See what the CCCW has planned for the forthcoming academic year by clicking on CCCW Termcard 2017-18

This month our library added the following volume to its collection: Ross, Kenneth R., Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena and Johnson, Todd M., editors (2017) Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa (Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity) Edinburgh University Press. One of the editors, J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, from Trinity Theological Seminary in Ghana, is a friend of the Centre and has visited us in the past.

This large volume is the first in an exciting new series entitled ‘Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity’ by Edinburgh University Press, who describe the new series in the following way:

“This series of reference volumes comprehensively maps worldwide Christianity, describing it in its entirety. Each volume covers a continent and offers country-specific studies as well as examining regional and continental trends. Through a combination of maps, tables, charts and graphs a full demographic analysis is provided, while original essays explore key topics and trends.” — Edinburgh University Press

Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa has chapters focusing on individual countries across this region of Africa, followed by chapters on major Christian traditions, and key themes, which include faith and culture, worship and spirituality, theology, social and political context, mission and evangelism, gender, religious freedom, inter-religious relations, the Bible in African Christianity, the anthropology of evil and migration. The conclusion looks to the future of Christianity in this region of Africa.

Lamin Sanneh, D. Willis James Professor of Mission and World Christianity, Yale Divinity School, writes:

“This useful reference guide to the profile of Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa is a reminder of the important religious and cultural shifts that have transformed the continent in very recent times and helps us keep our finger on the pulse of future changes.” — Lamin Sanneh

It is unsurprising that Edinburgh University Press have taken a lead in publishing this series on world Christianity since Edinburgh is the location of the highly-regarded Centre for the Study of World Christianity which continues to make a significant contribution to scholarly knowledge in the study of world Christianity through interdisciplinary research, teaching and publication.

Our current director, Dr Emma Wild-Wood, has been newly appointed Senior Lecturer in African Christianity and African Indigenous Religions there, and takes up the post on 1 January 2018.

The Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide library continues to seek purchases of high quality in the field of mission studies and Christianity in the non-western world. If you have any recommendations, do email me.

Ruth MacLean

Purchases

Kenneth R. Ross, J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu and Todd M. Johnson, editors (2017) Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa (Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity series) Edinburgh University Press

Donations

Edward Coode Hore, edited by James B. Wolf (1970,71) Missionary to Tanganyika 1877-1888 : the writings of Edward Coode Hore Frank Cass & Co. Ltd, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

Robert Pickering Ashe (1971) Chronicles of Uganda Frank Cass & Co. Ltd, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

Ngwabi Bhebe (1979) Christianity and traditional religion in Western Zimbabwe 1859-1923 Longman, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

David B. Barrett, George K. Mambo, Janice McLaughlin, Malcolm J. McVeigh, editors (1973) Kenya churches handbook : the development of Kenyan Christianity, 1498-1973 Evangel Publishing House, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

Owen Chadwick (1975) The secularization of the European mind in the nineteenth century Cambridge University Press, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

Godfrey Sieber (1995) The Benedictines of Inkamana EOS Verlag, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

Holger Bernt Hansen (1984) Mission, church and state in a colonial setting : Uganda 1890-1925 Heinemann, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

World Council of Churches; P.C. Rodger and L. Vischer, editors (1964) The fourth World Conference on Faith and Order. (Faith and order paper no. 42) SCM Press Ltd, Gift of Westcott House, CTF

World Council of Churches (1975) Uniting in hope : reports and documents from the meeting of the Faith and Order Commission. (Faith and order paper no. 72) Commission on Faith and Order, World Council of Churches, Gift of Westcott House, CTF

World Council of Churches; William H. Lazareth (1982,83) Growing together in baptism, eucharist and ministry : a study guide (Faith and order paper no. 114) World Council of Churches, Gift of Westcott House, CTF

David M. Paton, editor (1976) Breaking barriers, Nairobi 1975 : the official report of the fifth Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Nairobi, 23 November – 10 December, 1975 William B. Eerdmans, Gift of Westcott House, CTF

Alan Falconer, editor (1998) Faith and Order in Moshi : the 1996 Commission Meeting (Faith and order paper no. 177) WCC Publications, Gift of Westcott House, CTF

Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland (1994) Returning pilgrims : insights from British and Irish participants in the fifth World Faith and Order Conference, Santiago de Compostela, 3-14 August 1993 CCBI, Gift of Westcott House, CTF

Elizabeth Isichei, editor (1982) Varieties of Christian experience in Nigeria The Macmillan Press Ltd, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

John Lawrence (1961) The hard facts about unity : a layman looks at the ecumenical movement SCM Press Ltd, Gift of Westcott House, CTF

Joint Commission on Church Union (1963) The church = its nature, function and ordering : Part one being the second report of the Joint Commission on church union set up by the Congregational Union of Australia, the Methodist Church of Australasia, and the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Part two being the proposed basis of union for these churches Aldersgate Press, Gift of Westcott House, CTF

Among the purchases added to the collection this month, David Tonghou Ngong, editor (2017) A new history of African Christian thought : from Cape to Cairo Routledge is well worth a mention. In this volume, the chapters provide a comprehensive overview of African Christian thought that goes back to North Africa in antiquity, mentioning Augustine and the Donatists, looks at Sub-Saharan Africa from the colonial period of missionary activity, and goes right up to the present. As the back cover describes:

“Challenging conventional, colonial divisions of Africa, A new history of African Christian thought demonstrates that important continuities exist across the continent. Chapters written by specialists in African Christian thought reflect the issues – both ancient and modern – in which Christian Africa has impacted the shape of Christian belief from the beginning of the movement up to the present day.” — back cover

The final chapter ‘Contemporary African Christian thought and homosexuality’ is particularly pertinent to developments taking place across the world Church today, identifying two trajectories of thought on the issue in African Christian thought, and observing that its perspective on the role of the Bible and its authority figures highly in these debates.

If you would like to see this book for yourself, its classmark is 230.06 NGO. You will find all our books on African theology in the section 230.06, so feel free to come and browse them.

Ruth MacLean

Purchases

Emily Dunn (2015) Lightning from the East : heterodoxy and Christianity in contemporary China (Religion in Chinese Societies series) Brill

David Tonghou Ngong, editor (2017) A new history of African Christian thought : from Cape to Cairo Routledge

Ian Johnson (2017) The souls of China : the return of religion after Mao Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books

Harold T. Lewis (2007) A church for the future : South Africa as the crucible for Anglicanism in a new century Church Publishing, an imprint of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York

We’ve been pleased to welcome through the doors of the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide in recent months a steady stream of visitors and other guests. These people use our resources, share with us news of their churches around the world, and enrich our common life. Here’s a highlight of some of our recent visitors.

A large group of representatives from several Anglican dioceses in Kenya visited the Centre on July 10. They were in Chelmsford Diocese as part of a long-standing companion relationship and visited the Centre to learn more about our work and our resources related to the history of the church in Kenya. The archive and library contain a significant amount of material related to the ministry of David Gitari, former bishop of the Diocese of Mount Kenya East and then archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya. The 14 Kenyan visitors all came from dioceses that have been carved out of the former Mount Kenya East. They appreciated looking at the papers related to Bishop Gitari’s ministry and listening to audio recordings of his sermons.

Appolinaire Hakizimana, the Anglican archdeacon of Gahini in Rwanda, visited the Centre in June for several days to consult the Centre’s extensive collection of material related to the East African Revival. This revival began in Gahini and the Centre’s archive includes the papers of Joe Church, the English missionary in Gahini who documented the beginning of the revival. The church in Gahini, which CCCW Director Jesse Zink visited in summer 2016, is currently working on creating a museum dedicated the East African Revival.

Clarence Devadass, the director of the Catholic Research Centre in Kuala Lumpur, has been in and out of the Centre in June and July as he works on a book about Christian mission in a minority context. Dr. Devadass is a priest of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur and is spending an extended sabbatical in Cambridge.

These and other visitors enrich the daily life of the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide. Are you in Cambridge? Looking for a place to be based while on leave? We would love to hear from you.

A number of new purchases and donations were added to the library this month. Among these is Peter C. Phan (2017) The joy of religious pluralism: a personal journey Orbis Books. This long-awaited volume was written in response to Vatican concerns about his orthodoxy. The concerns were raised by his earlier book: (2004) Being religious interreligiously: Asian perspectives on interfaith dialogue Orbis Books. What do you think about the response that he gives? You could read the two books for yourself. You will find them at 261.2 PHA in our library.

261 is one of the larger sections in our library, looking at Christianity and culture. 261.2 looks more specifically at Christianity and other religions/religious pluralism. You can engage with the subject of religious pluralism and a Christian response to other religions by taking a look at our books in this section.

Ruth MacLean

Purchases

Mari-Anna Auvinen-Pontinen and Jonas Adelin Jorgensen (2016) Mission and money : Christian mission in the context of global inequalities (Theology and mission in world Christianity, volume 1) Brill

Peter C. Phan (2017) The joy of religious pluralism : a personal journey Orbis Books

Jason Mandryk (2015) Pray for the world : abridged from Operation World, 7th edition IVP Books

Kathleen L. Lodwick (2016) How Christianity came to China : a brief history Fortress Press

Paul Bradbury (2016) Stepping into grace : moving beyond ambition to contemplative mission The Bible Reading Fellowship

Robert L. Gallagher and Paul Hertig, editors (2017) Contemporary mission theology : engaging the nations : essays in honor of Charles E. Van Engen (American Society of Missiology series, no. 53) Orbis Books

Atola Longkumer, Jorgen Skov Sorensen and Michael Biehl, editors (2016) Mission and power : history, relevance and perils (Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series, Volume 33) Regnum Books International

Corneliu Constantineanu, Marcel V. Macelaru, Anne-Marie Kool and Mihai Himcinschi (2016) Mission in Central and Eastern Europe : realities, perspectives, trends (Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series, Volume 34) Regnum Books International

Kenneth R. Ross, Jooseop Keum, Kyriaki Avtzi and Roderick R. Hewitt (2016) Ecumenical missiology : changing landscapes and new conceptions of mission (Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series, Volume 35) Regnum Books International

Richard Harvey (2010) Mapping Messianic Jewish theology Paternoster Press

Donations

Bernhard Kruger (1967) The pear tree blossoms : the history of the Moravian Church in South Africa 1737-1869 Genadendal, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

Shusaku Endo (1969,2016) Silence [now a major film by Martin Scorsese] Peter Owen, Gift of Jesse Zink

J.C. Winter (1979) Bruno Gutmann, 1876-1966 : a German approach to social anthropology Clarendon Press, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

Intercultural Encounter recipients prepare for summer travels

Seventeen Cambridge-area students are preparing to experience the life of a Christian community in another culture this summer thanks to support from the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide’s Intercultural Encounter programme.

The Centre provides bursaries and logistical advice to encourage young people to encounter the diversity of the global church for themselves and see Christianity through the eyes of others.

In 2017, 17 bursaries were awarded. Recipients will be travelling across the world, including to Ethiopia, Israel and Palestine, the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, Bahrain, Uganda, Jamaica, Barbados and many others. “Students” is understood broadly; the group includes current undergraduates as well as recent graduates, mature students in the Cambridge Theological Federation, medical students, and a number of ordinands.

The bursary recipients gathered earlier this month for an induction and training day, in which they considered the promise and possibilities of meeting people of faith from other cultures, as well as shared ideas on how best to approach this challenging and rewarding task. They also shared prayer requests for the summer ahead with one another.

The Henry Martyn Trust has been giving bursaries for overseas travel for over 30 years. The record number of bursaries this year reflects a commitment of the Trustees to expanding the Intercultural Encounter programme. As Christians in the 21st century, it is vital that students today have the confidence, experience, and humility to interact with their sisters and brothers in Christ in cross-cultural settings.

The Intercultural Encounter programme has two application rounds per year, in January and May. The CCCW welcomes inquiries from prospective applicants with some idea of where they want to spend time and those with no idea at all. More information is available on this website or by contacting the Encounter coordinator.

Some more purchases and a donation added to the library this month are listed below. One of these: The church in mission: foundations and global case studies (2016), edited by Bertil Ekstrom, is divided into three key sections and examines 1. biblical and theological foundations for the gospel, church and mission, 2. contemporary missiological issues and 3. case studies of the church in mission. The writers of the 33 chapters seek to address questions such as:

“What does it mean today to be a church totally committed to the gospel and fully engaged in God’s mission? What major religious and sociological trends in our world are affecting the role of the global church and local churches? How must we understand and be prepared to face these trends? How do we define ‘church’ in the twenty-first century, being faithful to the Scriptures and at the same time relevant to a generation that does not believe in the institutional church anymore? What are some good models of missional churches in different regions of the world that will encourage and inspire those who long to see a church making difference in society and the world?” — introduction

You will find the book at 266 EKS in our library. 266 is one of the largest sections of our library with books that look at the theology and practice of mission.

For example, we have an on-going subscription to receive the ‘Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series’, the volumes of which are classified together in this section at 266 REG [volume number]. This ecumenical series is a significant contribution to studies in mission and some of its titles look at subjects such as global Anglican perspectives, Pentecostal mission and global Christianity, the Lausanne movement, Christian mission among other faiths, the Korean Church, God’s mission and global Christianity, and global diasporas and mission.

If you haven’t seen this series, do come and see it for yourself. And feel free to browse the rest of our shelves.

Ruth MacLean

Purchases

Justin Thacker (2017) Global poverty : a theological guide SCM Press Ltd

Chloe Starr (2016) Chinese theology : text and context Yale University Press

Andrew E. Barnes (2017) Global Christianity and the black Atlantic : Tuskegee, colonialism, and the shaping of African industrial education Baylor University Press

Jonathan Y. Tan and Anh Q. Tran, S.J., editors (2016) World Christianity : perspectives and insights Orbis Books

J.E. Church (1981) Quest for the highest: an autobiographical account of the East African revival (cover subtitle: A diary of the East African revival) Paternoster Press (second-hand copy bought for shelf, reference only copy)

Wendy Urban-Mead (2015) The gender of piety : family, faith, and colonial rule in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe Ohio University Press

Veli-Matti Karkkainen (2002) Pneumatology : the Holy Spirit in ecumenical, international, and contextual perspective BakerAcademic

Veli-Matti Karkkainen (2003,2016) Christology : a global introduction. 2nd edition BakerAcademic

Veli-Matti Karkkainen (2002) An introduction to ecclesiology : ecumenical, historical and global perspectives IVP Academic

Bertil Ekstrom, editor (2016) The church in mission : foundations and global case studies (Globalization of mission series) William Carey Library

Donations

Simon Barrington-Ward (1988) Love will out : a theology of mission for today’s world : CMS newsletters 1975-85 Marshall Pickering, Gift of Jesse Zink

Among the donations added to the library this month was the original PhD thesis of Emumena Samson Akama (1981) A religious history of the Isoko people of the Bendel State of Nigeria. (2 volumes), gift of Right Revd Simon Barrington-Ward. A full abstract for this thesis can be found on the British Library’s EthOS – etheses online service. The following is an overview of chapters 4 through 8:

Chapter 4 and 5 deal with the romantic history of the advent and growth of Christianity in Isokoland. These chapters also examine the character of the nascent Isoko Church and the often unsung contributions of the various categories of indigenous people along with those of the European missionaries in the Christianization of Isokoland. The methods and policies adopted and the nagging problems encountered by the various agencies in this regard have been discussed. This leads to Chapter 6 which looks at the emergence of the different indigenous independent Christian movements and para-mission churches and their contribution to the planting and expansion of Isoko Christianity. Chapter 7 discusses the probable reasons or criteria of value that motivated the bulk of the Isoko to convert from their indigenous religion to Christianity. This chapter also gives a critique of the general Christian attitude to Isoko religion and customs; the consequences of this attitude and the impact of the overall missionary activities in the development of Isoko Christianity, the indigenous religion and culture. This discussion leads to the examination, in Chapter 8, of a principal outcome of the mission founded Church attitude to the Isoko world… and some concluding deductions … in Chapter 9, highlighting some possible developments in Isoko Christianity — an extract from the British Library’s abstract on EthOS.

Our collection of PhD theses is a small but significant collection on the subject of world Christianity and the history of mission. It includes M.M. Louise Pirouet’s 1968 original thesis ‘The expansion of the Church of Uganda (N.A.C.) from Buganda into northern and western Uganda between 1891 and 1914, with special reference to the work of African teachers and evangelists’, and our former director, Jesse Zink’s 2015 award-winning PhD thesis on ‘Christianity and catastrophe: Sudan’s civil wars and religious change among the Dinka’.

Louise Pirouet (1928-2012) was a pioneering Africanist, founder of the African Studies Centre in Cambridge, and member of the Henry Martyn Library committee in the 1990s. We have a sizeable quantity of material relating to her in our archives. If you wish to consult these, or any other part of the archive, do email our archivist.

Or would you like to see our Thesis collection? You will find them beside our Reference collection, reference only.

Ruth MacLean

Donations

USPG: John Sadiq, Bill Benyshe Burnett, Drexel Wellington Gomez, Stephen Kim. (1967) What do we want from you? Views from India – South Africa – Barbados – Korea. Observation Posts series, no. 3 USPG, St Augustine College collection

David Huntley (2015) The golden Chersonese : why I became a missionary. First impressions of a young OMF member Self-published, Gift of Revd Dr David and Ruth Huntley

Nicholas Tarling (1999) The Cambridge history of Southeast Asia : volume 1, parts 1 and 2 : from early times to c. 1500 ; from c. 1500 to c. 1800 Cambridge University Press, Gift of Professor John Iliffe

Yang-En Cheng (2005,10) English title: “Indigenizing Christianity in Taiwan”. (In Chinese; pages 301-368 in English) PCT Press, Author’s gift

Emumena Samson Akama (1981) A religious history of the Isoko people of the Bendel State of Nigeria. (2 volumes). PhD Thesis. Original thesis, Gift of Right Revd Simon Barrington-Ward

CMS, USPG, USPG Church of Ireland, The Methodist Church (Great Britain) (2012) The Christ we share : a world church resource for local mission (Folder with activity sheets, images, CD). Fourth edition CMS, USPG, The Methodist Church, Gift of Jesse Zink

Zachary J.S. Lloyd (2016) An Anglican Communion in London : African Christianity and the Church of England in a global city MPhil Thesis, Gift of Zachary J.S. Lloyd

CCCW researchers publish a range of new articles.

Scholars associated with the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide are active researchers, engaged with a number of scholarly communities. This spring, CCCW-related researchers have published a number of articles.

Research associate Babatunde Adedibu has written, “Welcoming strangers! The responses of African pentecostal churches in London to Europe’s migration and refugee crisis” in Missionalia: South African Journal of Missiology 44.3. The article draws on his own ministry in England and in Nigeria. The abstract reads:

Despite the declining fortunes of Christianity in the West particularly England, the Church of England, Methodist, Catholic Churches and a host of others have lent their voices to giving the migration crisis a human face by the European governments. Nevertheless, the burgeoning stream of the Christian tradition in Britain which is the African Pentecostalism seems indifferent to Europe’s migration crisis. Ironically, the African Pentecostal churches’ proliferation is one direct gain of migration to Britain as the churches welcome their kith and kin from Africa and Africans that travel through North Africa to Europe. This paper aims to utilise the interpretative framework of Luke 10: 29 to explore the non-response of African Pentecostal churches in London to Europe’s migration crisis. Likewise, this paper examines the biblical motif of who is thy neighbour and its implications in the intercultural engagement of these churches about the membership of these churches who are predominantly Africans.

CCCW Director Jesse Zink  recently published: “Women and Religion in Sudan’s Civil War: Singing through Conflict” in Studies in World Christianity 23.1, which draws on his award-winning dissertation research. The abstract reads:

During Sudan’s second civil war (1983 to 2005), many Dinka people repudiated their existing religious beliefs and sought Christian baptism. Women were at the forefront of this movement. Not only were women among the first to convert to Christianity, they also became leaders of the grassroots Christian movement. Among Dinka communities displaced outside of Sudan, women organised an affinity group in the church through which they channelled their frustration with the war and hope for its conclusion. Women were also among the most significant composers of many of the new Christian hymns that were written during the war, emerging as the leading theologians of the conversion movement. By looking at the gendered impacts of civil war on religious expression, we can come to new understandings of the way societies are transformed during violence.

Earlier this year, Dr. Zink published another article, “Lost Boys, Found Church: Dinka Refugees and Religious Change in Sudan’s Second Civil War,” in The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 68.2. The abstract reads:

The experience of young male Dinka refugees during Sudan’s second civil war illustrates the connections between religious change, violence and displacement. Many of the ‘unaccompanied minors’ who fled to camps in Ethiopia and then Kenya moved decisively towards Christianity in the years during which they were displaced. Key variables were the connection between education and Christianity, the need for new structures of community, and the way in which the Church offered a way to make sense of the destruction of civil war. As the war ended, many former refugees returned to their home regions as Christian evangelists, leading to further religious change. Their case parallels other mass conversion movements in African Christian history but takes place in a post-colonial context of civil war.

These journals are available in the CCCW library.

Further publications, including several book projects, is expected within the CCCW community soon.