Henry Martyn Lectures

The Henry Martyn Lectures are a prestigious biennial lecture series sponsored by the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide. They offer a leading scholar of the global church the opportunity to share current research in an extended fashion to a welcoming and critical audience.

Our Silver Jubilee lectures for 2021

Lecture 1
‘Solidarity: Figuring out World Christianity and the Pandemic’
Prof. Joanildo Burity

Lead Researcher and Professor at the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation and the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
Wednesday, 28th April 2021, 4-6 pm British Summer Time (BST), Online

Lecture 2
‘Engagement: Figuring out Christian Mission in Societies’
Dr. R. David Muir
Head of Whitelands College, and Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities, University of Roehampton, UK
Wednesday, 26th May 2021, 4-6 pm BST, Online

Lecture 3
‘Science: Figuring out World Christianity and Nature’
Prof. Kuruvilla Pandikattu SJ
Professor of Physics, Philosophy and Religion at the Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, India
Wednesday, 23rd June 2021, 4-6 pm BST, Online

Lecture 4
‘Ecumenism: Figuring out Interconnecting Christianities’
Revd. Dr. Susan Durber
Moderator, Faith and Order, World Council of Churches
Thursday, 14th October 2021, 4-6 pm BST, Westminster College or Online (TBC)
Followed by a reception for the launch of a new publication, From Henry Martyn to Global Christianity: The Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide

Lecture 5
‘Reconciliation: Figuring out World Christianity amidst Conflicts’
Dr. Irini Thabet
Assistant Professor, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, and Member of the Egyptian Senate
Wednesday, 24th November 2021, 4-6 pm GMT, Online

17th/18th/20th February 2020
“Uniqueness and Universality of Jesus Christ: Inculturation Christologies of Africa”
Canon Prof Joseph D. Galgalo, Associate Professor in Systematic Theology, Dean of the Faculty of Theology, and Vice Chancellor, St. Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya.

Past lectures have included:

February 2017
“Who Are My People? Christianity, Community and Belonging in Post-Colonial Africa”
Professor Emmanuel Katongole, University of Notre Dame
Audio of all three lectures is available online.

February 2015
“What is the Study of Christianity Worldwide?”
Professor David Maxwell, Cambridge University: Historical perspectives
Professor Joel Robbins, Cambridge University: Anthropological perspectives
Professor Peter Phan, Georgetown University, USA: Theological perspectives

November 2012
“Mission as Prophetic Engagement”
Dr Vinoth Ramachandra, International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES)
To listen click:
Ramachandra, Dr Vinoth Engaging the University1a
Ramachandra, Dr Vinoth Engaging the University1b
Ramachandra, Dr Vinoth Engaging the University 2a
Ramachandra, Dr Vinoth Engaging the University2b
Ramachandra, Dr Vinoth EngagingDiversity
Ramachandra, Dr Vinoth, Engaging Diversity 2
Ramachandra, Dr Vinoth – Engaging Global Society 1
Ramachandra, Dr Vinoth – Engaging Global Society2

29 February 2012
“Henry Martyn Missionary Scholar for our Age?”
Henry Martyn bicentennial lecture given by Dr Graham Kings, Bishop of Sherborne.
Click here to read paper.

November 2010
“Frontier, Friendship, and Fellowship: The Mission of World Christianity since Edinburgh 1910”
Professor Dana Roberts, Boston University School of Theology

February 2007
“Three Prophetic Voices: The Challenges of Christianity from Modern China”
Professor Peter Ng, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Lecture 1: Timothy Richard – Christian Attitudes Towards Chinese Religion & Culture
Lecture 2: David Paton – Christianity Encounters Communism
Lecture 3: K.H.Ting – Christianity & The Three-Self Church in China

February 2005
“Religion and Politics in Kenya”
Prof John Lonsdale, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge

November 2002
“Enabling Encounters: Transformative Experiences on the Edges between Hinduism and Christianity: Case Studies from 19th-Century Mission History”
Professor Richard Fox Young, Princeton Theological Seminary

October 1999
“Mission and Empire: The Ambiguous Mandate of Bishop Crowther”
Professor Jacob F. Ade Ajayi, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Ibadan
Lecture 1: Philanthropy in Sierre Leone
Lecture 2: Crowther & Language in the Yoruba Mission
Lecture 3: Crowther & Trade on the Niger

October 1997
“Pentecostalism: Promise and Problem”
Professor Walter Hollenweger, Professor Emeritus of Mission, University of Birmingham
(Published in Pentecostalism, 1998)

1995
“Disarming Caesar: Interreligious Challenge and Opportunity in Public Policy Issues in Africa”
Professor Lamin Sanneh, Professor of World Christianity and Mission, Yale University
(Published in Piety and Power: Muslims and Christians in West Africa, 1996)

1993
“Christianity Transformed into a Non-Western Religion: The Modern Missionary Movement in African Perspective”
Rev. Dr. Kwame Bediako, Director, Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission and Applied Theology, Ghana, and Duff Lecturer, Aberdeen University

1990
“From Everywhere to Everywhere: A World View of Christian Mission”
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester
(Published as From Everywhere to Everywhere, 1991)

1988
Professor Andrew F. Walls, Edinburgh University, Director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World
(These lectures were used by Professor Walls in The Missionary Movement in Christian History, 1996)

1986
“Mission, Then and Now”
Lesslie Newbigin
(These lectures were used by Newbigin in his book, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, 1992)