 March 2016.
Papers admittance criteria
While writing your paper and before submission, check that you can answer the following questions positively:
1. Is your paper topic relevant to the IAMS-2016 Assembly general theme or the theme of your Study group?
2. In what way does your paper make an original contribution to the chosen field of study?
3. Does your paper show the following features:
• Clarity and logic of argument;
• Originality and concreteness of content;
• Level of engagement with relevant scholarship;
• Accuracy of form, expression, and language inclusiveness.
4. Is your paper abstract less than 250 words, and your draft paper for presentation less than 2000 words?
Address all correspondence to:
The Secretariat
International Association for Mission Studies
c/o Church Mission Society, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 1865 787400
Fax: +44 1865 776375
E-mail: secretary@missionstudies.org
Elizabeth C. Parson’s new edited volume available.
Elizabeth C. Parsons edited volume, The Greatest Work in the World: Education as a Mission of Early Twentieth-Century Churches of Christ: Letters of Lloyd Cline Sears and Pattie Hathaway Armstrong is now available.
This volume of correspondence contains exchanges written between Lloyd Cline Sears (1895–1986) and Pattie Hathaway Armstrong (1899–1977), two influential leaders in early educational efforts of the Churches of Christ. Spanning the years 1915 to 1921, the letters document their writers’ romance, but they are more than simply love letters. They also express an educational philosophy and an understanding of Christian purpose as inspired by the Stone-Campbell Movement and held in tension with the intellectual and social ferment of the times. Posts from family members J. N. and Ida Woodson (Harding) Armstrong as well as from Pattie Cobb Harding, wife of James A. Harding, augment those of the principal authors. Their correspondence allows rare access to privately expressed thoughts of men and women attempting to live as Christian educators at the outset of an uncertain and rapidly changing twentieth century. The letters also offer lessons for contemporary American Christians in these even more volatile times.
Elizabeth C. Parsons is Lecturer in Religion, Culture, and Development at Boston University School of Theology. A direct descendant of the letter writers, she is also author of What Price for Privatization? Cultural Encounter with Development Policy on the Zambian Copperbelt (2010).
The volume has received very positive reviews:
“This book is a marvelous glimpse into perceptions on Christian liberal arts education in the correspon- dence of a young couple whose past and future weigh heavily in Churches of Christ higher education. Their granddaughter, Elizabeth Parsons the editor, has indefatigably searched to establish the backgrounds for these letters and supply information on all the persons mentioned. The outcome is remarkable.”
—THOMAS H. OLBRICHT
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Religion, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
“There are few occasions when a book comes along that completely catches you by surprise. Such is the case with The Greatest Work in the World, edited by Elizabeth C. Parsons. . . . What prompted a religious tradition like the contemporary Churches of Christ, known for its sectarianism, its sectionalism, and its bias against the labors of the intellect, to engage in a frenzy of educational effort in the first decades of the twentieth century? These efforts left remnants of genuine but short-lived schools across the midwest and southwest. These schools valued holiness and liberal education and were known for their counter-cultural embrace of the kingdom of God as lived out in hard scrabble outposts such as Cordell, Oklahoma. What they stood for will surprise you.”
—ROBERT M. RANDOLPH
Chaplain to the Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
“The letters Elizabeth Parsons has collected and edited reveal much about the relatively unknown worldview of the Churches of Christ in the early twentieth century on matters of gender, education, and theology. The Sears’s correspondence provides a unique and valuable window into what mattered to a group of people wrestling with the heritage of their faith as they confronted the challenges of the rapidly changing world around them.”
—LORETTA HUNNICUTT, Professor of History, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
“This volume provides rare insight into the inseparability of religious beliefs and the formation of educational institutions among theologically conservative white southerners a century ago. These fascinat- ing letters, ably edited by Elizabeth Parsons, reveal hidden dimensions of the early Churches of Christ—a kingdom-centered mission ethic, countercultural pacifism, support for marital partnership, and commit- ment to liberal arts education. I recommend this fine book with great enthusiasm.”
—DANA L. ROBERT
Truman Collins Professor of World Christianity and History of Mission, Boston University, Boston, MA
Media, Examination, and Review Copies:
Contact: James Stock
(541) 344-1528, ext 103 or James@wipfandstock.com
Orders: Contact your favorite bookseller or order directly from the publisher via phone (541) 344-1528, fax (541) 344-1506 or e-mail us at orders@wipfandstock.com
Yale-Edinburgh Call for Papers Deadline Approaching
Martha Smalley of the Yale-Edinburgh Group sent out a reminder that the call for papers for this years conference at Yale Divinity School will be closing on March 1. She writes:
This is a reminder that paper proposals for the June 25-27 meeting of the Yale-Edinburgh Group should be submitted to me via email attachment by March 1st. See information about the meeting and its theme at http://divinity-adhoc.library.
Those who are planning to attend the meeting are encouraged to pre-register and request accommodations at http://www.library.yale.edu/
For those of you who submitted applications for funding from the David M. Stowe Fund for Mission Research: we received many applications and are in the process of evaluating them. We will notify people by February 25th.