Vol. 36, No. 3 July 2012

Faith, Flags, and Identities

n March 24–25, 2011, Duke Divinity School, Durham, ONorth Carolina, hosted a two-day conference focused on the somewhat cumbersome theme “Saving the World? The On Page Changing Terrain of American Protestant Missions, 1910 to the 115 Change and Continuity in American Protestant Present” (see http://isae.wheaton.edu/projects/missions). Orga- Foreign Missions nized and sponsored by Wheaton College’s Institute for the Study Edith L. Blumhofer of American Evangelicals, the conference involved nearly one hundred academ- 115 The Presbyterian Church in Canada’s Mission ics, who presented to Canada’s Native Peoples, 1900–2000 and listened to Peter Bush papers and lec- 122 Pentecostal Missions and the Changing tures exploring the Character of Global Christianity evolving nature of Heather D. Curtis American Protes- The Sister Church Phenomenon: A Case Study tant missions since 129 of the Restructuring of American Christianity the Edinburgh Against the Backdrop of Globalization World Mission- ary Conference of Janel Kragt Bakker 1910, and who dis- 136 Changes in African American Mission: cussed the nation’s Rediscovering African Roots Courtesy of Affordable Creations, http://peggymunday.blogspot.com continuing influ- Mark Ellingsen ence on Christianity globally. This issue of the journal is pleased to 138 Noteworthy feature five of the papers presented at this conference. “Americans,” the late Tony Judt observed, “have trouble 143 The Wesleys of Blessed Memory: Hagiography, with the idea that they are not the world’s most heroic warriors Missions, and the Study of World Methodism or that their soldiers have not fought harder and died braver Jason E. Vickers than everyone else’s” (Thinking the Twentieth Century [Penguin, 148 My Pilgrimage in Mission 2012], p. 76). This foible—by no means a uniquely American Jan A. B. Jongeneel vanity—has its analog in missions. The seemingly natural inclination is for all humans to imagine 150 Finding the Grave of Roland Allen in Nairobi themselves, their tribe, their religion, their nation as part of an Samuel M. Sigg exceptional story of a singular people. Such stories—“myths,” 154 The Legacy of Josiah Pratt we call them when observing the predisposition in others—offer William C. Barnhart us humans a way of merging our temporal lives with the eternal. Arthur Walter Hughes: He Spent Himself for The histories in which we locate ourselves are older, bigger, and 158 Africa grander than our puny finite selves. A collage of highly selec- tive partial truths and sometimes outright lies, our constructed Maurice Billingsley histories are uncritically absorbed and internalized by children, 162 Book Reviews in the process becoming incontestable truth. To question or deny 174 Dissertation Notices them can in perilous times be interpreted as an act of sedition. Continued next page 176 Book Notes Christianity—which, if one reads Paul and the Gospels care- the nation’s Native peoples became integral to the colonial fully, helps us to recognize and resist the self-flattering reduction- system’s management of the indigenous population, despite ist anthropologies of nationalism—has often been employed in missiological and ecclesiastical theory to the contrary. The the service of various egocentric schemes of order and domina- fateful results, evident for some time but only more recently tion. From where I sit, this phenomenon is most visible right acknowledged, elicited an official confession but raised here in the United States, where church-going visitors from troubling, deeply complex “now what?” questions. How can abroad are startled to discover that the Star Spangled Banner present and future generations of Presbyterians, unwitting has been granted conspicuous pride of place behind the altar, beneficiaries of the unintentional sins of their fathers and as though belief in God and fealty to nation were inseparable. grandfathers, “bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance” I write as a Canadian Mennonite whose proclivity, sadly, is to (Luke 3:8 NASB)? The institutional church’s response has make sniffily invidious comparisons between the two countries been to shift the church’s emphasis from customary mission by highlighting the imperfections of one and exalting the virtues programs (indigenous churches, boarding schools, theological of the other. While the various shortcomings of the United States, training) to justice, healing, and reconciliation. Too little? Too given its size, power, and global reach, draw the attention and late? Undoubtedly. But one must start somewhere. self-righteous ire of citizens of lesser nations, in truth the coun- In her essay, Heather Curtis notes that Pentecostals—at the try does not have a monopoly on the fusion of “Christian” with time of Edinburgh 1910 a small, marginalized, and fragmented nationalistic self-promotion. Jesus’ third temptation—in which group within the larger Protestant mission pantheon—were he is offered temporal suzerainty in return for his obeisance to doubtful about the popular notion that spiritual light and darkness the one who asserts controlling interest in “the powers of this were neatly demarcated civilizationally between the West and dark world” (Matt. 4:8–9; Eph. 6:12 NIV)—is a universally effec- the rest. There was no direct correspondence between spiritual tive ploy. The ease with which we humans succumb to the siren darkness, on the one hand, and geography, race, or nationality, allure of nationalism’s collective “me first” modus operandi on the other. The West was at least as lost as the rest. attests to that. Missionaries from the West have sometimes embraced as Things are by no means as simple as my characterization their own the memories and narratives of other peoples, at con- might seem to imply. In his carefully researched lead article, siderable cost to their own identities as citizens of Western lands. Peter Bush describes how Canadian missionaries to the indig- Benefit has come when these stalwarts have been able to share enous peoples of Canada could not claim—unlike the authors their hard-gained perspectives with their fellow citizens—but of the report of Commission I of Edinburgh 1910—that “the only insofar as the latter are willing to receive these subversive reproach that missionaries desire to Europeanise the inhabit- notions. Such a process is much to be valued. After all, only the ants of mission lands, if ever true, is now absurdly false.” As truth, known and applied, will set us free. he explains, the Presbyterian Church in Canada’s mission to —Jonathan J. Bonk

Editor International Bulletin of Missionary Research Jonathan J. Bonk Established 1950 by R. Pierce Beaver as Occasional Bulletin from the Missionary Research Library. Named Occasional Bulletin Senior Associate Editor of Missionary Research in 1977. Renamed International Bulletin of Missionary Research in 1981. Published quarterly in Dwight P. Baker January, April, July, and October by the Overseas Ministries Study Center, 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511 Associate Editor (203) 624-6672 • Fax (203) 865-2857 • [email protected] • www.internationalbulletin.org J. Nelson Jennings Contributing Editors Assistant Editors Catalino G. Arévalo, S.J. Darrell L. Guder Anne-Marie Kool Wilbert R. Shenk Craig A. Noll Daniel H. Bays Philip Jenkins Steve Sang-Cheol Moon Brian Stanley Rona Johnston Gordon Stephen B. Bevans, S.V.D. Daniel Jeyaraj Mary Motte, F.M.M. Tite Tiénou William R. Burrows Jan A. B. Jongeneel C. René Padilla Ruth A. Tucker Managing Editor Angelyn Dries, O.S.F. Sebastian Karotemprel, S.D.B. James M. Phillips Desmond Tutu Daniel J. Nicholas Samuel Escobar Kirsteen Kim Dana L. Robert Andrew F. Walls Senior Contributing Editors John F. Gorski, M.M. Graham Kings Lamin Sanneh Anastasios Yannoulatos Gerald H. Anderson Books for review and correspondence regarding editorial matters should be addressed to the editors. Manuscripts unaccompanied Robert T. Coote by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (or international postal coupons) will not be returned. Opinions expressed in the IBMR Circulation are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. Aiyana Ehrman The articles in this journal are abstracted and indexed in Bibliografia Missionaria, Book Review Index, Christian [email protected] Periodical Index, Guide to People in Periodical Literature, Guide to Social Science and Religion in Periodical Literature, (203) 285-1559 IBR (International Bibliography of Book Reviews), IBZ (International Bibliography of Periodical Literature), Missionalia, Religious and Theological Abstracts, and Religion Index One: Periodicals. Advertising Online E-JOURNAL: The IBMR is available in e-journal and print editions. To subscribe—at no charge—to the full Charles A. Roth, Jr. text IBMR e-journal (PDF and HTML), go to www.internationalbulletin.org/register. Index, abstracts, and full text of this Spire Advertising journal are also available on databases provided by ATLAS, EBSCO, H. W. Wilson Company, The Gale Group, and University P.O. Box 635 Microfilms. Back issues may be purchased or read online. Consult InfoTrac database at academic and public libraries. Yarmouth, Maine 04096-0635 PRINT subscriptionS: Subscribe, renew, or change an address at www.internationalbulletin.org or write Telephone: (516) 729-3509 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, P.O. Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000. Address correspondence [email protected] concerning print subscriptions and missing issues to: Circulation Coordinator, [email protected]. Single copy price: $8. Subscription rate worldwide: one year (4 issues) $32. Foreign subscribers must pay with U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank, Visa, Copyright © 2012 OMSC MasterCard, or International Money Order. Airmail delivery $16 per year extra. All rights reserved POSTMASTER: Send address changes to International Bulletin of Missionary Research, P.O. Box 3000, Denville, New Jersey 07834-3000. Periodicals postage paid at New Haven, CT. (ISSN 0272-6122)

114 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 Change and Continuity in American Protestant Foreign Missions Edith L. Blumhofer

hen Protestant delegates from around the world con- awarded the ISAE a grant to explore a century of change within Wvened in Edinburgh in May 1910 for the World Mis- Protestant foreign missions. The grant funded twenty studies sionary Conference, they knew they were engaged in strategic that addressed various moments and movements. Several of work. Their confidence in Christian progress found expression them—the first five articles—are presented in the pages that in the motto The Evangelization of the World in This Genera- follow. Dealing with a century of turning points and decisive tion. Overwhelmingly Western, participants readily thought of moments, they use case studies to explore changing conceptions the global expansion of Christianity as a movement proceeding of mission. We are grateful for the generous Lilly Endowment outward from the West. Conference participants confidently support that made this work possible, and we hope that these anticipated that the momentum generated by recent decades of articles both promote a fuller understanding of American Prot- phenomenal Protestant growth would continue. estant missions and stimulate further studies of the changing A century later, Christians around the world marked the place of American Christians in the world Christian movement. centennial of the Edinburgh conference with a series of events that celebrated Edinburgh’s ecumenical legacy amid a burgeon- Edith L. Blumhofer, Professor of History, Wheaton ing world Christian movement. The anniversary prompted College, Wheaton, Illinois, and a member of the Over- the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals (ISAE) to seas Ministries Study Center Board of Trustees, is the consider change and continuity in American Protestant foreign Director of the Institute for the Study of American missions since Edinburgh. Hindsight makes it as easy to list what Evangelicals, Wheaton, Illinois. Edinburgh delegates did not foresee as it is to recognize what —[email protected] they achieved. But our interests went beyond either celebrating Edinburgh or criticizing its limits. In 2007 the Lilly Endowment

The Presbyterian Church in Canada’s Mission to Canada’s Native Peoples, 1900–2000 Peter Bush

hristian missions to the Native peoples of North America of Commission I’s report were uncertain how to categorize the Cpushed the boundaries that organizers of the 1910 Edin- work among Native peoples of North America,2 an uncertainty burgh World Missionary Conference had so carefully defined. they shared with those involved in that mission, both mission- None of the members of Commission I, charged with delineat- aries and mission planners. The ambiguity was exacerbated by ing the boundaries of the Christian and non-Christian worlds, questions about the relationship between the mission and the would have suggested North America was non-Christian, yet government. The lines boldly drawn in the Commission VII they needed to account for the mission to the Native peoples report—“The reproach that missionaries desire to Europeanise in Canada and the United States. Near the end of Commission the inhabitants of mission lands, if ever true, is now absurdly I’s report, almost as an afterthought, the mission among North false”3—were far harder to maintain when there was no dis- America’s Native peoples was included as proclamation to “the tance between the mission and the government. While North non-Christian world.”1 If the Native mission was among non- American missionaries serving outside of North America could Christian people, then it was cross-cultural foreign mission, maintain some distance, fragile and limited as it was, between with the values and practices of that type of mission influencing themselves and the colonial powers, missionaries serving in the method of carrying out the work. If, however, the Native North America had no such distance from the colonial pow- mission was being carried on within a Christian country, then ers. Those who funded the mission were the same people who the values and practices of home mission applied. The authors elected the governments and expected their elected officials to function as colonizers. Peter Bush, the Teaching Elder at Westwood Pres- Categorizing the mission to Canada’s Native peoples byterian Church, Winnipeg, has written extensively remained problematic for the Presbyterian Church in Canada about Canadian Presbyterian mission work among throughout the twentieth century. This uncertainty resulted in First Nations peoples. He is the editor of Presbyterian a failure to nurture a Native Presbyterian church. Furthermore, History, a semiannual publication of the Committee the inability of the mission to distance itself from the govern- on History of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. ment of Canada caused the church to be regarded as part of the —[email protected] colonial system. By the end of the twentieth century, Canadian Presbyterians defined the mission to the Native people as social

July 2012 115 justice: caring for the poor and seeking reconciliation with those assimilative patterns of mission.8 Second, those concerned Native people the church had sinned against. about the business of church saw possible efficiencies in the change. Edinburgh’s Commission I report section on Indians Early Vision for Building a Native Church in Canada, almost certainly written by R. P. MacKay, secretary of the Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church A group of Canadian Presbyterians involved in Native mis- in Canada, stated: “In districts where mission work among the sions on the Prairies met in 1908 to articulate a vision.4 Men and white population is contiguous to Indian communities, the two women, Native and non-Native—all had opportunity to speak should be brought as closely together as possible.”9 Sharing a and participate in drafting the recommendations. The group minister was easier when both congregations were under the included missionaries on reserves seeking to raise up Native responsibility of one board, the Home Mission Board. The non- congregations, along with principals and teachers from the Native congregation would likely demand a minister fluent in residential and industrial (vocational training) schools run by English, believing this best not only for themselves but also for the church, with financial support and bureaucratic guidance the Native community, whose future lay in assimilation into from the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs. A number of the dominant English-speaking culture. the school principals served as preachers and worship leaders Structural changes in 1912 in the Presbyterian Church made in Native congregations on Sundays, further blurring the line Native ministry the responsibility of the Home Missions Board between congregation building and cultural assimilation. and merged the two sections of the Women’s Missionary Society The unspoken assumption behind the 1908 recommendations (Foreign Mission and Home Mission). Overnight, work with was that mission work among the Native peoples of Canada Native peoples was no longer built on foreign mission under- was foreign mission.5 The recommendations emphasized the standings but rather around the goals of Christian nation-building found in the home mission community. As R. Pierce Beaver has noted, categorizing Native mission as home mission cut its links 10 The schools became to cross-cultural mission thinking. symbols of the church’s A Separate Church or an Integrated Church? partnership in the Throughout the twentieth century, searching questions were dominant culture’s asked about the mission of the Presbyterian Church in Canada to and with the Native peoples of Canada. Sometimes the assimilation of Native debate was precipitated by events external to the church; at peoples. other times the discussion was rooted in developments within the church. This soul-searching reached a new boiling point approximately every twenty to twenty-five years, leading to new formulations of mission’s purpose. Throughout this period need to learn the language of the people. Even residential school the question was repeatedly raised whether the ministry to principals and teachers were urged to learn Native languages. Native peoples is (1) a cross-cultural mission, with the goal Native spirituality was regarded as a potential evangelistic tool, of establishing a Native church, or (2) ministry to an ethnic and its helpful aspects were to be preserved in the development group in Canada, with the goal of integrating that group into of a Native Christian faith. The group called for buffer zones the Canadian church. around reserves to protect Native people from being harmed by Throughout the 1930s, especially at the peak of the Great the unsavory aspects of Euro-Canadian culture. Depression on the Prairies in 1935 and 1936, the Native mis- In hope of developing Native congregations, evangelistic sions struggled to justify the funds expended on them. Reports meetings were held on every reserve and in each residential from residential schools cited the number of students making school where the Presbyterian Church had a presence in 1908–9. professions of faith, highlighted graduates integrating into The meetings, conducted in Native languages and with Native the dominant culture, and noted that students helped to fund Christians playing prominent roles, sought to bring new people the schools through farmwork and the sale of crafts—all in into the kingdom of God. While not explicitly stated, the vision answer to the question, Does Indian work pay?11 Even though was to build a Native church that fulfilled the first two of the the schools were expensive, they proved difficult to close; it three goals of becoming a self-reproducing, self-governing, and was easier not to replace missionaries who moved on from self-supporting church.6 congregations on reserves than to leave the position of a departing missionary-teacher or missionary-principal vacant. Native Missions Brought Under Home Missions Through the 1930s the schools became the primary mission tool reaching Native peoples. In theory, the schools nurtured While the missionaries sought to develop Native congregations, children and young people in the faith so that on their return denominational leaders had a very different approach. In 1908, home they would take the lead in developing Native con- U.S. denominations shifted Native American mission from gregations. Little was done, however, to prepare spiritually the responsibility of foreign mission boards to being a home awakened students for the task of leading congregations on mission challenge.7 Canadian church leaders saw advantages reserves. The organizational challenges of running a school in a similar move. One of the goals of home mission work in meant there was little time to follow up graduates when they Canada was “the Christianization of our Civilization,” which returned home. Instead of being places where Native church was understood to mean the Canadianization of non-Anglo- leaders were formed, the schools became institutional minis- Saxons. Shifting Native missions from the foreign missions tries and symbols of the church’s partnership in the dominant board to the board of home missions supported culturally culture’s assimilation of Native peoples.

116 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 Residential Schools reserves English is acceptable and understood by practically all the people.” However, “it is advisable for [the] missionary A brief account of the Canadian Presbyterian Church’s involve- to be able to read portions of Scripture and to lead in prayer in ment in the Indian residential school system will provide useful the language of the people.” Even though English was widely context.12 The twentieth century opened with the Presbyterian understood, the Christian faith needed to be incarnated in the Church operating seven residential schools, one industrial school, mother tongue of the people if it was to be given a hearing.14 and about eight day schools (the number of day schools changed The operative vision should be “working with the Indian not from year to year) located in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, for him. . . . Being sensitive to their needs and values.” This Manitoba, and Ontario. Following Church Union in 1925, the approach articulated a definite purpose: “What is good in the Presbyterian Church was left with two residential schools Indian culture should be recognized and used to point to Christ.” (Birtle, Manitoba, and Shoal Lake, Ontario—later relocated to One suggestion was the creation of Native Christian dances.15 Kenora, Ontario) and one day school (Mistawasis, Saskatchewan). Stephen How, a Taiwanese serving with the Canadian Presby- Residential schools at the start of the twentieth century usually terian Church, argued eloquently for the retention of Native housed 30–60 students, growing by the 1950s to have as many languages: “They are a lost people in the sense that their values as 120–150 students. The school staff included the principal, a and their culture which they once cherished have completely requisite number of teachers, a matron and assistant matrons gone, except for their own language. . . . If the language is the who oversaw dormitory life, kitchen staff, including cook and only thing left to them out of their past glory, it also supplies sometimes an assistant, and a maintenance person, who usu- the key to their inner holy of holies.”16 How was under no illu- ally oversaw the school garden and any livestock. Over time, sions about the church’s ability to solve the social and economic the Department of Indian Affairs took a larger and larger role in problems facing the Native people of Canada, writing, “It is my directing school operations. In the first part of the century the humble prayer that under this trying situation the preaching churches provided and managed all staff, receiving financial of the Gospel will be the challenge and hope to the people.”17 support from the government as capital grants and per diem The Gospel would need to do the work of transformation; all support. By the 1940s the government took over the hiring of the missionary could do was proclaim the message. teachers, directly paying their salaries. In 1958, on instructions from the Department of Indian Affairs, students attending resi- Urban-Based Native Ministry dential schools were integrated into the public school system in the closest town. The residential schools became residences The written input provided by missionaries was used in prepa- built and maintained by the government and operated by the ration for the Indian Workers Workshop held in the summer of churches through funds the government provided. In 1969 the 1962. This was one of a series of occasional gatherings in which government took over full responsibility for the operation of the denominational mission leaders and missionaries on the ground residences, and the church was out of a job. would meet together to talk about Native missions. At the 1957 Church leaders commonly criticized the schools for their “Indian Workers” gathering, conversation about evangelism lack of lasting impact. After many years in the schools learning among Native people played a prominent role, along with dis- the ways of the dominant culture, graduates returned home cussion about the operation of residential schools.18 Five years and in a matter of months returned to the patterns of reserve later, the agenda included presentations on the development life. The schools failed to effectively integrate Native students of institutions designed to reach urban Native peoples, but the into the majority culture. Even staff members open to seeing evangelistic vision was significantly attenuated. This change in value in Native culture had difficulty setting aside their cultural emphasis signaled a change in direction as the mission went biases, using their authority to seek changes in such things as from being reserve- and school-based to adding urban-based the cleanliness of houses on reserves and students’ diets when Native ministry. Denominational leaders recognized that the at home. Walter Donovan, a missionary on reserves in Manitoba government would eventually take over the operation of the during the 1960s, noted, “Little evangelizing has resulted from school residences, leaving the church without institutional means attendance at residential schools. In the past, such a school may of ministering to Native people. Furthermore, demographic have been regarded as a prison by pupil and parent. Under such studies indicated that the move from rural areas to the cities, circumstances it would be doubtless difficult for the Gospel to reach ‘ears that hear.’”13 The schools were institutional ministries, failing to bring self-reproducing, self-governing, self-supporting Native churches into being. “I want to know what went Through the late 1940s and into the 1950s, the postwar wrong! Did we assume too economic boom provided the church with resources, both finances and people, to again send missionaries to the reserves. much?” Furthermore, the changes introduced to the residential school system by the government of Canada in 1958 made the schools less effective drivers of the mission. These changes provided begun in the 1950s and continuing into the 1960s, included an opportunity for the Presbyterian Church to evaluate how Native people. In order to continue ministry among the Native mission was being done and how it should be accomplished. people, so it was argued, the church needed to develop urban Missionaries ministering in the Native community were asked to ministries. While denominational leaders were interested in comment on the state of the mission. A consistent message was developing new urban-based institutions such as short-term heard: To work effectively with the Native people, missionar- housing for transient Native people, missionaries on the ground ies needed to live on the reserves with the people, immersing were pushing for the development of more effective means of themselves in the Native culture. The missionary did not need evangelism on reserves, including advocating for experiments to be able to preach in “the Indian language,” since “on most using tent meetings with Native evangelists as the preachers.19

July 2012 117 The missionaries believed the future lay in nurturing Native passed.” The new executive director of the Presbyterian Church’s leaders for a Native church.20 Board of World Mission, Chris Costerus, a former missionary in Despite the consistent call from those involved in doing Native Taiwan, took the criticisms seriously and launched a detailed missions for missionaries to immerse themselves in the Native com- analysis of the work among Native peoples. Early in this study munity, learning the language and culture of the reserves, during Costerus wrote, “I have been reading much of the earlier review the 1960s and 1970s the Presbyterian Church in Canada chose to material and have studied the recommendations made to previ- establish a series of inner-city institutions addressing the social and ous General Assemblies, which were approved but not acted on. physical needs of urban Native people.21 The Kenora Fellowship I want to know what went wrong! Did we assume too much? Centre in Kenora, Ontario, was the first such mission. Opened in Were the approvals emotionally right but impractical? Was/is 1961, it provided material support to Native people in need and our approach to the Native peoples wrong? Is our training of acted as a meeting space for Native and non-Native residents of would-be workers faulty? What Gospel have we been preaching the community. Annual reports from the center’s first ten years by word and deed?”24 make no mention of gatherings for worship, nor of any attempts Costerus’s frustration was shared by many other observ- to raise up Native leaders for a Native church.22 In 1972, as the ers of the Presbyterian Church’s Native ministry. Significant Fellowship Centre passed its tenth anniversary, none of the eight resources, both human and financial, had been expended over staff members were Native persons. While the chair of the board many years, with few tangible results. While the final report was a Native person, only four others on the fifteen-member board said it more bureaucratically, Costerus’s notes were clear: “My were.23 Similar patterns emerged in the creation and development goal is to allow space and opportunity for native leadership to of Flora House and the Anishinabe Fellowship Centre, both in appear—which is acceptable and suitable for native believers. I Winnipeg, and the Saskatoon Native Ministry Circle. believe that present structures inhibit this.”25 Both lay and ordained Native leadership needed to be developed, even if that meant Focus on Institutions or on Congregations? lowering the academic qualifications required for ordination. The Native leadership, it was hoped, would arise from the hand- Throughout the twentieth century the Presbyterian Church’s ful of Native Presbyterian congregations. Costerus saw Native ministry with Native people was dominated by a series of insti- ministry through the matrix of cross-cultural ministry with the tutions: first, day schools and residential schools, followed by goal of raising up church leaders from within the people group school homes and then the fellowship centers and city missions. being reached by the Gospel. Although not explicitly stated, While the mandates of these institutions differed significantly, his vision was to nurture a self-reproducing and self-governing their existence was rooted in a commitment to an institutional Native church into being. As this new vision for Native ministry approach as opposed to a congregational vision for the Native was being honed, a series of events both within and outside of mission. Maintaining institutions such as schools and fellowship the church overtook the plan. centers required significant financial and human resources. By The system by which theological college graduates received a first call to a congregation changed in 1988, shutting down the major source of missionaries being deployed to congregations on reserves. Until that point, newly graduated clergy were required Spiritual leaders in the to accept an appointment to a ministry chosen for them by the Native community come superintendents of mission if they wished to be ordained. In this way, difficult-to-staff ministries, such as congregations on from the reserves to speak reserves, were supplied with ministers. The end of the appoint- to the urban context and ment system allowed graduates to make their own choices about then return to the land for where they would serve, which meant that the supply of potential missionaries on reserves dried up. 26 While the ultimate goal of renewal. Costerus’s vision was to raise up Native leaders, in the interim period the Native congregations required non-Native clergy to walk with them as Native leaders were being identified and choosing institutional ministries to be the centerpiece of their nurtured into their roles. work among Native peoples, Canadian Presbyterians created A further personnel challenge has arisen from the decision a double dependency. It was impossible for the institutional to emphasize urban institutional ministries over congregations ministries to be fully funded by the Native community, which on reserves. Observers of the urban Native ministries contend created the need for official structures of the non-Native church to that these ministries will not supply the volume of Native lead- play a significant role in the life of these ministries. It also proved ers required to develop self-governing Native congregations.27 impossible for the non-Native church to fully fund the ministries, The spiritual dynamism of the Native community, whether and therefore government aid was enlisted. As both the schools traditional or Christian, focuses often on the Creator and the and the fellowship centers became dependent on government creation. Spiritual leaders in the Native community come from the financial aid, the ministries had difficulty maintaining goals that reserves to speak to the urban context and then return to the land were distinct from the goals of the state. The consequences of this for renewal. It appears unlikely, then, that urban ministries will converging of goals are evident in the church’s complicity in the be fruitful contexts for nurturing leaders for a self-reproducing, assimilative and abusive Indian residential school system—a guilt self-governing Native church. the Presbyterian Church in Canada confessed in 1994. The round of soul-searching leading to the confession began The Confession of 1994 and Reconciliation in 1986 as a group of missionaries among the Native people and observers of the mission demanded that a new vision be enunci- The vision of raising up Native churches was further eclipsed by ated for the work. As the critics stated, “The mission period has the bringing to public consciousness of the physical, emotional,

118 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 psychological, and cultural abuse that had occurred in Indian “We ask, also, for forgiveness from Aboriginal peoples.” Theologi- residential schools. The conversation that had been taking place cally, the wrongs done were primarily a sin against God’s vision through the late 1980s gained intensity in 1989, when CBC-TV for the relationship between peoples (in this case, newcomer and ran Where the Spirit Lives, a docudrama of one girl’s experience Native). The confession highlighted the church’s complicity in in an Indian residential school on the Canadian Prairies.28 Phil the government’s assimilative vision through supporting colonial Fontaine, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, practices, urging the banning of some Native spiritual practices, spoke publicly in 1990 about the emotional and cultural abuse and operating residential schools where pupils experienced abuse he experienced in a school run by the Roman Catholic Church and Aboriginal cultural identity was destroyed. The confession and funded by the federal government. This was followed in uses the word “mission” only once, and then in combination 1991 by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ presenting with the word “ministry”: “We regret that there are those whose a statement of regret regarding the residential schools. Against lives have been deeply scarred by the effects of the mission and ministry of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.” The authors of the confession seem unsure as to what an appropriate mission to In the wake of the the Aboriginal peoples would have looked like. The confession offers no discussion of what forms of Gospel proclamation were confession, Canadian appropriate beyond the “unstinting . . . love and compassion” Presbyterian ministry to with which many missionaries served “their aboriginal brothers and sisters.” Strikingly, the confession does not name failing to Native peoples focused nurture a Native-led church into being as something for which on finding healing and Canadian Presbyterians were sorry.31 In the wake of the confession, Canadian Presbyterian reconciliation. ministry to Native peoples focused on finding healing and reconcilation. Such a focus further emphasized the institutional nature of the ministry to Native peoples, not only because of this backdrop a small group within the Presbyterian Church’s the institutional nature of the schools, but also because the Board of World Mission started work on what would become the Settlement Agreement signed in December 2002 between the 1994 Confession regarding the relationship between the Presby- government of Canada and the Presbyterian Church in Canada terian Church in Canada and Canadian Aboriginal peoples. An dealt with legal and financial liability, which by their nature are attempt was made in 1992 to have the confession adopted by institutional concerns. the General Assembly. The document was referred back so “a more balanced presentation of this Church’s mission and min- The Canadian Presbyterian mission to Native peoples in the istry to native peoples” could be developed.29 Two years later, twentieth century reveals conflicting visions. The missionaries on a slightly reworded form of the confession was introduced by the ground saw their work as cross-cultural mission and called Justice Ministries, together with a longer historical background on the denomination to foster the creation of a self-reproducing piece. This time the document passed.30 The confession passed and self-governing Native church. Denominational leaders and on the second attempt in part because two additional years the financial supporters of the mission saw the work in institu- of public debate in the secular press about residential schools tional ministry terms, with goals of integrating both individual had had an impact on the commissioners. Worth noting is that Native people and Native congregations into the structures and the confession’s second introduction was under the auspices patterns of the denomination’s dominant culture. By the end of of Justice Ministries rather than through Canada Ministries. the twentieth century the institutional approach had become the The issue had become one primarily of justice, not of mission. dominant approach, although, as evidenced in the residential Since 1994, discussions related to the residential schools and schools, this approach caused great heartache for both Native to the Presbyterian Church’s ongoing work of reconciliation and non-Native Presbyterians. One wonders whether a different with Aboriginal peoples have been led by the Justice Ministries story would have emerged had the vision set out in 1908 been portfolio of the national church. allowed to reach maturity. Or would it have proved impossible to The confession, directed toward God, did not address the nurture and maintain a cross-cultural mission to a non-Christian Aboriginal peoples of Canada directly until the seventh clause, community within a Christian nation?

Notes . 1 Brian Stanley, The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910 merging Native mission and home mission efforts. See World (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), pp. 49–72, discusses the debate Missionary Conference, Report of Commission I: Carrying the Gospel regarding what constituted the Christian world. He notes: “The to All the Non-Christian World (Toronto: Fleming H. Revell, 1910), exclusion of Latin America from the conference agenda had the esp. pp. 253–55, 260–62. further effect of accentuating the existing Protestant tendency to 3. World Missionary Conference, Report of Commission VII: Missions identify the West with Christianity and the Orient with heathendom” and Governments (Toronto: Fleming H. Revell, 1910), p. 94. (p. 72). An integration of the Native people of North America as part 4. For more on the 1908 gathering, see Peter Bush, “‘Spoken with Native of the non-Christian world could have challenged the bifurcation of Languages’: Presbyterian Evangelistic Efforts Among the Native the world, for the Native people were a non-Christian community People of the Prairies, 1908–1909,” Canadian Society of Presbyterian in the midst of the so-called Christian world. History Papers 33 (2008): 29–42. 2. Commission I discussed the mission situation in Asia, Africa, and 5. Minutes, Convention of Presbyterian Workers among the Indians in the Pacific region in 196 pages, and the mission context in the the Synods of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Mission to Aboriginal Western Hemisphere in 22 pages. Little attempt was made to find Peoples in Manitoba and the Northwest, Box 6, File 113, United commonalities between the two. A number of suggestions offered Church Archives, Toronto. regarding the mission to Native people in North America involved 6. Stanley writes of the Commission II report, “The assertion that in

July 2012 119 many lands the objective of a genuinely independent ‘three-self’ 19. “Recommendations from Indian Workers’ Workshop,” Kenora, church was now within reach was perhaps the central claim of the Ontario, June 27–29, 1962, BWM/GBM, PCCA, 1988-1003, Box 69, report” (World Missionary Conference, p. 133). File 12. 7. R. Pierce Beaver, Church, State, and the American Indian: Two and a 20. The Anglican Church of Canada went through its own soul- Half Centuries of Partnership in Missions Between Protestant Churches searching about Native ministry, publishing Beyond Traplines: Does and Government (St. Louis: Concordia, 1966), p. 208. the Church Really Care? Towards an Assessment of the Work of the 8. For example, Canada’s Missionary Congress (Toronto: Canadian Anglican Church of Canada with Canada’s Native Peoples (Toronto: Council Laymen’s Missionary Movement, 1909), pp. 99–121, 330. Ryerson Press, 1969), commonly called the Hendry report, for its Preaching the Gospel to recent immigrants and Native peoples was author, Charles Hendry. It became a roadmap as the Anglicans discussed under the topic “The Place of the Church in the Making of sought a new way to do mission with the Native peoples. the Nation” (pp. 99, 330). The final presentation in this section, by J. A. 21. The United Church of Canada made a similar move, developing Macdonald, is entitled “The Christianization of Our Civilization.” “urban drop-in centers.” See John Webster Grant, Moon of Winter- 9. World Mission Conference, Commission I, p. 262. MacKay was the time: Missionaries and the Indians of Canada in Encounter Since 1534 only Canadian on Commission I. (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1984), p. 207. 10. Beaver, Church, State, and American Indian, pp. 208–9. 22. Annual Reports, Kenora Fellowship Centre, 1961–71, BWM/GBM, 11. Acts and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church PCCA, 1988-1003, Box 70, File 1. in Canada (hereafter cited as A&P), 1933, Appendix 27, 28, 59; 1934, 23. Annual Report, Kenora Fellowship Centre, 1972, BWM/GBM, PCCA, App. 14, 58, 59; 1935, App. 88; 1936, App. 70; 1937, App. 71; 1938, 1988-1003, Box 70, File 2. App. 73; 1939, App. 72. 24. Chris Costerus to Mabel Henderson, June 4, 1987, National Native 12. For more on the Indian Residential School System, see J. R. Miller, Ministry Comm., BWM/GBM, PCCA, 1999-1003, Box 1, File 12. Shingwauk’s Vision: A History of Native Residential Schools (Toronto: 25. Chris Costerus, Report on Native Ministry Review, “Appendix B,” Univ. of Toronto Press, 1996); and John S. Milloy, A National Crime: February 10, 1988, National Native Ministry Comm., BWM/GBM, The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879–1986 PCCA, 1999-1003, Box 1, File 12. (Winnipeg: Univ. of Manitoba Press, 1999). 26. A number of former missionaries identified the end of the ordained 13. Walter Donovan to J. C. Cooper, May 14, 1962, “Present State of missionary system as killing congregations on reserves almost Canadian Presbyterian Missions,” Board of World Mission/General overnight, for it became impossible to find personnel to do work Board of Mission, Presbyterian Church in Canada Archives, Toronto, on reserves. On this system, see Peter Bush, “A Brief History of the 1988-1003, Box 69, File 12 (hereafter cited as BWM/GBM, PCCA). OM (Ordained Missionary) System,” Presbyterian History 46, no. 1 14. “Indian Workers’ Conference,” Winnipeg, April 21, 1955, BWM/ (May 2002): 4–6. GBM, PCCA 1988-1003, Box 6, File 8. 27. Conversation with Gordon Haynes, associate secretary, Canada 15. L. Jackson, “The Present Situation in Our Mission to the Indians,” Ministries, PCC, October 2009. received May 28, 1962, BWM/GBM, PCCA, 1988-1003, Box 69, 28. Where the Spirit Lives, Bruce Pittman, director; Keith Ross Leckie, File 12. screenwriter; produced by Tapestry Pictures; distributed by Alli- 16. Steven How, “An Estimate of the Present Situation in Our Mission ance Atlantis; broadcast by CBC-TV, 1989. to Indians,” received June 1, 1962, BWM/GBM, PCCA, 1988-1003, 29. A&P, 1992, p. 73. I was present at the 1992 Assembly, where I saw Box 69, File 12. how little Presbyterians knew about the denomination’s involvement 17. Ibid. in the schools; this realization led to my initial writing on the topic. 18. “Indian Conference, Birtle, Manitoba,” June 26–27, 1957, BWM/ 30. A&P, 1994, pp. 29, 365–77. GBM, PCCA, 1988-1003, Box 69, File 10. 31. “Confession,” in ibid., pp. 29, 376–77.

Errata

In the article “Toward a Broader Role in Mission: How Kore- data and observations draw on a 2011 survey of Korean an Americans’ Struggle for Identity Can Lead to a Renewed missions. Percentage breakdowns on page 84 (paragraph 4, Vision for Mission,” by S. Steve Kang and Megan A. Hack- beginning “The following describe”) and on page 85 (sec- man (IBMR, April 2012), the first paragraph mentions “Urba- tions 4 and 5, “Deployment” and “Personal data”), however, na Missions Conferences between 1990 and 2009” (p. 72). are drawn from a 2008 survey, one based on a larger data set This phrase should have read “Urbana Missions Conferences that, overall, shows percentages quite comparable with those in the 1990s.” The editors regret the error. based on the 2011 survey. The editors regret omission of a In “Missions from Korea 2012: Slowdown and Matura- note explaining the use of the two surveys. tion,” by Steve Sang-Cheol Moon (IBMR, April 2012), the

120 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 2,000 YEARS AFTER THE GREAT

COMMISSION, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE STILL LACK BIBLES IN THEIR LANGUAGE.

“Access to the Scriptures is essential to the Church’s health and mission.” —Dr. Roy Ciampa, Associate Professor of New Testament & D.Min. Mentor

BRING THE MESSAGE OF HOPE TO ALL NATIONS

DEVELOP THE COMPLEX SKILLS NEEDED TO EXCEL IN THE WORK OF TRANSLATION WITH A DOCTOR OF MINISTRY FROM GORDON-CONWELL.

PHONE | 1-800-816-1837 EMAIL | [email protected] WEB | WWW.GORDONCONWELL.EDU/DMIN

UPCOMING D.MIN. TRACKS INCLUDE: BIBLE TRANSLATION, GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY, OUTREACH AND DISCIPLESHIP.

HAMILTON | BOSTON | CHARLOTTE | JACKSONVILLE

THINK Theologically | ENGAGE Globally | LIVE Biblically Pentecostal Missions and the Changing Character of Global Christianity Heather D. Curtis

s American delegates to the World Missionary Confer- however, were subtle differences in emphasis and significant Aence were preparing to sail for Edinburgh in the spring divergences in theological perspective that set these two groups of 1910, another gathering devoted to the “subject of world-wide apart. By analyzing these contrasts and their consequences for missions” was taking place in Chicago, at the Stone Church. Protestant missions, this article explores the changing character From May 15 to 29 a group of “God’s dear children” assembled of global Christianity in the twentieth century. daily for meetings that pressed “the claims of the world field Scholars of twentieth-century Protestant missions have upon young and old for prayer, for giving, and for going.” The argued that Edinburgh delegates fundamentally misread “the semiannual pentecostal Convention at the Stone Church was, signs of the future of Christianity,” including the robust expan- by comparison with the World Missionary Conference about to sion of pentecostal movements that have transformed the shape open at Edinburgh, a humble affair. Participants numbered in of Christian faith around the globe since 1910. “One by one all at most the hundreds rather than the thousands. Publicity for of their assumptions about how the evangelization of the world the event consisted of a few notices posted in the Latter Rain could be effected crumbled away,” historian Andrew Walls has Evangel, a periodical produced at the Stone Church, and a “large noted. Christianity was “indeed to be transfigured over the next sign bearing the striking head-line ‘A Glorious Convention’” century,” Brian Stanley has contended in his definitive study of hung on the outside of the building. Planning was minimal: the Edinburgh conference, “but not in the way or through the “the only definite date we have fixed upon is the opening day,” mechanisms that they imagined.” Instead, Stanley suggests, the organizers declared; the duration of the convocation would “the most effective instrument of that transfiguration” was a depend on the “Lord’s leading.” This reliance on the Holy Spirit diverse “miscellany of indigenous pastors, prophets, catechists, was, according to many attendees, the distinguishing feature of and evangelists, men and women” who stood outside of the the pentecostal Convention. Convinced that “God was working mainstream missions agencies represented at Edinburgh and all through the Convention to bring things to pass for foreign “professed instead to rely on the simple transforming power of fields,” participants were confident that the gathering would the Spirit and the Word.” The story of the Stone Church Conven- “mean much for His work all over the world.” “The ends of the tion offers a starting point for assessing the profound changes earth and the courts of heaven are going to hear from this blessed that early pentecostal missionaries helped to initiate.4 Convention,” one chronicler proclaimed. “India is going to feel it; China is going to feel it; schools, homes, and other lives touched Pentecostal Qualms About Christian Civilization by these deepened ones are going to feel it.”1 They need the simple Gospel A month after the Stone Church Convention drew to a close, delegates assembled at Edinburgh were expressing similar One of the most salient disparities between the architects of the expectations about the outcomes of their well-attended, widely WMC and the leaders of the Stone Church Convention centered advertised, meticulously planned, and methodically orchestrated on their differing perspectives on Western “civilization.” While World Missionary Conference (WMC). In his concluding address, the pentecostals who gathered in Chicago were clear about the chairman and missionary statesman John R. Mott reiterated contrast between “heathen darkness” and “gospel light,” they the prevailing conviction that “carrying the Gospel to all the seemed less certain than their Edinburgh counterparts that these non-Christian world” was the urgent task for which God had categories clearly corresponded with the “civilized Christian been empowering the Western Protestant churches. “The end West” and “the non-Christian world.” Depravity, they believed, of the Conference is the beginning of the conquest,” he decreed. was not necessarily determined by geography, nationality, or “Though there have been no signs and sounds and wonders as race; in fact, the “Occidental” could be just as susceptible to sin of the rushing wind, God has been silently and peacefully doing as the “Oriental.” Preaching in the Stone Church on March 3, His work. . . . It is not His will that the influences set forth by 1910, evangelist Charles F. Hettiaratchy, “a native of Ceylon” who Him shall cease this night. Rather shall they course out through “had a very deep baptism in the Holy Spirit,” challenged poten- us to the very ends of the earth.”2 tial missionaries who wanted “to go and convert the heathen” Participants in both the pentecostal Convention and the WMC to ask, “Have you been used in this country to convert the hea- of 1910 believed that “Christianity stood on the threshold of a then here?” Heathenism, he contended, was not only abroad, global expansion of millennial dimensions” and that God would but also within.5 The devil was active everywhere, pentecostals continue to work through evangelical messengers to spread the believed; therefore, even so-called Christian lands and institu- Gospel to the nations.3 Underlying these shared convictions, tions were susceptible to corruption. In fact, many pentecostals criticized American culture and Heather D. Curtis is Assistant Professor of questioned the supposed superiority of Western civilization. Religion at Tufts University, Medford, Mas- Unlike Edinburgh delegates, who were “certain that Christian- sachusetts. She has written Faith in the Great ity and civilization were divinely ordained to proceed from the Physician: Suffering and Divine Healing West to the world,” pentecostals worried that Western Christians in American Culture, 1860–1900 (Johns Hopkins had abandoned biblical authority and turned away from God.6 Univ. Press, 2007). As a result, pentecostal missionaries condemned the notion that —[email protected] civilizing was a necessary prerequisite for Christianizing. In a 1909 address delivered at the Stone Church, veteran missionary

122 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 Archibald Forder insisted that the Arab people among whom he the past one hundred years” as “signs of the imminence of our worked did not “need civilization.” In fact, Forder argued, an Lord’s return,” participants in the holiness and pentecostal increase in trade and the introduction of Western ways would movements eagerly employed these resources as they worked undermine exemplary aspects of Arabian society—particularly to cultivate a universal Christian fellowship.13 the prohibition against destructive “intoxicants” such as alcohol Communication tools were especially instrumental in and opium. “I am anxious for only one thing,” Forder proclaimed, helping pentecostals (and other Christians) nurture a sense of “that they get Jesus Christ. As sure as civilization gets in, they worldwide community that transcended territorial borders, will become contaminated with the curses of civilization . . . they cultural boundaries, and social barriers. Periodicals such as the do not need electric cars, railroads, and all these things we think Latter Rain Evangel explicitly sought to forge bonds among like- are necessary. . . . They need the simple Gospel.”7 minded believers across the globe. On the periodical’s second Pentecostals were not the only missionaries who expressed anniversary, the editor rejoiced that the paper had fostered “a ambivalence about how features of Western civilization would blessed fellowship with God’s dear children all over the world.”14 affect indigenous cultures. For decades prior to the 1910 WMC, By embracing communication and travel technologies in order to missionaries from a variety of denominations had protested create translocal connections, pentecostals participated in broader against the opium trade in China, the liquor traffic in Africa, and the legalization of prostitution in India. Each of these evils, they argued, was exacerbated if not caused by Western agents Pentecostal missionaries and impeded efforts to Christianize local societies. In responses to questionnaires sent out by the WMC’s organizers, some mis- condemned the notion sionaries complained that the immoral (and imperial) behavior that civilizing was a of European traders and officials constituted “a great barrier to the spread of the Gospel.” The official report of Edinburgh’s necessary prerequisite for commissioners additionally warned that “the spread of infidel Christianizing. and rationalistic ideas and materialistic views . . . traceable to western sources” threatened “the extension of Christ’s King- dom.” Despite these concerns, most WMC delegates remained patterns characteristic of many social and religious movements convinced that the “pure and hopeful influences of western in an increasingly international era.15 Gatherings like the Stone civilization” would triumph over “antagonistic” pressures so Church Convention and the WMC of 1910 both reflected and long as the church mustered “all its powers on behalf of the contributed to the globalization of Christianity during this period. world without Christ.”8 “The voice most audible in the public While participants in these events eagerly employed modern sessions of the conference,” Brian Stanley asserts, “was one of means to spread the Gospel and promote Christian unity, pen- boundless optimism and unsullied confidence in the ideological tecostals were less convinced than their Edinburgh peers that and financial power of western Christendom.”9 the success of these endeavors depended on the development For both theological and social reasons, pentecostals simply and “advancement of missionary science.” As Brian Stanley did not share this sanguine outlook. By the early twentieth has shown, conveners of the WMC “believed that the time had century, most radical evangelicals had embraced a premillen- come for the application of the rigorous methods of modern nial eschatology that predicted Christ’s imminent return after social science to the challenges and problems which missionar- a period of pervasive and rapid decay. In contrast to their ies faced on the field.” Although spokespersons like John Mott counterparts at the WMC, the majority of whom still subscribed acknowledged the role of the Holy Spirit in the evangelistic to the more optimistic postmillennial view, participants at the enterprise, they were apt to downplay “signs and sounds and Stone Church believed that “the world to-day is wobbling in wonders” in favor of “ascertained and sifted facts.”16 its orbit, madly plunging towards despair and destruction.”10 Organizers of the Stone Church Convention did just the As pentecostal missionary Albert Norton put it, “The signs are opposite. Rather than systematically collecting data and pre- multiplying that the world is out of joint on a scale that it never senting their findings in carefully crafted reports on practical was before. . . . What does this portend . . . but the greatest policy, they insisted that mighty manifestations of supernatural national overthrow, ruin and disaster, that the world has ever power were precisely what was needed for inaugurating a new seen.”11 Civilization, from this perspective, was a slender reed era in world evangelization. “It isn’t in my thought to go into upon which to rest one’s hopes. the matter of statistics,” declared missionary stalwart Levi Lupton at the Stone Church Convention. Instead, he and other Pentecostals and Missionary Science speakers put particular emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit We are made one in the Spirit to bridge divides and create attachments.17 “This is the intent of Pentecost,” evangelist D. Wesley Myland proclaimed, “that A second, and related, distinction between delegates at Edin- my heart might be bound with men and women in Africa, in burgh and attendees at the Stone Church Convention was the Japan, in the fastness of Tibet. That my spirit might be bound extent to which each group stressed the centrality of techno- with men and women in India and we are made one in work- logical developments and scientific methods for the mission- ing out the purposes of God.”18 William Piper, pastor of the ary enterprise. As historians have pointed out, premillennial Stone Church, contended that Holy Spirit baptism was not pessimism about the prospects of contemporary society and only drawing together believers of different nations, but also Western civilization did not preclude pentecostals from mak- uniting Christians across doctrinal and class lines. “In this, His ing full use of modern technologies for missionary purposes.12 Pentecostal sweep of the earth, . . . God is doing a marvelous While they interpreted the “increased modes and rapidity of thing in reaching down into every denomination, and reach- travel, evidenced by railways, steam ships, electrical devices, ing down into the slums where there is no denomination, and liquid air, telephone, telegraph, wireless telegraphy . . . within baptizing His disciples,” Piper proclaimed. “What else could so

July 2012 123 effectually break down bigotry than the fact that God is bigger become self-governing. Although he conceded that both sides than our denominational difference? Thus there is left little or no were to blame for the unequal situation, Azariah challenged “the room for one set of people to exalt themselves over another.”19 foreign missionary” to offer “proofs of a real willingness . . . to According to Piper, the experience of baptism in the Holy show that he is in the midst of the people, to be to them, not a Spirit leveled hierarchies in ways that enabled pentecostal mis- lord or a master, but a brother and a friend.”22 sionaries to surmount spatial, social, and theological separations According to observers, Azariah’s speech went off “like a in pursuit of a global fellowship. Many speakers at Stone Church bomb” in the “electric silence” of Edinburgh’s Assembly Hall. conventions confirmed this conviction. Recalling that the first While a few attendees appreciated Azariah’s challenge, others protested, and some argued that he ought to be publicly censured. According to conference historian Brian Stanley, “Most of the Azariah’s speech went Christian press either ignored his address or took exception to it. . . . Hardly anyone in the western churches in 1910 seemed off “like a bomb” in ready to listen.”23 the “electric silence” of But if Azariah’s admonitions fell on deaf ears in Edinburgh, his sentiments resonated with partisans of the pentecostal movement Edinburgh’s Assembly who were making similar proposals. Although few pentecostals Hall. attended the WMC, a number of correspondents—including American Agnes Hill, who served as the national secretary for the YWCA in India, and Eveline Alice Luce of the British Church person to receive “the baptism of the Holy Ghost” during the Missionary Society—had participated in the Holy Spirit revivals recent pentecostal revival in India was an “ignorant little mite that swept through many places across the world in 1904 through named JeeJee” who went on to become one of the movement’s 1906. These women had become part of the emerging global leaders, missionary Minnie Abrams argued that the Holy Spirit pentecostal network, even as they remained connected with their empowered individuals for service regardless of their age, social sponsoring missionary agencies. In responses to questionnaires status, intellectual sophistication, or even theological acumen.20 sent out by Edinburgh’s organizers, both Luce and Hill identi- From this perspective, statistical analysis, scientific expertise, and fied social distance and unequal partnerships between Western technological advancement were secondary (if not irrelevant) to missionaries and the people with whom they worked as major the practice of missions or the creation of a global church. challenges to spreading the Gospel. Luce wrote that the “differ- ent economic circumstances of missionary and people . . . is one Pentecostal Missions and Indigenous Leadership of the most difficult problems in our missionary work” in India. I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh “We long to get near the people among whom we work, and we mourn the fact that a great gulf seems to separate us from them Minnie Abrams’s account of the revival in India reveals a third as we live in such a different style and with so much more of contrast between pentecostal approaches to missions and the what to them is luxury.” Hill concurred with this assessment. dominant assumptions on display at Edinburgh. As the story of “This difference is a great stumbling block,” she wrote. Both JeeJee suggests, pentecostals were open to the possibility that the women acknowledged that social and economic disparities often outpouring of the Holy Spirit had initiated a great reversal—not reflected and exacerbated relational rifts between missionar- only collapsing hierarchical distinctions between Western mis- ies and local communities. The perception that Indians—even sionaries and local believers, but even beginning to re-center those who embraced Christianity—were inferior to Westerners Christian leadership in “heathen” lands. While most delegates rankled indigenous believers and frustrated cooperative efforts. at the Edinburgh WMC endorsed the “formation, growth, and “Many in the native church resent the call to work under the nurture” of self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating missionary,” Hill admitted. Luce agreed, blaming a hierarchical national churches as “the central goal of all foreign missionary and inequitable pay structure for perpetuating interactions that activity,” they were less confident than their pentecostal peers mirrored the dynamics of imperial rule.24 that the experience of Holy Spirit baptism qualified native con- Based on their experiences in the India revivals, both Hill verts to serve as partners in the missionary enterprise, let alone and Luce echoed Azariah’s recommendations for bridging leaders of indigenous churches.21 “the gulf between missionary and native helper.” In fact, Hill’s In fact, the issue of relationships among missionaries and recommendations for fostering reciprocal relationships were national Christians was a major topic of discussion—and source more radical than Azariah’s proposals. Where he called for an of consternation—among participants in the WMC. V. S. Azariah, increase in missionary hospitality—encouraging Europeans to an Anglican clergyman from South India who had helped to shake hands with their Indian workers and to invite them to establish the indigenous Indian National Missionary Society, dinner—Hill exhorted missionaries to adopt a “simpler life,” highlighted this concern in an address entitled “The Problem challenging unmarried workers to cohabitate with their “native of Co-operation Between Foreign and Native Workers” that he helpers, taking them all into his bungalow as brothers or in the delivered at Edinburgh on the evening of June 20. “The official case of the woman as sisters.”25 Although Luce’s proposals for relationship generally prevalent at present between the mission- missionary living arrangements were more modest than Hill’s, ary and the Indian worker is that between a master and servant,” Luce agreed that missionaries should strive to live more simply he declared. “As long as this relationship exists, we must admit “in small tents” or “rest-houses . . . thus getting as near to the that no sense of self-respect and individuality can grow in the daily lives of the people as possible, and living in their presence, Indian church.” Taking the “problem of race relationships” as it were, seeking to shew [sic] them that Christ is not merely the head-on, Azariah asserted that “bridging the gulf between East Savior of the West, but that He is an Oriental Saviour, and His and West, and the attainment of a greater unity and common salvation comes down to the little details of everyday life.” Like ground in Christ” was essential if the Indian church was ever to Hill, Luce believed that proximity and humility were essential

124 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 for cultivating mutual affection and for revising presumptions Moving out into the “regions beyond,” where few mission- about the superiority of Western Christianity.26 aries had gone before, meant that Bezaleel workers were often For both Luce and Hill the most significant factor in spread- the only Westerners in their area. Writing back to her Stone ing the Gospel and creating multiracial, intercultural, egalitarian Church supporters one year after sailing with Abrams, Blanche friendships among Christians was the Holy Spirit. In keeping Cunningham described the “pioneer work” she and Lillian Doll with William Piper’s conviction that the baptism in the Spirit was had undertaken in Basti, North India. “Outside of one or two essential for vanquishing social and theological chauvinism, Hill officials there is no one here but Indian people,” she wrote. Nor contended that “what the whole missionary body yes and the was there any European-style housing. When they eventually Indian Church and the Church at home need most is a special procured facilities abandoned by a British mission, Doll “moved equipment of power from on High to put things into proper per- in at once, even before it was fit to live in, and slept on the floor spective and to make the message effective as the Master intended with the rats and moles crawling around.” Cunningham lived it to be.” Luce was even more adamant. Describing the revival in another building “with the Indian girls” who were to be her that had spread through India in recent years, she recounted how partners in village evangelism. By forgoing the comforts typical of the Holy Spirit had surmounted seemingly insuperable divides. most missionary compounds, by eating chapatis and other Indian “We have seen . . . how He takes up the poor and illiterate and food, and by sharing a home with their Indian coworkers, Doll does wondrous works through them, how His presence is like a and Cunningham practiced what Edinburgh correspondents such Fire, melting down all barriers, uniting the whole church (native as Hill and Luce preached. As a result, the “gulf” that separated and foreign) and melting them together as one in the love of Jesus, these Western women from their “native helpers” was narrower, and how He sets them on fire with love and zeal for the salvation and reciprocal relationships that encouraged mutual esteem of souls.” Given this evidence, Luce told the organizers of the developed more readily.30 Edinburgh Conference, it only made sense to conclude that “the From their arrival in India, the Bezaleel novices worked answer to all these difficult questions” of missionary endeavor, closely with Bible women and native preachers. In letters sent “the one all-important need,” was “a mighty outpouring of the back to the Stone Church, missionaries praised their Indian Holy Spirit on the Christian Church in every land.”27 associates, presenting them as fellow workers and exemplary Despite the testimony of missionaries like Luce, Hill, Azariah, and Abrams, leaders of the Edinburgh conference concluded that relying solely on the transforming power of the Spirit was Time was short, the task not wholly sufficient for spreading the Gospel. Although Edin- burgh’s commissioners did acknowledge that “it seems evident was urgent, and the Holy that the Indian Church must ultimately be under the guidance Spirit was anointing and control of Indian Christians,” their final report suggested that such a transfer of power could take place only after proper workers all over the world. “development and education of the native church.”28 For pen- tecostals eagerly anticipating Christ’s imminent return, such a gradual approach seemed impractical. Time was short, the task Christian evangelists to the home audience. “Nannu was a car- was urgent, and the Holy Spirit was anointing workers all over penter,” Abrams wrote of one convert who joined their mission the world to spread the message of repentance and salvation. in North India. “He can hardly read and make up his accounts, Drawing on biblical passages such as Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17, but does most of my business and is a leader among the others. which promised that “in the last days, saith God, I will pour out His wife . . . is the ‘mother in Israel’ at Uska Bazar.”31 Although of my Spirit upon all flesh,” participants in the Stone Church they did value basic Christian training and the ability to read the Convention claimed that this long-awaited prophecy was being Bible, missionaries like Abrams could overlook a lack of literacy fulfilled in the present—and they acted accordingly. as irrelevant if the Holy Spirit anointed workers such as Nannu to preach the Gospel. Believing that the pentecostal revival that Pentecostal Missions in Practice began in 1905 had inaugurated a new era in Indian Christian- Bridging the gulf between East and West ity, Abrams exhorted American believers to come alongside the “spirit-filled young people” who were ready to “go out to Several months after the conventions in Chicago and Edinburgh evangelize their own people.” Having “seen the Holy Spirit concluded, Minnie Abrams returned to India with a group of poured out in marvelous power upon the Indian Christian seven women who shared her belief that baptism in the Holy church,” Abrams was certain that the evangelization of India Ghost was the indispensable key to the evangelization of the would proceed primarily through native converts in partner- nations and the unity of the Christian church. Forming the “only ship with Western pentecostals, who could serve as helpmeets known Pentecostal women’s missionary society”—the Bezaleel to their “yokefellows” through both intercessory prayer and Evangelistic Mission—these women strove to embody the physical presence.32 ethos and ideals that speakers at the Stone Church Convention Indian Christians touched by the pentecostal revivals agreed promoted. As faith missionaries relying on God rather than an with Abrams’s assessment. “India is awakening. God is speaking established organization for their financial support, they were to our age and to our land in the mighty reviving work of His also poised to practice the close relations with local people that Spirit. . . . The spirit of Pentecost is arousing the Church today,” experienced missionaries like Luce, Hill, and Azariah were declared the founders of the Indian National Missionary Soci- advocating. With little advanced training, no language skills, and ety in December 1905. Organized by Azariah and other Indian limited monetary resources, Abrams’s recruits were compelled church leaders, this interdenominational association urged Indian to live simply in close proximity with the native population, and Christians to recognize “the solemn obligation alike of ownership to partner with the Indian Christians upon whom they were in and of opportunity, of sacrifice and responsibility.”33 According many ways dependent.29 to historian Gary McGee, this “‘appeal to Indian Christians’ to

July 2012 125 evangelize their own nation” was an outgrowth of the “greater adopt “paternalistic practices” that impeded the expansion of indigenization of the faith” that resulted from India’s pentecostal indigenous leadership and mutuality. Within several years the awakening. “The Spirit’s outpouring,” McGee argues, “signaled Foreign Missions Department of the Assemblies of God was wres- that the hour for indigenous leadership had arrived.”34 tling with many of the same strategic dilemmas that dominated When Minnie Abrams and her American apprentices arrived the agenda at Edinburgh: what methods of evangelism were in Bombay in October 1910, self-governing, self-supporting, and most effective, whether charitable or humanitarian efforts “paid” self-propagating Indian churches of any theological persuasion or fostered dependency, and how to promote a self-governing, were still more of a future hope than a present reality. Despite self-supporting, self-propagating church.40 their affirmation of the “three-self” principle, most denomina- tional missionaries postponed the process of transferring power Conclusion to indigenous leaders for decades after the Edinburgh confer- The baptism in the Holy Ghost should ence. This became the experience even of some pentecostals. make us world-wide Although they were more apt to acknowledge the authority of Spirit-filled evangelists, to see their “native helpers” as equal Despite the obstacles that increasing organization erected between partners in the task of spreading the Gospel, and even to live in pentecostal missionaries and their indigenous associates, many of intimate proximity with their non-Western associates, pentecostals the subtle tendencies that distinguished participants in the Stone sometimes “struggled to turn over the reins of control.” Once the Church Convention from delegates at the Edinburgh WMC of floodwaters of revival receded and Christ had not yet returned, 1910 continued to shape how Spirit-filled Christians envisioned some pentecostal missionaries followed in the footsteps of their and enacted the creation of a global fellowship in years to come. denominational predecessors by establishing mission stations, “The baptism in the Holy Ghost should make us world-wide. maintaining a distance from Indian partners, and, as Gary McGee It should enlarge us,” Minnie Abrams proclaimed in 1911.41 put it, “retaining tight control over local pastors and evangelists When she and the American women of the Bezaleel Evangelistic by paying them with funds raised in North America.”35 Mission partnered with Indian evangelists and Bible women to In his recent comprehensive survey of pentecostal missions, spread the Gospel in small villages like Basti and Uska Bazar, McGee also asserts that pentecostals were not immune to the cul- they acted on a set of assumptions that would become increas- tural prejudices and anxieties that came along with their privileged ingly influential among Christian communities over the course status as Westerners in an imperial setting. “Like most Western- of the twentieth century. ers who lived abroad,” he contends, “Pentecostal missionaries First, Western civilization was not equivalent with the king- accepted their racial and cultural superiority as a given.”36 His dom of God, and missionaries had no monopoly on God’s grace. observations suggest that the Spirit-filled women and men who Second, while Christians might use all available means—including resisted the rhetoric of civilization and insisted that “the Gospel the improved methods of travel and communication—to spread of Jesus Christ makes us all one, no matter of what race or color the Gospel, their success hinged on the Holy Spirit, not on a we are,” were somewhat unusual.37 In fact, leaders of the Stone supposed technological or cultural superiority. Third, in these Church do seem to have been more committed to pursuing what “last days” the love of Christ was eliminating “all distinctions of they termed “cosmopolitan” interests and sympathies than some race or color,” binding people of “all color, caste and nationality” of their pentecostal peers.38 They were also less inclined to engage into “one unified, sympathetic body.”42 Within this context, the in doctrinal hair-splitting or heresy-hunting. From the first issue “latter rain” of God’s Holy Spirit was anointing individuals of of the Latter Rain Evangel in 1908, contributors condemned the every age, social background, economic class, and ethnic origin to rampant theological controversies that were undermining unity in serve as leaders of the pentecostal revival. Because God was “no the Holy Spirit and distracted believers from the primary task of respecter of persons,” missionaries needed to acknowledge the cultivating a universal Christian community.39 As the pentecostal authority of Spirit-filled native workers, working in close proxim- movement developed more structure through the establishment ity and partnership with their fellow evangelists to “convert the of denominations such as the Assemblies of God in 1914, however, heathen” of every nation. During the ensuing century, pentecostal the doctrinal fluidity and irenic posture to which Stone Church evangelists of all “kindreds and tongues” adopted this approach, leaders were dedicated in the early years became increasingly spreading Spirit-filled faith “to the uttermost parts of the earth,” difficult to maintain. On the “mission field,” the drive for greater and in so doing, transforming both the nature of the Protestant organization and standardization pushed some pentecostals to missionary enterprise and the shape of global Christianity.43

Notes 1. W. H. Cossum, “A Glorious Convention,” Latter Rain Evangel (LRE), 3. Brian Stanley, The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910 June 1910, pp. 2–5; and “Notes,” LRE, April 1910, pp. 12–13. Because (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), p. 2. Hereafter WMC. the boundaries of pentecostalism were fluid in this period, I use 4. Andrew F. Walls, “From Christendom to World Christianity: Missions the lowercase form to refer to the movement. Use of uppercase and the Demographic Transformation of the Church,” Princeton “Pentecostal” would imply a uniformity that did not then exist. Seminary Bulletin 22, no. 3 (2001): 306–30; and Stanley, WMC, p. 17. I thank colleagues Jonathan Ebel, Jennifer Graber, Brian Hat- 5. Charles F. Hettiaratchy, “But the Greatest of These Is Love,” LRE, cher, and David Hempton for valuable comments on an earlier May 1910, pp. 9–13. For an astute analysis of early Pentecostal version of this essay. I am grateful to the Institute for the Study of views on civilization, see Jay R. Case, “And Ever the Twain Shall Evangelicals and the Lilly Endowment for research funding and to Meet: The Holiness Missionary Movement and the Birth of World Ruth Tonkiss Cameron and the staff of the Burke Library, Colum- Pentecostalism, 1870–1920,” Religion and American Culture 16, no. 2 bia University, for helpful assistance. (2006): 125–59. 2. World Missionary Conference (WMC), History and Records of the 6. Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals, “Saving the Conference, Together with Addresses Delivered at the Evening Meetings World? The Changing Terrain of American Protestant Missions,” (Edinburgh: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier; New York: Fleming H. http://isae.wheaton.edu/projects/missions. Revell, n.d. [1910]), p. 247. 7. A[rchibald] Forder, “And Ishmael Will Be a Wild Man: Thrilling

126 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 Asbury Theological Seminary is committed to historic Christian faith in the Wesleyan tradition in a way which is globally engaged, spiritually formative, and missionally alert!

“A well-balanced emphasis on spiritual life & high academic standards distinguishes the quality of this scholarly community . . .”

Dr. Lalsangkima Pachuau Professor of History and Theology of Mission Dean✓ of Advanced Research Programs ✓

Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies Ph.D. in Biblical Studies

A limited number of scholarships are available for qualifi ed applicants. Apply today!

asburyseminary.edu800.2ASBURY | [email protected] 204 N. Lexington Avenue, Wilmore, Ky., 40390 Experiences in the Land of Sand and Sun,” LRE, August 1909, 25. “Report by Agnes Hill Gale.” pp. 2–7. 26. “Report by Eveline A. Luce.” 8. World Missionary Conference, Report of Commission I: Carrying the 27. “Report by Agnes Hill Gale” and “Report by Eveline A. Luce.” Gospel to All the Non-Christian World (Edinburgh: Oliphant, Ander- 28. WMC, Report of Commission I, p. 308. son & Ferrier; New York: Fleming H. Revell, n.d. [1910]), pp. 21–25. 29. On Abrams and the Bezaleel Evangelistic Mission, see Gary B. 9. Stanley, WMC, p. 16. McGee, Miracles, Missions, and American Pentecostalism (New York: 10. George P. Pardington, Twenty-Five Wonderful Years, 1889–1914: Orbis Books, 2010), especially pp. 133–37. A Popular Sketch of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (1914; repr., 30. Blanche Cunningham, “Through Death to Life: Some of the Trials New York: Garland Publishing, 1984), pp. 61–64, 103. See Stanley, of Young Missionaries,” LRE, November 1911, pp. 17–19. WMC, pp. 1–3, for a discussion of the eschatological views on dis- 31. Minnie Abrams, “Prayer Answered in North India,” LRE, August play at Edinburgh. 1911, pp. 14–16. 11. Albert Norton, “Does God Still Answer Prayer?” LRE, October 1911, 32. Abrams, “Recent Revival,” p. 12; Minnie Abrams, “The Midnight pp. 23–24. Darkness of India’s Superstition,” LRE, August 1910, pp. 6–12; 12. On this point, see especially Grant Wacker, Heaven Below: Early Abrams, “Recent Revival,” p. 7. Pentecostals and American Culture (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. 33. “An Appeal to Indian Christians by the Founders of the National Press, 2001); and Case, “Ever the Twain Shall Meet,” pp. 136–37. Missionary Society” (1905), in History of Christianity in India, ed. 13. “Some of the Signs of the Imminence of Our Lord’s Return,” Triumphs M. K. Kuriakose (Madras: Christian Literature Society, 1982), of Faith, October 1900, p. 246. pp. 292–93, quoted in McGee, Miracles, p. 85. 14. “We Are Two Years Old,” LRE, September 1909, pp. 2–3. 34. McGee, Miracles, p. 85. 15. As Benedict Anderson and others have persuasively argued, the 35. Ibid., p. 167; and Gary B. McGee, “Missions, Overseas (N. American use of new communication technologies was a key factor in the Pentecostal),” in New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and development of both national and transnational affiliations in the Charismatic Movements, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), modern era; see his Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin p. 896. and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 1983). 36. McGee, Miracles, pp. 165–67. 16. WMC, History and Records of the Conference, p. 247; and Stanley, 37. S. H. Auernheimer, “Go, Let Go, Help Go: A Plea for the Millions of WMC, p. 4. India,” LRE (April 1913): p. 15. 17. Levi R. Lupton, “‘Wilt Thou Go with This Man?’ A Strong Plea for 38. “Fifteen Days with God: Seasons of Refreshing at the Stone Church Heathen Evangelization,” LRE, June 1910, p. 18. Convention,” LRE, June 1915, p. 16. 18. D. Wesley Myland, “The Fifth Latter Rain Lecture,” LRE, September 39. See, for example, “Manifestations and ‘Demonstrations’ of the Spirit,” 1909, p. 16. LRE, October 1908, pp. 16–20; Minnie F. Abrams, “His Visage Was 19. William Piper, “The Lord Reigneth! He Is Clothed with Majesty,” So Marred More Than Any Man: Our Acts of Unkindness Mar the LRE, December 1909, pp. 7–11. Face of Jesus,” LRE, June 1909, pp. 10–13; William H. Piper, “The 20. Minnie Abrams, “How the Recent Revival Was Brought About in Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace,” LRE, June 1911, pp. 14–17; India,” LRE, July 1909, pp. 6–13; and Minnie Abrams, The Baptism of and Lydia M. Piper, “The Unity of the Spirit,” LRE, February 1912, the Holy Ghost and Fire (Kedgaon, India: Mukti Mission Press, 1906), pp. 16–19. p. v. 40. For a discussion of how organization within the Assemblies of God 21. Stanley, WMC, p. 132. affected pentecostal missions, see McGee, “Missions, Overseas,” 22. WMC, History and Records of the Conference, pp. 306–15. p. 896; and McGee, Miracles, especially chaps. 7 and 8. 23. Stanley, WMC, pp. 126–28. 41. Minnie Abrams, “The Object of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” LRE, 24. “Report to the Commission by Miss Eveline A. Luce,” WMC Papers, May 1911, pp. 8–11. series 1, box 3, folder 9, Missionary Research Library (MRL) Series 42. “Fifteen Days with God,” p. 16; Maude Delaney, “Witnessing for 12, the Burke Library Archives (Columbia Univ. Archives) at Jesus in the Southland,” LRE, April 1912, p. 6; and Piper, “The Lord Union Theological Seminary (UTS), New York; and “Report to the Reigneth!” p. 9. Commission by Miss Agnes Hill Gale,” WMC papers, series 1, box 43. “Fifteen Days with God,” p. 16; and Agnes Hill, “Do Foreign Mis- 3, folder 6, MRL Series 12, UTS, New York. sions Pay? The Transition of India,” LRE (January 1913): 7–12.

Global Survey on Theological Education

Institutions and individuals engaged in theological educa- the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theolog- tion are asked to participate in the Global Survey on Theo- ical Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts—the Global logical Education. Not since the 1910 World Missionary Survey on Theological Education seeks input from both insti- Conference in Edinburgh has empirical data on worldwide tutions and individuals. Representatives of training centers theological education been assembled. The survey aims to will fill out one form of the survey; individuals interested in redress this lack of objective information. This initiative is theological education a briefer version. part of a research project focused on major trends, needs, and One objective of the survey is to create an online direc- processes of transformation in theological education around tory of theological education institutions and centers. Institu- the globe. The survey casts a wide net, seeking information tions and centers that supply data will have the opportunity and opinions on both theological institutions and non-formal to opt out of the directory if they desire. Participants in the training centers, including distance training initiatives. survey will receive a copy of the summary evaluation at the A cooperative project—undertaken jointly by the end of the project. Ecumenical Theological Education program of the World The survey is available in multiple languages, including Council of Churches, Geneva, in partnership with the Insti- Chinese, French, Korean, Spanish, and Russian, with more tute for Cross-Cultural Theological Education, McCormick versions in preparation. To participate, go to www.research Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, and the Center for .net/s/globalsurveyontheologicaleducation.

128 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 The Sister Church Phenomenon: A Case Study of the Restructuring of American Christianity Against the Backdrop of Globalization Janel Kragt Bakker

ince 1987, Narok Presbyterian Church in the Limuru Mis- agencies and parachurch organizations provided a wider angle Ssion area of Kenya has functioned as the “second home to these case studies. of ministry” for the parishioners of Kensington Woods Presby- The participation of American congregations in sister church terian Church in an exurb of Washington, D.C.1 Eschewing the relationships illustrates not only shifts in global patterns, but also one-directional flow of resources from so-called mother church reformulations in American religious life. Interview material to daughter church in favor of North-South partnerships, the two highlighted the waning salience of denominations, the growing congregations entered into a long-term sister church relationship role of local congregations in mission efforts, the ascent of practice- to support each other in ministry. When the partnership began, oriented spirituality, and the changing demographic composition the Limuru Mission area had been all but abandoned. With the of American Christianity—not to mention the heightened role support of Kensington Woods, Narok Presbyterian parishioners of non-European immigrants.2 American Christians engaged in now worship in an attractive cinderblock sanctuary and send sister church relationships reflect trends in the structure, spirit, their children to Limuru Mission schools. Conversely, the Lim- and demography of contemporary American religion. uru partnership is a “spiritual wellspring” for the members of Kensington Woods Presbyterian on the other side of the world. Structure: Attending to Religious Reorganization “We are mutually enriched by sharing resources, ideas, and faith—working and worshiping together . . . in a partnership The character of American religion has undergone seismic shifts of faith in action,” wrote the Kensington Woods sister church since the mid-twentieth century—from the religious and cultural committee in a brochure about the partnership. hegemony of mainline Protestantism to religious pluralism, from The relationship between Kensington Woods and Narok a spirituality of “dwelling” to a spirituality of “seeking,” from Presbyterian is part of a larger movement that began in the prescribed and institutionalized religious identity to voluntarism 1980s among Catholics and mainline Protestants and that since and reflexivity, and from centralization and bureaucratization then has become increasingly popular among Christians from within religious institutions to fragmentation and localization.3 virtually all traditions. Sister church relationships are designed In the arena of mission, the institutional crisis that has befallen to build faith-based partnerships between groups of people American Christianity has been particularly destabilizing. In the and cultures who would otherwise be strangers. Proponents face of shrinking financial and moral support from church mem- of such partnerships place a high premium on solidarity, the bers and the increasing demands of organizational maintenance, sharing of power between Christians from North and South, by the 1990s mission agencies were forced to drastically reduce and interpersonal cross-cultural connections at the grassroots their programming.4 Many denominational agencies and para- level—often in contrast to an emphasis on efficient programs or church organizations, if they survived, changed their focus from measurable results. A new breed of contemporary transnational administering broad programs to supporting grassroots efforts. relationships among Christians, international congregational The story of the relation of Kensington Woods Presbyterian partnerships blur the lines between sender and receiver, donor with Narok Presbyterian is indicative of the institutional restruc- and dependent. turing of American mission efforts. When Ruth Eaton, senior The sister church phenomenon is an outgrowth of the refash- pastor of Kensington Woods, began to set in motion her dreams ioning of the world map of Christianity in the twentieth century, for a missional partnership with an East African community in representing shifting patterns of global religious engagement 1986, contacting her congregation’s denominational headquarters and changing paradigms in the practice of mission. In 2008, seemed like a natural first step in the process. At that time, the tapping into this movement from the perspective of American Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) congregations, I conducted an ethnographic study of twelve was just beginning to encourage the formation of international congregations/parishes in the Washington, D.C., area involved presbytery-to-presbytery relationships and advocate for missional in partnerships with congregations in the global South. As a way partnerships. Eaton recalled that the General Assembly seemed of comparing relationships across traditions, I selected three rather bewildered by her idea of a long-term partnership between Roman Catholic, three mainline Presbyterian, three evangelical Kensington Woods and another faith community abroad. The Anglican, and three African American Baptist congregations for General Assembly put her in touch directly with the Presbyterian this study. Interviews with representatives from denominational Church of East Africa, and the relationship between Kensington Woods and Narok evolved from there. Eaton recalled sending annual reports to the General Assembly in the early years of Janel Kragt Bakker recently completed a Ph.D. in the partnership. Never receiving correspondence in return, she religion and culture at the Catholic University of eventually stopped sending the reports. America, Washington, D.C., and a post-doctoral fel- In 1996, partly because of the excitement among presbytery lowship in religious practices and practical theology leaders generated by the Kensington Woods–Narok relationship, at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. the National Capital Presbytery entered a relationship with a —[email protected] presbytery in another area of Kenya. A decade later, the formal relationship crumbled because of conflicts over homosexual-

July 2012 129 ity, though projects were sustained under the auspices of sev- with religious institutions on the local level.5 As denominations eral congregations within the two presbyteries. The Kensington and other umbrella organizations change their roles and reduce Woods–Limuru relationship, which was not subject to either their scope, local congregations are gaining importance in the denominational or presbytery oversight, steadily progressed and religious expressions of many Americans. even flourished in the midst of this controversy. Indeed, despite the weakening of religious institutions Kensington Woods’ near circumvention of denominational or over the last half century, congregations clearly remain the regional bodies as it formed and carried out its sister church rela- central focus of the social organization of American religion.6 tionship was typical for the profiled congregations. Of the twelve Congregations play a central role in the religious formation congregations, only two entered into sister church relationships of individuals, as well as the collective identity of groups in as part of a denominational initiative. Those two congregations contemporary society. In particular, the mission and outreach received occasional technical assistance from denominational efforts of American Christians, while ever more global in scope, bodies. The congregations themselves, however, in concert with have increasingly been overseen by congregations and other their partners abroad, were solely responsible for designing and grassroots organizations.7 Facing less competition from broad- managing their relationships. One congregation’s international scale mission programs and better able to meet participants’ desire for hands-on, relationally driven, locally initiated minis- try, grassroots mission efforts have been given new buoyancy. When mission efforts arise As Nancy Ammerman has shown, informal coalitions such as clergy associations, loose networks of local congregations, and out of local congregations, ad hoc grassroots partnerships are just as important to congre- they seem to have more gations as their affiliations with formal nonprofit organizations and denominational agencies.8 When congregations do link appeal for prospective with expansive intermediaries and service providers, they do participants. so in the interest of extending the reach of their congregations and forming strategic alliances to mobilize needed resources. Congregational actors tend to see themselves as partners rather partnership committee even took on a role of a denominational than subsidiaries in these relationships.9 mission agency by educating other congregations regarding best Moreover, when mission efforts arise out of local congrega- practices in sister church relationships. Of the other ten congre- tions rather than distant hierarchies, they seem to have more gations, five relied on the help of parachurch organizations to appeal for prospective participants. The Center for Applied birth their sister church relationships but maintained increasingly Research in the Apostolate, for example, found that when rela- less contact with intermediaries over time. The remaining five tionships of solidarity between Catholic parishes in the United congregations conducted their sister church relationships with States and parishes in Latin America were initiated by either a little or no assistance from intermediary organizations. lay minister or a parish council, nearly two-thirds sent at least Regardless of polity, theological tradition, or whether an five parishioners to visit their sister parishes. By contrast, when intermediary was involved, the sister church relationships relationships were initiated by a bishop or religious community, were steered by local congregational leadership. While most of only a quarter sent five or more parishioners to visit.10 In addition the congregations linked with sister congregations within their to this research, Ammerman found that giving is more generous tradition, these partnerships were formed primarily on the basis in congregations that have personal and direct connections to of grassroots networking rather than denominational oversight. specific projects.11 Denominational or parachurch bureaucracies were unneces- The institutional restructuring of religion among Americans sary in effectively administering congregation-to-congregation over the last half century, while spelling decline for various partnerships, though such intermediaries often performed the forms of religious expression, has also created new opportuni- useful function of resourcing sister church relationships. They ties in religious life. Congregation-based programs such as sister served congregations by helping them connect with their partners, church relationships often demonstrate new life in the current determine the mission and vision for their relationships, ascertain religious climate. The shift away from institutions and toward best practices, or measure effectiveness. Their role was supportive private spirituality does not tell the whole story.12 Institutional and consultative rather than directive. The twelve relationships religion in America has certainly restructured, but its vitality has functioned bottom up rather than top down through the chain resurfaced in new ways. of religious organization. In an era in which umbrella religious institutions are weaken- Mood: Tapping Practice-Oriented Spirituality ing and restructuring, sister church relationships illustrate how American Christianity has adapted to these changes by focusing Sister church relationships are attractive to American Christians on grassroots initiatives and harnessing practice-oriented spiritu- not just because they empower local congregations, but also ality. The reverse side of the diminishing role of denominations because they appropriate a newfound interest in practice- and parachurch organizations in American religion is the renais- oriented spirituality. In his widely influential study of American sance of the local congregation as a focal point of religious life. religion since the Second World War, sociologist Robert Wuthnow Heralds of the demise of religious institutions over the last half framed the story of postwar religion as a shift from a spirituality of century would do well to pay more attention to phenomena like “dwelling” to a spirituality of “seeking.” Wuthnow further sug- sister church relationships and their implications for patterns of gested that a spirituality of “practice” has been gaining strength religious organization in the United States. The growing popular- in recent years against the dominant backdrop of seeker-oriented ity of sister church relationships and other grassroots religious spirituality. While dwelling-oriented spirituality has become programs suggests that, rather than organized religion itself being unsustainable because of “complex social realities [that] leave on the wane, Americans may simply be more likely to engage many Americans with a sense of spiritual homelessness,” and

130 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 seeking-oriented spirituality has left many unfulfilled because The convergence of practice-oriented spirituality and the local congrega- it “results in a transient spiritual existence characterized more tion. The ascent of practice-oriented spirituality and a renewed often by dabbling than depth,” practice-oriented spirituality sense of the importance of the congregation are ever coalescing, offers a recipe for religious vitality in the contemporary milieu. especially through phenomena like sister church relationships. Like seeker-oriented spirituality, practice-oriented spirituality Wuthnow noted that the collective dimension of religion, par- respects the individualist temper of American culture. But by ticularly as expressed in local faith communities, is a prominent emphasizing strong connections to a community, it also meets feature of practice-oriented spirituality. According to some the contemporary need for belonging. In practice-oriented proponents of practice-oriented spirituality, the vitality of the spirituality, sacred space is revered, though negotiable, and congregation is the measure of true religious commitment.16 In discipline and intentionality are valued alongside freedom of Practicing Congregations (2004), historian Diana Butler Bass charts exploration. The giving of self, often envisioned as an outgrowth the reinvigoration of congregations that have shifted focus away of devotional life, is a central component of this spirituality.13 from propositional doctrines and toward the practices and narra- tives of the Christian faith. In the last generation, said Bass, the The significance of practice. Particularly among American Chris- story of mainline Protestant decline has been rewritten through tians, as Craig Dykstra and Dorothy Bass have underscored, the emergence of practicing congregations.17 the role of practice for vital religious life is critical. Borrowing Extending Brooks Holifield’s periodization scheme of con- from Alasdair MacIntyre, Dykstra and Bass define practices gregational history, Bass contends that practicing congregations as “those shared activities that address fundamental needs of signal a new wave of religious identity in the United States.18 humanity and the rest of creation that, woven together, form a As Bass explains, participatory congregations, which began in way of life.”14 Dykstra and Bass invite Christian communities to the 1950s and which serve as Holifield’s last classification, still see themselves as constituted by practices of faithfulness. Their dominate the landscape. They tend to be democratic, experimen- project has achieved wide resonance among theologians and tal, therapeutic, and market savvy, and they focus on techniques practitioners alike. and programs. Recently, however, practicing congregations have Sister church relationships capitalize on the participatory, emerged alongside these participatory congregations. Thriving in communal, and service-minded nature of the practice-oriented a postmodern setting of fragmentation and pluralism, practicing spirituality to which Dykstra, Bass, and Wuthnow point. Respon- congregations construct faith as a way of life in community as dents who organized partnership initiatives at the denominational they prioritize worship, spiritual formation, justice, and social or parachurch level commonly referred to their programs’ intent action. Practicing congregations seek to overcome the moral to enable parishioners to participate in mission firsthand. Alisa fragmentation of the contemporary world by making faith-filled Schmitz, senior director of advocacy and short-term team minis- meaning together. While voluntarism is a mark of contemporary try at Food for the Hungry, reported that Food for the Hungry’s religious participation in general, practicing congregations spe- sister church program began in an effort to offer “opportunities cifically celebrate intentionality as parishioners embrace a sense for engagement,” beyond giving money, to people in the pew. of their own spiritual and ethical responsibility.19 Dan Shoemaker, president of Reciprocal Ministries International, Though not all of the congregations that participate in sister attributes the formation of his organization’s partnership pro- church relationships could be considered practicing congrega- gram to its leaders’ recognition that people “wanted to get their tions, the two trends are related. While rituals are at the center hands dirty” in mission. Patrick Friday, director of the In Mission of religious meaning, social service and mission activity often Together partnership program of the United Methodist Church’s go hand-in-hand with rituals by linking moral virtue to sacred General Board of Global Ministries, spoke of his work as an effort to “catch the wave” begun by grassroots initiatives—to help guide and organize “the movement of the Spirit” among ordinary people.15 At the congregational level as well, multiple The vitality of the respondents indicated that participating in a sister church rela- congregation is the tionship was a response to their desire to “do something” in the measure of true name of their faith. Sister church relationships enable ordinary parishioners to religious commitment. become involved in mission in a tangible way. While many of the congregations relied on individuals with professional expertise in relief and development or other relevant fields to help steer presence. The profiled sister church relationships straddle the the course of their participation in a sister church relationship, line between social service and specifically religious activities. these individuals were usually congregants who worked along- They promote “bonding” among parishioners and “bridging” side other members with no such expertise. The experience and with those beyond parish walls.20 Because of their dual focus on skills of “experts” were generally helpful resources, but it was social service and spiritual solidarity, they enable participants to the congregations that were also able to employ the passions, express and transmit religious meaning while seeking to meet time, labor, and relational gifts of a broad swath of congregants others’ needs. And because of their rootedness in local faith whose sister church initiatives most thrived. Congregations in communities, these sister church relationships are particularly which participation was limited to a committee of experts had dif- equipped to function in a decentralized organizational milieu. ficulty generating enthusiasm and creating a congregation-wide sense of ownership. By contrast, congregations that provided Demography: Harnessing Patterns of Migration opportunities for a variety of parishioners to express their faith through service and communal spiritual practices saw their sister Born out of practice-oriented spirituality at the local level, while church relationships thrive—and their parishioners enriched in tangibly linking Christians from around the world to each other, the process. sister church programs among American Christians thrive amid

July 2012 131 the complex interface of the global and the local brought on by separated by geographic and cultural boundaries. Nonwhite globalization. The contemporary setting of globalization, which immigrants, students, and other sojourners from the Global signals an expanding sense of interconnectedness and border- South featured prominently in the partnerships, serving as lessness around the globe, has made cross-cultural missional catalysts or intermediaries. At Mount Shannon Presbyterian, a partnerships feasible as never before.21 Participation in sister Liberian couple who had attended the congregation for fifteen church relationships illustrates the changing demography of years while exiled in the United States initiated the church’s American Christianity and new patterns of movement among connection to a Liberian community after the couple returned American Christians. home to Liberia. When Christ the King Anglican’s relation- Through their encounters with non-Westerners, especially ship with a Nicaraguan community church began, it was forged because of South-North migration but also because of interna- by the rector’s wife, who was a Nicaraguan refugee. Victory tional travel, Americans are increasingly brought face to face with Baptist’s partnership with a Jamaican congregation also resulted alterity or otherness. Though an increased sense of borderless- from a transnational connection, for Victory’s pastor was a ness has heightened religious conflict in some cases, it has also Jamaican immigrant to the United States. facilitated transnational religious connections. Globalization not For other congregations, different types of what Peggy Lev- only causes American Christians to encounter members of other itt has called “transnational villagers” served as stimulants of religious traditions, it also puts them in touch with coreligionists sister church relationships.26 Living Faith Anglican was drawn from other cultures—fellow pilgrims whose journey of faith is into its sister church relationship in Rwanda because of its rec- tor’s respect for leaders of the Anglican Church of Rwanda such as Bishop John Rucyahana and Archbishop Emanuel Kolini, both of whom traveled extensively in the United States and met Respondents were quick to face-to-face with the rector on several occasions. Christ the King acknowledge the important Anglican became the worshiping community of two Tanzanian role of technology in their priests during their time as seminarians in the United States. Both of these men later became bishops in the Anglican Church sister church relationships. of Tanzania, and the U.S. parish continued to support their work. Similarly, parishioners at Trinity Anglican were drawn into a relationship with a large cathedral congregation in Uganda by at once shared and alien. Coreligionists from disparate cultures rubbing shoulders with its provost, who visited Trinity numer- who desire to form connections with each other are aided by the ous times while a doctoral student in the United States. fluidity of travel and communication in the current era. In addi- In her or his own way, each of these immigrants or other tion, increased migration and the integration of markets have transnational figures was catalytic in the formation of sister church enabled religious groups to expand their influence around the relationships. They bridged oceans and cultures by personally world and foster greater bonds among adherents.22 The forces connecting global southerners and North Americans, both logis- of globalization have refashioned the geographic and cultural tically and symbolically. Turning the “other” into “one of us” by boundaries of American Christianity, thereby paving the way for their presence in their congregations, they helped pave the way new types of cross-cultural religious encounters. for partnership by transferring ownership and creating a sense of shared identity. Transcontinental migration. Even if native-born American Chris- In addition to serving as catalytic leaders, immigrants were tians never leave their own country, they are still more likely also long-term intermediaries. At Kensington Woods Presbyte- than ever before to rub shoulders with coreligionists whose skin rian, a Malawian immigrant, Felix Mapanje, chaired the orphan color, country of birth, and cultural identification are different care program and served for three summers as a global mis- from their own. Scores of global southerners, most of whom sion intern—each term spending several months in Kenya as are Christians, have immigrated to the United States since the an intermediary between the two communities. He explained Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.23 Religion is opera- that much of his role was “to bring some of the thinking of the tive, not only in immigrants’ ties to their homelands or integra- American congregation to our friends and brothers and sisters tion into American life, but also in the connections they forge in Kenya.” Conversely, Mapanje believed that his African back- between their old and new homes.24 ground helped him better understand his congregation’s Kenyan As the participation of American congregations in inter- partners. Mapanje saw himself as an interpreter, mitigating this national partnerships exemplifies, immigrants from the Global risk of miscommunication between the two communities: “I can South represent an increasingly influential swath of American relate very well to the people there, and they feel that I can be in Christianity. In recent decades immigrants from the Global the position to tell our friends here exactly how they feel. I can South have significantly altered the social composition of Ameri- help everyone understand each other.” Leaders like Mapanje can congregations. The National Congregations Study found promoted sister church relationships within their American that predominantly white and non-Hispanic congregations congregations and helped to sustain these relationship through were measurably more ethnically diverse in 2006–7 than they their ability to build trust and communicate cross-culturally. were even a decade earlier. For example, the number of people The ease of migration between the Northern and Southern belonging to completely white and non-Hispanic congregations Hemispheres on a short-term basis also facilitates sister church decreased from 20 percent in 1998 to 14 percent in 2006–7.25 While relationships. Through modern technological innovations, both many new immigrants worship in expatriate congregations, time and distance are collapsed in this globalized era, making enough worship in predominantly white, native-born congrega- travel and communication between distant regions of the world tions to diversify such congregations considerably. increasingly feasible. Respondents were quick to acknowledge Immigrants from the Global South played a crucial role in the important role of technology in their sister church relation- the sister church relationships I profiled, linking coreligionists ships. Many of them, especially congregational leaders, routinely

132 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 exchanged correspondence with leaders in their partner congre- tional as local for many American congregations. Congregations’ gations. The majority of respondents relied so heavily on the environments are increasingly wide in scope and open-ended availability of airplane travel, cellular telephone communication, in character. Congregations are linked to networks and events electronic mail, and the Internet to sustain their sister church across geography and temporal space, bound to the global village relationships that they believed that any recognizable form of through conversations, practices, and structures.29 the relationship would not have been possible even a generation Sister church relationships capitalize on the interpenetrat- ago. Americans are increasingly able to build and sustain connec- ing and reflexive relationship between the global and the local tions with people from all over the world, and many American brought on by globalization and the restructuring of North Christians are keen to take advantage of this opportunity. For American religion. These relationships are quintessentially local instance, an estimated 1.6 million American Christians partici- in that two geographically bound communities partner with each pate in short-term mission trips to another country each year, a other for the sake of ministry that takes place in their respective staggering leap from previous decades.27 American participants localities. But they also transcend the boundaries of local com- in sister church relationships redouble this trend, many of them munities, countries, and even continents—forging connections visiting their partner congregations year after year. that, though they are rooted in congregations and grassroots relationships, are far from local. Local migration. Sister church relationships are aided not just by transcontinental migratory trends but also by patterns of The sister church model of mission is uniquely equipped to movement within local communities in the United States. The function in the structural and ideological climate of contempo- evolution of American spirituality from “dwelling” to “seek- rary American Christianity. The processes of globalization do ing,” among other factors, has resulted in increased geographic not preclude the tendency toward empire building in mission, dispersion among church members. Contemporary Americans but they do facilitate a salutary sense of cross-cultural inter- not only commute to work, they also commute to church. Most connectedness and collaboration, which participants in sister North American congregations, whatever their tradition, are church relationships embrace. Sister church relationships are now “niche congregations” that cater to a particular set of needs, well poised to take advantage of the compression of time and style of worship, demographic group, or cultural posture rather space brought on by globalization. Americans who participate than functioning as parishes defined by geographic boundaries.28 in international congregational partnerships find themselves in The geographic diffusion of congregational membership an organizational field and a spiritual climate that encourages and the shift in self-understanding of congregations from parish such participation. American participants in sister church rela- to niche have left many congregations with no particular sense tionships capitalize on the restructuring of American religion of belonging or responsibility in their physical neighborhoods. by focusing on grassroots initiatives and harnessing practice- While it is important for congregations to build a shared sense oriented spirituality. As they join hands with global southern- of community and purpose among their members, congregants’ ers in Christian mission, they simultaneously steer the course collective sense of “neighborhood” could just as well be interna- of American religiosity—ensuring its vitality into the future.

Notes 1. In order to comply with federal guidelines for the protection of 7. R. Stephen Warner, “The Place of the Congregation in the Con- human subjects, pseudonyms are used throughout this article for temporary American Religious Configuration,” in American all congregations and individuals, excluding public figures. Congregations: New Perspectives in the Study of Congregations, ed. 2. In After Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the 1950s (Berkeley: James P. Wind and James W. Lewis (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Univ. of California Press, 1998), sociologist Robert Wuthnow Press, 1994), pp. 55–99. identified three of types of spirituality and traced their development 8. Nancy Tatom Ammerman, Pillars of Faith: American Congregations in American culture. A spirituality of dwelling assumes ascribed and Their Partners (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 2005), religious identity, whereas in a spirituality of seeking religious pp. 177–79. identity is negotiated and the life of faith is a journey rather 9. Ibid., pp. 158–205. than a destination. A spirituality of practice features intentional 10. Mary L. Gautier and Paul Perl, Partnerships of Solidarity with the engagement with activities that deepen relations to the sacred. Church in Latin America and the Caribbean: Special Report of the Center 3. See William Dinges, “Postmodernism and Religious Institutions,” for Applied Research in the Apostolate (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown The Way: A Review of Christian Spirituality 36, no. 3 (July 1996): Univ., Fall 2003), p. 7. 215–24; Dean R. Hoge, Benton Johnson, and Robert A. Luidens, 11. Ammerman, Pillars of Faith, p. 204. Vanishing Boundaries: The Religion of Mainline Protestant Baby 12. See Robert C. Fuller, Spiritual, but Not Religious: Understanding Boomers (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994); Barry Unchurched America (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2001). A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, Religion in a Free Market: Religious 13. Wuthnow, After Heaven, pp. 170, 168, 17, 192. Americans; Who, What, Why, Where (Ithaca, N.Y.: Paramount Market 14. Dorothy C. Bass, ed., Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Search- Publishing, 2006); R. Stephen Warner, “Work in Progress Toward a ing People, 2nd ed. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007), p. xxv. New Paradigm for the Sociological Study of Religion in the United 15. Telephone interviews with author in 2008: by Schmitz (October 14), States,” American Journal of Sociology 98, no. 5 (1993): 1044–93; Shoemaker (September 16), and Friday (May 1). Wuthnow, After Heaven. 16. Wuthnow, After Heaven, pp. 168–70. 4. Wilbert Shenk, Changing Frontiers of Mission (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis 17. Diana Butler Bass, The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Books, 1999), p. 181. Church (Herndon, Va.: Alban Institute, 2004). 5. American Piety in the Twenty-First Century: New Insights to the Depth 18. See E. Brooks Holifield, “Toward a History of American Congre- and Complexity of Religion in the U.S.; Selected Findings from the Baylor gations,” in American Congregations, ed. Wind and Lewis (1994), Religion Survey (Waco, Tex.: Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, pp. 23–53. September 2006), p. 7. 19. Diana Butler Bass, Practicing Congregation, pp. 15, 152. 6. See Wuthnow, After Heaven, p. 30; Mark Chaves, Congregations in 20. See Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of America (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 2004), p. 3. American Community (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).

July 2012 133 21. See James H. Mittelman, The Globalization Syndrome: Transformation 25. Mark Chaves and Shawna Anderson, “Continuity and Change and Resistance (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 2000). in American Congregations: Introducing the Second Wave of the 22. See Mark Juergensmeyer, introduction to Religion in Global Civil National Congregations Study,” Sociology of Religion 69, no. 4 (2008): Society (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005). Juergensmeyer notes 415–40; see p. 424. that one of the outcomes of globalization is the globalization of 26. See Peggy Levitt, The Transnational Villagers (Berkeley: Univ. of Cali- religion itself. fornia Press, 2001). 23. See Roger Daniels, Coming to America: A History of Immigration and 27. Robert Wuthnow and Stephen Offutt, “Transnational Religious Ethnicity in American Life (New York: Harper Collins, 2002). Connections,” Sociology of Religion 69, no. 2 (2008): 209–32; see 24. Jehu Hanciles, Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration, p. 218. and the Transformation of the West (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 28. Nancy Tatom Ammerman, Congregation and Community (New 2008), p. 296. Hanciles observes that while the process of migration Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1997), p. 130. often both intensifies and renegotiates religious commitment of 29. Nancy L. Eiesland and R. Stephen Warner, “Ecology: Seeing the immigrants, the religious impact of migration also transcends Congregation in Context,” in Studying Congregations: A New Hand- the lives of the migrants themselves. Every migrant is a potential book, ed. Nancy T. Ammerman, Jackson W. Carroll, Carl S. Dudley, missionary, with a new community of possible converts. See also and William McKinney (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), 40–77; Peggy Levitt, God Knows No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing see p. 41. American Religious Landscape (New York: New Press, 2007).

Theology and Ecumenism: A New Online Focus

The Global Digital Library on Theology and Ecumenism, applied ethics, which will enable persons and institutions a multilingual online resource, provides access to more than from “developing and transition economies” to become 200,000 texts and academic documents, with a special focus “more visible and audible in the global discourse” on ethics. on intercultural theology and ecumenism, including contex- Individuals may use the library without cost. They need only tual theologies, world mission and missiology, gender and to register on the Web site to access the library’s full-text jour- theology, interreligious dialogue, theological education, and nals, encyclopedias, e-books, and other resources. world Christianity. The library is part of a larger online col- GlobeTheoLib participants may join or form electronic laboration focused on ethics. The Web site for the Global working groups for networking and collaborative research. Digital Library is www.globethics.net/web/gtl. Two such groups are: The library was initiated by the cooperative efforts of Globethics.net Foundation and the Ecumenical Theological • The quadrennial conference of the Forum of Asian Education program of the World Council of Churches (both Theological Librarians (www.foratl.org) was held in Geneva, Switzerland). The objective is to promote “shar- April 10–13, 2012, at Silliman University, Dumaguete, ing of expertise in theological research and education” and Philippines. Heads of theological libraries from ten to “counter some of the imbalances at work in the present Asian countries spent half of the conference time on state of world Christianity and theological education sys- GlobeTheoLib. Commitments are being developed tems worldwide.” to integrate online content from Asia, such as mas- The launch of the Global Digital Library on Theology ter’s and doctoral theses, and to allocate part of each and Ecumenism (GlobeTheoLib) in 2011 followed several library’s acquisitions budget to online content. consultations and a workshop in Geneva, held in September • The Fifth ISBEE World Congress (isbee2012.kozminski 2010. A number of religious bodies are member institutions .edu.pl) is scheduled for July 11–14, 2012, at Kozmin- (see www.globethics.net/web/gtl/consortium-and-structure), ski University, a nonprofit business school in Warsaw, including the All Africa Conference of Churches, the Angli- Poland. This International Society of Business, Eco- can Communion, the Christian Conference of Asia, the nomics, and Ethics conference will provide a forum Conference of Orthodox Theological Schools, the Forum of for business executives and academicians “to grapple Asian Theological Librarians, the Foundation for Theological with some of the most pressing ethical problems facing Education in South East Asia, the Latin American Council of businesses all over the world.” Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Con- ference of Associations of Theological Institutions, the World Additionally, GlobeTheoLib connects existing open- Methodist Council, and the Senate of Serampore College access repositories, using a list of relevant keywords in sev- (University), India. eral languages, and makes commercial content available. It A related larger database, Global Digital Library on Eth- offers partner institutions and other registered participants ics (GlobEthicsLib), was launched in October 2008. It pro- the opportunity to submit their own documents to the online vides access to more than half a million full-text documents. library and to build specialized collections. In an effort to Access the full-text holdings of both GlobeTheoLib and Glo- give greater exposure to resources on theology and ecumen- bEthicsLib at www.globethics.net/web/ge/library/overall- ism from all parts of the world, and especially to those from search. the Global South, GlobeTheoLib, in partnership with a ser- The Globethics.net umbrella group was founded to give vice provider, provides a platform for publishing electronic “more equal access to knowledge resources” in the field of journals.

134 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 Trinity is “raising leaders and influencing communities. – Seblewongel (Seble) Denneque” PhD student in Educational Studies

At Trinity we offer several degree options to deepen your theological understanding, cultural insights, and missionary skills for cross-cultural ministry and theological leadership. Trinity’s faculty combine international experience with quality scholarship to help you reflect, explore, and grow to achieve God’s ministry goals for your life.

Beyond the MDiv and several MA options, doctoral programs at TEDS include: • DMin (Missions concentration) • PhD (Intercultural Studies) • PhD (Educational Studies) • PhD (Theological Studies)

Contact our admissions office at (800) 345-8337 or [email protected]

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School | 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, IL 60015 | www.teds.edu Changes in African American Mission: Rediscovering African Roots Mark Ellingsen

he African American church has a rich but often neglected and Benjamin and Henrietta Ousley to Mozambique in 1884. Theritage of foreign missionary work. In this article I And in 1890 the Southern Presbyterians sponsored the “Black explore how this heritage changed in the twentieth century, Livingstone,” William H. Sheppard, with his wife, Lucy, in the especially with reference to the missionary focus of the major Belgian Congo. Besides the fame he gained for his mission in historic denominations of the black church, with special atten- both black and white circles back in America, Sheppard was tion given to its premier accredited seminary, the Interdenomi- notably more concerned than the average nineteenth-century national Theological Center, in Atlanta, Georgia. missionary with aiding Africans materially, with raising their Before 1910 and for decades later, as in most segments of standard of living.4 American Christianity, Protestant missions in the black church Historic African American denominations began to undertake were carried on with relatively little cultural sensitivity and their own missions in the nineteenth century. Under the influence tolerance for existing indigenous religions on the mission field of Henry McNeal Turner and his support of emigration to Africa, (especially those of Africa). But a combination of new mission the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) established con- trends with roots in the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Con- ferences in Sierra Leone and in South Africa (Pretoria, Orange ference, subsequent calls for a moratorium on missions, and the River, and Cape Town) before the First World War. Its first mission turbulence of the years after the Second World War affected all efforts began in 1820, with Daniel Coker departing for Liberia. of American Protestantism (especially the so-called mainline The first venture in foreign missions for AME Zion was churches) in ways that changed its approach to missions. Although when Andrew (and his wife, Rosanna) Cartwright, a New Eng- developments in the African American churches share some of land minister, went to Africa in 1876 to organize the church in these trends, the cultural revolutions of the 1960s (especially the Liberia. This was the denomination’s first work on foreign soil. civil rights and black power movements) helped to create a new And in 1896 Bishop John Bryan Small went to West Africa, where approach to foreign missions, especially missions in Africa and he established a church in the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana among the African diaspora. and Nigeria). Black Baptists also began to get involved in foreign missions Nineteenth-Century African American Missions in this era. Lott Carey, the first black Baptist foreign missionary, was commissioned by the American Baptist Foreign Mission African American foreign missionaries have a rich history.1 From Society in 1821 and was active in mission work in Liberia by 1833 to 1875 the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal 1824. He was joined by Collin Teague. Earlier, black Baptist Church enlisted ninety-seven American-born missionaries for Prince Williams began missionary work in the Bahamas, and in the Liberia Mission, and in the mid-1850s they stopped sending 1782 George Liele, the first ordained black Baptist minister in white missionaries. Francis Burns (1808–63) was the first of the America, began work in Jamaica. ninety-seven. Other early missionaries who, like Burns, were In 1886 the Women’s American Baptist Foreign Mission well educated included George S. Brown, John L. Morris, Philip Society appointed Louise (Lula) Celestia Fleming (1862–99) Coker, and Lucinda Harris, as well as Eunice Sharpe, the first to serve as a missionary to the Congo. She was the first black Methodist female missionary to Liberia.2 The focus of these mis- woman appointed for full-time service by that organization, sionaries was on the immigrants to Liberia.3 serving as a nurse and then medical doctor in the Congo until Several predominantly white denominations had a black 1899. And black Baptists in the Baptist Foreign Mission Con- presence on the mission fields in Africa, largely because they vention of the United States sent William Colley and other assumed that African Americans had a stronger resistance to the missionaries to Liberia in 1883. climate and diseases of Africa. The Protestant Episcopal Church used black missionaries James Thompson and his wife to start a Worldview of the Early Black Missionaries mission school in Liberia in 1836. In 1843 the Presbyterian Church sent black missionary James M. Priest to Liberia, and in 1853 the Almost all of the early missionaries considered their efforts to British Anglican Church sent out African American Alexander be aimed at “redemption of Africa,”5 a viewpoint similar to that Crummell, also to Liberia. held by the predominantly white missionary establishment. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions George S. Brown, an early black missionary commissioned by (an organization largely sponsored by New England Congrega- the Methodist Episcopal Church, characterized the natives of tionalists) sent blacks to Africa: Samuel Miller to Angola in 1880, Liberia as “indolent, poor, and ignorant.”6 Alexander Crummell, a nineteenth-century black Episcopal Mark Ellingsen is Professor of Church History, Inter- missionary to Liberia, clearly held this common view. It was his denominational Theological Center, Atlanta, Georgia. opinion that the peoples of African descent required “civiliza- His books include Lectionary Preaching Workbook tion”—that is, an education like that received by refined Anglo- (3 vols.; CSS Publishing, 2011), Sin Bravely: A Joyful Saxons.7 He argued that “Gospel Missions are the only hope of Alternative to a Purpose-Driven Life (Continuum, the heathen of Africa ever becoming civilized.”8 2009), and When Did Jesus Become Republican? Such views appear in a report of the General Conference (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007). Committee on Missions to the 1860 General Conference of the —[email protected] African Methodist Episcopal Church: “Looking over the world,

136 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 we see Africa and her teeming millions, still enshrouded in William Sheppard, avoided such criticisms of African culture pagan night, with only here and there a gospel light illuminat- and even managed to impress W. E. B. DuBois. The promotion ing the dense darkness; we recommend this field to the notice of African missions by those like Sheppard and AME bishop of the General Conference.”9 Crummell also wrote that if Africa Henry McNeal Turner helped plant seeds in the African Ameri- “is ever regenerated, the influences and agencies to this end can community of moving from regarding Africa as the “Dark must come from external sources. Civilization . . . never springs Continent” to viewing it more as the spiritual heartland of the up, spontaneously, in any new land. It must be transplanted.” community.17 Other African American missionaries whose min- Furthermore, “The hand of God is on the black man, in all the istry and writings helped plant seeds for today’s Pan-Africanism lands of his distant sojourn, for the good of Africa. This continent included nineteenth-century AME missionary Alfred Ridgel. is to be reclaimed for Christ. The faith of Jesus is to supersede all He identified Africa as the mother of civilization, as his “ances- the abounding desolations of heathenism.”10 tral home . . . and best of all, the land of freedom.”18 Many in the missionary establishment in the first decades of the twentieth century were influenced by the educational and The Input of Edinburgh 1910 business approach of Tuskegee Institute and Booker T. Wash- ington’s philosophy of black advancement through American Given the generally critical portrayal in black church circles of capitalist development. Washington and his private secretary Africa, its culture, and its spirituality, the conclusions drawn by initiated various agricultural training programs in German West the 1910 World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh are hardly Africa (now Togo) and Liberia prior to 1915. British colonial surprising. The most relevant segment of the literature produced policies in Africa were notably shaped by these ventures. Under by the conference is its Commission IV report, which pertains to the leadership of Tuskegee president Robert R. Moaton, the the relation between Christianity and other religions, drawn up institute emerged as a model for educational systems of British on the basis of responses to questionnaires sent to experts and colonial Africa. The Tuskegee philosophy of American capitalist missionaries in the field. development, coupled with support from white philanthropy, African (and Native American) religions are largely grouped exerted increasing influence on many African American mis- together in the report under the category “animism.” Such sionaries to the motherland, a significant number of whom religions believe that humans, plants, and animals have souls were trained on the campus or in this philosophy. This in turn had the impact of nurturing missionaries who were rather con- servative in their challenges to the European colonial system, regarding it as a temporary stage necessary to unify Africans No combination of and “civilize” them.11 Christianity and Related to these dynamics is the impact that American indigenous religions educational systems had on university education in Africa. This happened in two ways—by the generations of young Africans was deemed possible. who came to the United States to study in black church-related colleges, and by the impact American educational models had on the educational institutions evolving in West Africa.12 and that some of these entities may be ranked as deities. They Most of the African American Christian intelligentsia of this are religions based on fear, the report contends.19 In contrast to era held an attitude of disrespect for indigenous African culture the report’s analysis of Islam and Eastern religions, pejorative and tended to link the missionary enterprise to Westernization. assessments of this religious orientation and its associated cul- We see these values reflected in a student essay prize awarded by tural practices abound: animistic peoples usually stand on a low Wilberforce University to AME member Carrie Lee, who referred stage of human development.20 to Africa as “a barbarous piece of humanity, speaking an odd Reference is made to the problems “created by the social language and as wild as the beasts that make their abode there.” character of tribal life” (p. 16). The religions of these cultures Africans’ only hope, she contended, was missionary operations are said to offer no religious help, to be morally deficient by American blacks.13 Even William Sheppard, for all his love (pp. 10, 12–13, 36). Those dissatisfied with such traditional of the Congolese people, still could write: “Seeing these awful religions are praised for being the most intelligent members of customs practiced by these people for ages makes you indignant their communities (pp. 17–18), for in the view of some of the and depressed and also fills you with pity. Only by preaching missionary respondents on which the report was based, these God’s word, having faith, patience and love will we eradicate African religions are evil (p. 23). Granted, the report does refer to the deep-rooted evil. Everything to them is run by chance, and points of contact between these religions and the Gospel, but no there are evil spirits and witches everywhere.”14 combination of Christianity and indigenous religions is deemed A hymn by Alexander P. Camphor, who in 1894 received possible, and no support is given to the thought that Christianity a hymn-writing award from Gammon Theological Seminary is only one religion among others or that all religions are simply (then the flagship of black theological education and a predeces- different ways of seeking the one God (p. 24). sor body of the Interdenominational Theological Center), well It may be significant in understanding this report that, though expresses such paternalistic sentiments. The lyrics refer to Africa between six and eight of the delegates were African American, no as a “land of darkness” populated by “heathens” in “blindness.”15 Africans were present at the conference as delegates. (Besides Afri- Gammon graduate Camphor, later commissioned by Northern can American delegates representing the Foreign Mission Board Methodists to serve in Liberia in 1897, wrote a book years later of the National Baptist Convention and the Foreign Missionary in which he claimed that the aboriginal religion of Africa repre- Society of the AME Zion Church, two African Americans were sented “the darkness of fanaticism and superstition without the present as part of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Method- light of revelation!”16 ist Episcopal Church.) Though in some respects the Edinburgh Some African Americans from the mission field, including report did sketch progressive directions reflected in the strate-

July 2012 137 gies and techniques of today’s missionary establishment, its to some African American missions scholars through the work largely critical view of African spirituality and culture embodies of Rudolf Otto, also contributed to formation of a new ethos.22 the old missionary paradigm that the African American church At least some of the leaders in the development of a new had to deal with before the civil rights era, if not still today. view of missions and African culture in the African American church found Otto’s view of religion especially useful in devel- Changing Times oping their own approach toward the religions of the world. Otto’s understanding of the emotional character of religion, of It is interesting to note that just after the time of the Edinburgh the numinous, is a vision of religion that black scholars can own, conference and the First World War, a new appreciation of tra- insofar as the emotional component is typically very significant ditional African religions began to emerge among some African in their expression of Christianity.23 Christians as shown in the development of African Independent The civil rights era promoted freedom in many ways. Black Churches.21 The growth and significance of these trends, along pride and “black is beautiful” have been important sociocultural with a growing sense of African pride, nurtured by the success legacies of the Martin Luther King movement, and these lega- of African independent movements after the Second World cies clearly inform African American Christian perspectives on War, had an influence on the new scholarly vision of missions missions today. Linked with this fresh sense of black pride has in American Protestantism. The seed planted at Edinburgh of been the development of renewed appreciation of African roots the vision of some non-Christian religions serving as “points of (evidenced in “black” becoming “African American”). This in contact” with the Word, especially as this insight was mediated turn has significantly changed instructional practices in several Noteworthy Announcing States. Hosted by the Beijing Foreign Studies University “Rooted in the Word—Engaged in the World” is the theme (BFSU), the symposium is sponsored by BFSU’s Research for the fifteenth International Consultation for Theological Center of Overseas Sinology, by the Institute for Cultural Educators, sponsored by the International Council for Evan- Interaction Studies of Kansai University, Osaka, Japan, and gelical Theological Education (ICETE), October 15–19, 2012, by the Macau Foundation. For details, go to www.csrs.shu in Nairobi, Kenya. Christopher Wright of Langham Partner- .edu.cn. ship, Douglas Birdsall of the Lausanne Movement, David InterVarsity Christian Fellowship will hold its twenty- Baer of Overseas Council, and Geoffrey Tunnicliffe of the third Urbana Student Missions Conference December World Evangelical Alliance will be the conference leaders. 27–31, 2012, at the America’s Center Convention Complex, ICETE consultations gather leaders in evangelical theologi- St. Louis, Missouri. Thousands of college-age participants cal education from around the world for professional inter- will be challenged by mission leaders and pastors, meet with action and reflection. For details, go to www.icete-edu.org or hundreds of mission organization representatives, attend http://icetedu.wordpress.com. focused seminars, study the Bible inductively with other stu- The Institute of English Literature at Zhejiang Univer- dents, and consider mission as a career and a lifestyle. For sity, the Institute of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at details, go to http://urbana.org. the University of Copenhagen, and the Department of His- The 2012 New Wilmington Mission Conference, a tory at the University of Durham invite scholars to an inter- multigenerational Presbyterian Church (USA)–related con- national symposium, Sinology and Sino-Foreign Cultural ference (nwmcmission.org) that attracts youth ages 12 to 24, Relations and Exchanges, to be held in Hangzhou, China, will be held July 21–28 at Westminster College, New Wilm- November 14–16, 2012. Lauren Pfister, director of the Cen- ington, Pennsylvania. tre for Sino-Christian Studies, Hong Kong Baptist Uni- The Business as Mission Think Tank will host a Global versity, and Xiaoxin Wu, director of the Ricci Institute for Congress on Business as Mission (http://bamthinktank Chinese-Western Cultural History, University of San Fran- .org/congress) April 25–28, 2013, in Thailand. Founded cisco, will be keynote speakers. For details, e-mail sinoforei a decade ago under the auspices of the Lausanne Move- [email protected]. ment’s Forum for World Evangelization, the group produced Sponsored by Mission Training International, Palmer the Lausanne Occasional Paper on Business as Mission Lake, Colorado (www.mti.org/mhm.htm), the 2012 Men- (www.lausanne.org/en/documents/lops/875-lop-59.html) tal Health and Missions Conference will meet November and seeks to help shape a growing global movement. 15–18 in Angola, Indiana. The annual gathering seeks to pro- A Master of Arts in Christian Theology with a mis- vide mutual encouragement and professional development sion emphasis will be offered beginning in September 2012 for mental health professionals active in the care of Christian through the Cambridge Theological Federation, Cambridge, cross-cultural workers. England. The “mission pathway” is designed for those who “Relations Between East Asia and the United States “wish to reflect on a variety of mission practices in Britain in the Nineteenth Century” is the theme of an international and across the globe, informed by the disciplines of apolo- symposium to be held December 14–17, 2012, in memory getics and biblical studies,” according to Emma Wild-Wood, of Samuel Wells Williams, an important figure in relations director of the Henry Martyn Centre, Westminster College, between East Asia and the United States in the nineteenth Cambridge. The “Mission in Context” module will provide century. Williams, one of the earliest missionaries to China, an overview of contemporary mission studies, including was the first university professor of sinology in the United inculturation, prophetic dialogue, and fresh expressions. The

138 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 historic African American seminaries. Courses in missions are following case study offers rich, insider insights about the today as much about sensitivity to African culture, about indig- black church in America and its changing attitudes toward enous African religions, as they are about the history of missions missionary work. and techniques of evangelism. The largest founding constituent of the Interdenominational Theological Center was Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Missions at ITC whose curriculum, including its mission courses, largely shaped the Center’s first curriculum. At the Center, chartered in 1958, To understand black theological education for the last fifty the first instructor of missions was Josephus Coan, eminent AME years (or indeed since Reconstruction), we must give atten- missionary to South Africa and graduate of Yale Divinity School. tion to the largest and (through its predecessor bodies) oldest Coan was sensitive to the uniqueness of the African American accredited black theological seminary, the Interdenominational perspective on church life and missions, and he also gave atten- Theological Center.24 Located in Atlanta, the Center is a cluster tion to other religions.25 In teaching world religions, however, of six historic African American seminaries, three with roots Coan and his colleague Darius Swann gave no special emphasis in Reconstruction. The changes in its curricular approach to to traditional African religions.26 missions over the years provide excellent insight into trends While serving as a missionary in South Africa, Coan dis- in missions education in the black church. These curricular played a liberation orientation. Being concerned with “develop- developments of course cannot be understood apart from ment,” he urged people not to become content with inequality noting their church-political and sociocultural contexts. The but to set new standards. In his view, faith could lift one above

new degree is being accredited by Anglia Ruskin University, the Reformed Churches of Syria, the National Evangelical Cambridge and Chelmsford. For more information, e-mail Synod of Syria and Lebanon. In addition to books of poetry Wild-Wood at [email protected]. in Arabic, he has published three works in theology, includ- Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art, and ing God Without a Face? On the Personal Individuation of the Belief, vol. 8, no. 1 (March 2012, available from www Holy Spirit (2011), and has completed a contextual theology .bergpublishers.com), includes articles by Rosemary Seton manuscript on the Arab Spring and the role of Arab Chris- (“Reconstructing the Museum of the London Missionary tians in the future of the Near East. Society”), Martha Lund Smalley (“Missionary Museums in Appointed. Grant LeMarquand, missiologist, professor China”), and Richard Fox Young (“Princeton Theological of biblical studies and mission, Trinity School for Ministry, Seminary’s Museum of Religion and Missions”). Ambridge, Pennsylvania, as the Anglican area bishop for the Horn of Africa. He was consecrated for the new post on April Personalia 25, 2012, at All Saints Cathedral, Cairo, Egypt, and will be Appointed. Nancy D. Arnison as executive director of the installed on October 27, 2012, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Prior Theological Book Network, Grand Rapids, Michigan, as of to joining the Trinity faculty fourteen years ago, he taught April 26, 2012. Arnison succeeds Kurt Berends, who found- at St. Paul’s United Theological College, Limuru, Kenya. ed the organization and led it for the past ten years. He will A priest of the Anglican Church of Canada, LeMarquand lead the Issachar Fund Initiative, a Christian foundation that is coeditor of Theological Education in Contemporary Africa provides grants and programming for scholars and church (2004). He and his wife, Wendy, plan to move to Gambella, groups to engage in dialogue with leaders of today’s sci- Ethiopia. Mouneer Hanna Anis, bishop of the Episcopal/ entific culture. Arnison served as interim vice president of Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn programs and protection for the Lutheran Immigration and of Africa, and president bishop of the Province of Jerusalem Refugee Service. Before that, she directed the World Hunger and the Middle East (www.dioceseofegypt.org), announced Program for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for LeMarquand’s appointment in December. five years. The network she leads (www.theologicalbookn Retiring. Daniel H. Bays, professor of history and etwork.org) helps underfunded institutions to develop director of the Asian Studies Program, Calvin College, theologically trained clergy, church leaders, and academics Grand Rapids, Michigan, in summer 2012. An IBMR con- worldwide. tributing editor, Bays moved to Calvin in 2000 after twenty- Appointed. Najeeb G. Awad, lecturer at Göttingen nine years on the faculty of the University of Kansas, where University, as associate professor of Christian theology, he was twice chair of the History Department and was Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut, effective August director of the Center for East Asian Studies. His research 1, 2012. Born in Latakia, Syria, Awad is lecturer in system- on the development of Christianity in China during the atic and contextual/intercultural theology at Göttingen past 150 years helped to develop an entirely new subfield of University and at the Evangelisch-Lutherische Missions- modern Chinese history. A book Bays edited, Christianity in seminar, Hermannsburg, Germany. Previously, he taught China: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present (1996), was systematic theology and Christian doctrine at the Near East considered a watershed volume in the field. He coedited School of Theology, Beirut, Lebanon, and lectured on Prot- The Foreign Missionary Enterprise at Home (2003) and China’s estant theology at Université La Sagesse, Faculté des Sci- Christian Colleges: Cross-Cultural Connections, 1900–1950 ences Ecclésiales, Beirut. Awad also was director of youth (2009) and is the author of A New History of Christianity in ministry and chair of the Religious Work Committee for China (2011).

July 2012 139 oppression.27 The heart of his theology included the classic necessary outcome of her courses. She also recognizes that her themes of evangelism and mission.28 approach to missions bears affinities with missionary scholar- Coan’s successor as mission instructor was George Thomas, ship since Edinburgh and its idea of points of contact between who came to the Interdenominational Theological Center in the Christian faith and other religions. In the tradition of her 1969, first to teach church and society, and later to teach world mentor, Haney urges the black church to stress such contact missions and evangelism. Thomas later changed his legal points, devoting more attention to African spiritual elements name to Ndugu T’Ofori-Atta, reflecting a personal focus on than the establishment does. Afrocentrism. T’Ofori-Atta self-consciously related the Center’s missions program to Pan-Africanism, not just in the classroom, The Bigger Picture but programmatically, with the establishment in 1969 of a new program called Religious Heritage of the African World. This Next we need to survey black theological education more broadly program has functioned as a clearinghouse and communications in order to determine whether the emphases of the Interdenomi- center for conducting research and documenting meetings for national Theological Center characterize other seminaries and the various religious heritages with roots in Africa.29 the African American church in general. In the classroom, T’Ofori-Atta focused on African religions Curricular developments in mission classes in other his- when teaching the course World Missions and Evangelism, toric black seminaries largely parallel the trends in the Center’s though not to the exclusion of the classical approach to missions. history. At Howard Divinity School (Washington, D.C.) and at During his tenure the course World Religions was mandated Payne Theological Seminary (Wilberforce, Ohio), no course in by a new curriculum, and this requirement continues to expose world missions is required. The seminaries, however, seem to all students at the Center to the religions of Africa. Textbooks have different reasons for this curricular decision. At Howard, a required course in world religions seems to have replaced a course in missions. At Payne, neither a course in world religions We can talk about the nor courses about indigenous African religions have taken the place of missiological instruction. Evidently the failure to offer evolution of a new model such courses (other than a single elective in Islam) stems from of mission in the African there being no one on the faculty for over a decade with an interest or expertise in these subjects.32 It is not clear, however, American church since whether Payne’s failure to deal with this subject is related to the Edinburgh. black church’s breaking with older paradigms of missiology or whether other factors are involved. Hood Theological Seminary (Salisbury, N.C.) has a required T’Ofori-Atta used in this course were ones devoted to African course in missiology, one with a stronger “how to” approach to religions rather than to missionary strategies per se.30 He noted the discipline than is true of courses at the Interdenominational that major influences on his thought had been the scholarship Theological Center. Although assigned readings in the course of John Mbiti (through correspondence and Mbiti’s visits to the do not deal with African religions, in the best traditions of the Center) and his own studies of African Independent Churches. black church (and along with parallel courses at the Center), In the classroom, T’Ofori-Atta’s successors have largely fol- missions and evangelism are seen as including social justice lowed his lead. His protégée Marsha Snulligan Haney affirms and economic uplift.33 In addition, the Hood faculty member her continuity with his heritage, adding to his thinking more teaching the course introduces students to what he calls the express attention to the role of religion in nurturing ethnic “new paradigm” in missions, which involves an appreciation cohesion. She attributes her focus on the value and authen- of the need to conserve and acknowledge the culture in which ticity of African religions as a fundamental supposition for mission is taking place. If Christ establishes roots, it must be in missions to her experience as T’Ofori-Atta’s student and her the culture in which people reside. Very much in line with the own exposure to indigenous African religions.31 The required viewpoint of colleagues teaching the required missions courses courses she teaches thus focus on African religions, though not at the Interdenominational Theological Center, mission courses to the exclusion of what she terms “classical approaches” to at Hood Seminary aim to help students gain an appreciation that mission and a preoccupation with Christ. In fact, Haney seeks God is bigger than Christianity, that other religions (including a middle ground, one affirming the common good shared by those of Africa) can be ways of finding God and salvation.34 all religions (including the communal nature of life, which the The model for the study of missions at the Interdenomina- African ontology stresses), while still witnessing to Christ and tional Theological Center clearly has parallels in other historic creating opportunities for conversion to Christian faith. She is black seminaries. In that sense we can talk about the evolution very concerned that, although she views Christianity as hav- of a new model of missions in the African American church ing a “fuller revelation” than other religions, we not negate since Edinburgh. We conclude our study with data indicating the beliefs of African religions. In fact, she acknowledges her a tension on the mission fields between this newer model and readiness to affirm the common good of religion more than the older model, as implemented by some African American Christianity’s uniqueness. Affirming a statement of the inter- denominations. national Reformed-Pentecostal dialogue, in which she par- ticipated, Haney contends that it is possible to accept the idea Tensions Between Missionary Visions that salvation might be found outside Christ, that “though we cannot point to any other way of salvation than Jesus Christ, We begin our study of the black church’s actual missionary agenda at the same time we cannot set limits on God.” by considering the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first She adds that she does not insist that students accept her and oldest historic black denomination. Until recently, it seems own view of the fuller revelation found in Christianity as a that this denomination continued to follow the older model,

140 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 for it appointed only American bishops to serve in its overseas primary function of his organization is to support indigenous dioceses. Recently, however, it has appointed three indigenous leadership of independent Baptist churches.39 In the best traditions bishops in Africa. AME’s focus is not so much on seeking points of the African American church, this support frequently takes the of contact with the indigenous religions of Africa, viewing them form of economic and educational ventures. But in accord with as authentic expressions of faith, as it is on bringing people older models of mission work, Brown notes that the aim of this to Jesus. Yet echoes of the Edinburgh agenda of encouraging work is to bring people to Christ. Though personally open to mission churches to become self-governing, self-supporting, indigenization, Brown sees some of the teachings of indigenous and self-propagating seem to be reflected in the AME vision religions as contradicting the Gospel and needing to be criticized. of establishing self-sufficient, self-sustaining churches. George Flowers, executive director of the AME Global Witness and Ministry Department, notes that the AME constituency supports Their goal is to convert not only the establishing of self-sustaining churches but also the demonstrating of concern for the physical well-being of the the indigenous people Africans who receive this ministry.35 to Christianity, though The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) also seems to reflect many of the suppositions of the AME in its work in in such a way that they Africa. In fact, missionary work there occurs only insofar as exist- can maintain their ing Christian communities invite CME to begin working among them. As a result, CME missionaries rarely encounter people still indigenous spirituality. living in indigenous cultures with their original religions. But when they do, their goal is to convert the indigenous people to Christianity, though in such a way that they can maintain their He is confident that the average Baptist supporter of the Foreign indigenous spirituality. It was also noted by W. C. Champion, Mission Board approves of the board’s directions and policies. general secretary of the CME Department of Evangelism and But this support, he suspects, may be a function of the fact that Missions, that the denomination’s laity strongly supports these few members of the National Baptist Convention would want policies, especially when the church seeks to build schools.36 to take up missionary work in Africa, the Caribbean, or South T’Ofori-Atta believed that at least in his own AME Zion America (where the denomination works). Indeed, the mission Church there would be support in the pews for an approach to board would be open to sending Americans to these foreign sites mission that appreciated traditional African religions, such as (presumably as evangelists). characterizes his seminary and the black academy in general. Such comments suggest that the National Baptist Convention Institutional dynamics work, however, to keep the mission work leadership in fact embraces the old, even pre-Edinburgh model of of historic African American denominations locked into the more black missionary work. This conclusion is further supported by classical models of mission work (i.e., saving souls).37 T’Ofori- another comment Brown made, as he indicated that the Conven- Atta’s intuition was supported by Kermit DeGraffenreidt, sec- tion’s mission work might be enhanced with Americans because retary of the denomination’s Department of Overseas Missions of what they could bring to the mission fields. Perhaps in some and Missionary Seer. In a conversation he noted that the church tension with the Interdenominational Theological Center model of presently had no American missionaries in Africa and that all missions (also clearly implied in the Howard curriculum), Brown support for missions went to indigenous leadership, who could wants seminaries to train Americans for mission who believe that more effectively do missions in their own context. He believed we need to bring Christ to people who do not know him.40 In that the constituency supported his view and the department’s Brown’s mind, Christ is clearly not present in African religions. practice of seeking common areas between Christianity and other African religions, that the issue is how one treats the other, This brief survey of what is happening in the mission field and since the differences between these religions and Christianity in the missionary establishment of the black church makes it are perhaps not as great as one might think.38 T’Ofori-Atta’s clear that the Afrocentric models of missions taught in the black assessment of the openness of his denomination to the approach academy (notably at the Interdenominational Theological Center) to missions prevailing at the Interdenominational Theological have not been unambiguously accepted by the bureaucracy of Center and much of the black academy seems on target. It is the black church (with the possible exception of AME Zion). In interesting to note that this more progressive approach to mis- the final analysis, perhaps in the tension between older models sions is endorsed by one of the two historic denominations of mission in the black church and the newer vision of its semi- that participated formally in the 1910 Edinburgh conference. naries, we can speak today about a tension in African American The story of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist churches between saving the world for Christ and preserving Convention of America, the other black denomination with official or honoring the ethnic cohesion of African cultural institutions representation at the 1910 Edinburgh conference, is somewhat which, at least since the colonial era if not before, may be inter- different. Eric Brown, administrator of the board, notes that the preted as having always embodied the suffering Christ.41

Notes 1. For helpful surveys of this history, as well as a more detailed picture, 2003); Sylvia M. Jacobs, ed., Black Americans and the Missionary see C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in Movement in Africa (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982); the African American Experience (Durham, N.C.: Duke Univ. Press, Walter L. Williams, Black Americans and the Evangelization of Africa, 1990), pp. 45–46, 74–75; Albert J. Raboteau, Canaan Land: A Religious 1877–1900 (Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1982). History of African Americans (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2001), pp. 2. For this data I am indebted to Eunjin Park, “White” Americans in 72–77; Vaughn J. Watson and Robert J Stevens, African-American “Black” Africa: Black and White American Methodist Missionaries in Experience in World Mission (Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library, Liberia, 1820–1875 (New York: Routledge, 2001), pp. 31, 44–47. The

July 2012 141 author notes that most black missionaries acted mostly as assistants appreciation of the critical approach to African religions by the to whites (p. xvi). conference was heightened by Brian Stanley, The World Mission- 3. Willis J. King, “History of the Methodist Church Mission in Liberia,” ary Conference, Edinburgh 1910 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), typewritten MS, n.d., General Commission on Archives and History pp. 235–45. of the United Methodist Church, Madison, N.J. 20. World Missionary Conference, 1910, p. 13. (Subsequent page num- 4. For this assessment, see Williams, Black Americans, p. 29. bers in the text refer to this report.) 5. For this assessment, see Lawrence N. Jones, “The Black Churches: 21. The emergence of this movement largely coincided with the First A New Agenda,” Christian Century, April 18, 1979, p. 434; Alexan- World War; see Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of der Crummell, Africa and America (Springfield, Mass.: Wiley, 1891), Global Christianity (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2007), pp. 58–59. p. 442. Josephus Coan, “The Expansion of Missions of the African 22. Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy, trans. John W. Harvey (London: Methodist Episcopal Church in South Africa, 1896–1908” (Ph.D. Oxford Univ. Press, 1923), pp. 1–7, 12, 28. diss., Hartford Seminary Foundation, 1961), pp. 43–44, contends that 23. For this assessment I am indebted to my late emeritus colleague this was the compelling reason for AME to take up the missionary Ndugu T’Ofori-Atta, personal interview, November 6, 2009. agenda in Africa. 24. For a history of the seminary, see Kenneth Henry and Mark Ellingsen, 6. George S. Brown, “Letter to John Seys,” Christian Advocate, October Making Black Ecumenism Happen: The History of the Interdenominational 5, 1842, p. 30. Theological Center as a Paradigm for Christian Unity (Atlanta: ITC Press, 7. Alexander Crummell, Civilization and the Primal Need of the Race 2008); Harry V. Richardson, Walk Together, Children: The Story of the (Washington, D.C.: American Negro Academy, 1898). Birth and Growth of the Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta: 8. Alexander Crummell, sermon in his Washington, D.C., church, ca. ITC Press, 1981). 1878, in Alexander Crummell Papers, Schomberg Collection of the 25. Ndugu T’Ofori-Atta, telephone conversation, October 13, 2009. New York Public Library, MS C.363, no. 755. 26. Henry and Ellingsen, Making Black Ecumenism Happen, p. 60; T’Ofori- 9. The General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Atta, personal interview. Minutes, 1860, p. 26; available in Robert W. Woodruff Library, 27. Josephus Coan, interviews with Mercedes C. Brown, March 4, 1992, Atlanta University Center, Atlanta, Ga. Note Daniel Payne’s June 13, 1993, and September 11, 1992; in Mercedes C. Brown, The objection to such “African Methodist Imperialism,” that is, the Unconquered Mountain (Nashville: AME Publishing House, 1995), spiritual domination of Africa, reported in Coan, “The Expansion pp. 27, 46, 104. of Missions,” pp. 39–40. 28. Brown, The Unconquered Mountain, pp. 45–47. 10. Crummell, Africa and America, pp. v, 421. 29. For details on the program, see Henry and Ellingsen, Making Black 11. For these insights I am indebted to Manning Marable, “Ambiguous Ecumenism Happen, p. 80. Legacy: Tuskegee’s ‘Missionary’ Impulse and Africa During the 30. T’Ofori-Atta, personal interview; John Mbiti, Concepts of God in Moton Administration, 1915–1935,” in Black Americans, ed. Jacobs, Africa (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970). pp. 77–78; Walter L. Williams, “The Missionary: Introduction,” in 31. Marsha Snulligan Haney, telephone interview, December 4, 2009. ibid., p. 133. 32. William Augmen, telephone interview, January 5, 2010. 12. I was helped to understand this point by Thomas C. Howard, 33. Samuel Dansokho, private correspondence, 2009; Samuel “Black American Missionary Influence on the Origins of University Dansokho, telephone interview, January 5, 2010. Education in West Africa,” in Black Americans, ed. Jacobs, p. 95. 34. Dansokho, telephone interview. 13. Carrie Lee, “The Future of Africa,” Voice of Missions, July 1, 1899, p. 4. 35. George Flowers, telephone interview, October 28, 2009. On the 14. William H. Sheppard, Presbyterian Pioneers in Congo (Richmond, Va.: Edinburgh vision, see Stanley, World Missionary Conference, p. 140. Presbyterian Committee of Publication, [1917]), pp. 149, 135, 137. 36. W. C. Champion, telephone interview, November 6, 2009. 15. Williams, Black Americans, p. 179. 37. T’Ofori-Atta, personal interview. 16. Alexander Camphor, Missionary Story Sketches: Folklore from Africa 38. Kermit DeGraffenreidt, telephone conversation, January 7, 2010. (Cincinnati: Jennings & Graham, 1909), pp. 43–46, 56–58, 111. 39. Eric Brown, telephone interview, November 20, 2009. 17. For these sources, see Donald F. Roth, “The ‘Black Man’s Burden’: 40. Ibid. The Racial Background of Afro-American Missionaries and Africa,” 41. This article benefited from the numerous opportunities I had to in Black Americans, ed. Jacobs, pp. 37, 34. converse with colleagues Marsha Snulligan Haney and the late 18. Alfred Lee Ridgel, Africa and African Methodism (Atlanta: Franklin Ndugu T’Offori-Atta. They along with the missions faculty or Publishing, 1896), pp. 42–43. administrators of the other institutions analyzed as well as the 19. World Missionary Conference, 1910, Report of Commission IV: The numerous denominational directors of global mission work whom Missionary Message in Relation to Non-Christian Religions (Edinburgh I interviewed approved its content. and London: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 1910), pp. 6–37. My

Six Thousand Koreans Expected in Chicago Area for Global Mission Conferences At least six thousand Koreans from around the world are for a closing celebration of God’s mission. Most of the events expected July 20–27 in the Chicago area for the quadrennial will be held at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Members Korean World Mission Conference (KWMC, www.kwmc and pastors of the estimated 3,500 Korean churches in the .com). The event commences with a three-day confer- United States are being invited to attend KWMC and GKYM. ence exclusively for missionaries, continues July 23 with a The speakers for these combined conferences include Korean-language conference that is open to everyone, and Douglas Birdsall, The Lausanne Movement; Seung Sam includes the 2012 Global Korean Young Adult Mission Kang, Korean World Mission Association; Todd M. John- Festival (GKYM, gkym.org/xe/?mid=Chicago), an English- son, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; Jung-Hyun language movement that encourages second-generation North Oh, SaRang Community Church, Seoul; Loren Cunningham, American Korean young adults to “finish the missional task to Youth With A Mission; Ha Joong Kim, former ambassador reach the unreached, unengaged people groups of the world.” of South Korea to China; author and pastor John Piper; and The KWMC and GKYM participants will join together Yong Ye Kim, World Mobile Mission.

142 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 The Wesleys of Blessed Memory: Hagiography, Missions, and the Study of World Methodism Jason E. Vickers

roadly conceived, the field of Wesley studies goes back Wesley’s works.7 Finally, Richard P. Heitzenrater’s two-volume Bto the early nineteenth century.1 Many scholars today The Elusive Mr. Wesley (1984), a work designed in part to identify regard most of the early works about John (1703–91) and Charles the hagiographic and mythological elements in the early Wesley (1707–88) Wesley and about the rise and spread of Method- biographies, also helped to solidify a critical consciousness in ism in eighteenth-century England as a mixture of history and Wesley studies.8 hagiography.2 This way of characterizing early Wesley studies Four recent developments within critical Wesley studies is understandable, for Methodist clergy were responsible for are especially worth noting. First, they have become a highly much of this work.3 They were sincere in wanting to provide sophisticated domain of inquiry, exemplifying the highest critical an accurate account of their own history, providing as much standards in intellectual, social, political, and material history, factual information as was readily available to them. At the same as well as sociology, theology, and even relatively new disci- time, they unapologetically focused on and even embellished plines such as rhetorical criticism and cultural studies.9 Second, the most inspiring and theologically potent aspects of the story in Henry Rack’s Reasonable Enthusiast (1989; 3rd ed., 2002) we they were attempting to tell. For example, they routinely played now have a first-rate critical biography of John Wesley.10 Third, up things like the providential rescue of the five-year-old John Charles Wesley has at long last begun to receive the attention Wesley from the Epworth rectory fire, Wesley’s doubting whether from scholars that he deserves.11 Fourth, a growing number of he really had faith in God in the face of a violent storm on the scholars have begun to contextualize the critical study of the high seas during his missionary journey to Georgia, Wesley’s Wesleys and of early Methodism within the political and social heart-warming conversion experience on Aldersgate Street, and framework of the so-called long eighteenth century and within his calm assurance and peacefulness in his last days on earth. the wider parameters of trans-Atlantic revivalism.12 Written through and for the eyes of faith, these stories and others Despite the phenomenal work of the last fifty years, a sig- like them became familiar among Methodists, providing them nificant gap remains in the literature. Few scholarly works deal with a deep sense that Methodism was a matter of special divine with the history of the reception of the Wesleys outside their providence and that John Wesley’s spiritual pilgrimage was native eighteenth-century Anglican context. That is, we lack something of a blueprint for the Christian life. Thus not a few good critical studies of how the Wesleys have functioned in Methodists across the centuries, having internalized these stories, world Methodism. Scholars have been so preoccupied with the have undertaken similar journeys from the spiritual darkness quest for the historical Wesleys that they have failed to develop of doubt and uncertainty to the warm light of assurance and of sustained inquiry into the roles the Wesleys have played across grace and peace in the face of death.4 the centuries in world Methodism. Consider, for example, the scholarly literature on American Critical Studies of Methodism Methodism, which has flourished in the last twenty-five years.13 We have a fast-growing scholarly literature on a wide range of Whatever function these early works on the Wesleys and the rise topics, including the relationship between American Methodism of Methodism may have had in the religious lives of Methodists, and American culture, the involvement of American Methodists historians in the mid-twentieth century increasingly questioned in American politics, American Methodists and race, American the value of these works for historical inquiry and knowledge. Methodists and gender, and the like.14 And yet with two very By the 1960s, scholars were calling for and working to develop important exceptions, serious scholarly studies of the ways in a more “critical” account of the life of John Wesley and the which the Wesleys have functioned in American Methodism rise and spread of Methodism in eighteenth-century England.5 are lacking.15 Today, Wesley studies experts often trace the emergence of this Looking beyond American Methodism, we see a greater more critical perspective to the 1964 publication of John Wesley problem, for scholarly study of Methodism outside the United (Oxford Univ. Press, Library of Protestant Thought), by Meth- States is just now getting under way. One reason is that schol- odist theologian Albert C. Outler. Less frequently noted but no ars of American Methodism have concentrated most of their less important, scholars outside Methodism began paying more attention on the early period—from the founding of American attention during this same period to John Wesley and to the rise Methodism in the late eighteenth century up through the Civil and spread of Methodism.6 In the 1970s Outler, together with War. As a result, the energy in the scholarly study of American Frank Baker, took another crucial step in the advancement of Methodism has until very recently dropped off at precisely the Wesley studies when they began publishing a critical edition of time when the global transmission of Methodism via American Methodist missions really began to accelerate.16 Jason E. Vickers is Associate Professor of Theology and Wesleyan Studies at United Theological Seminary, Broader Studies of World Methodism Dayton, Ohio. Author of Minding the Good Ground: A Theology for Church Renewal (Waco, Tex., 2011) Fortunately there is now a nascent but fast-growing body of and coeditor of The Cambridge Companion to John scholarship that is pushing the scholarly study of Methodism Wesley (Cambridge, 2010), he is President-Elect of beyond the boundaries of eighteenth-century England and early the Wesleyan Theological Society. America.17 Some of these works provide an overview of world —[email protected] Methodism, focusing on statistical data, including the number

July 2012 143 of Methodist churches, members, and clergy in various world their eighteenth-century context, but not nearly enough about areas. They also provide a measure of historical data related to their role in the history of worldwide Methodist missions. Schol- the beginning of Methodism in various countries, including the ars have spent an enormous amount of time and energy show- names of the earliest missionaries and indigenous leaders.18 A ing how twice-told tales have obscured the past but not nearly second group, small but growing, considers Methodism in par- enough investigating how these tales have been instrumental ticular countries or regions of the world.19 Third, we have a grow- in opening a future. ing number of scholarly works devoted to Methodist missions, As scholars explore more deeply the role of the Wesleys notably the seven-volume United Methodist History of Mission in world Methodism, my hunch is that they will discover that series, published 2003–5, sponsored by the United Methodist the Wesleys have functioned (and in many quarters continue to General Board of Global Ministries.20 Finally, we have works function) primarily not as great theologians but as saints of the by non-Western Methodist theologians who seek to articulate a church. Scholars will find that when Methodist missionaries Wesleyan theological vision on behalf of the Methodist movement spoke of the Wesleys, they held them up as exemplars of the or churches in their own countries or regions.21 Christian life and of Christian living. In the global transmission Given the present state of the literature, the aim of this article of Methodism, the lives of the Wesleys have been mediated by the is to provide an account of the role of John and Charles Wesley complex cultures of the modern missionary movement, revival- in world Methodism. My account is admittedly preliminary and ism, and the Holiness and Pentecostal movements. We will not thus needs to be confirmed or disconfirmed by more extensive be surprised, then, if we find that Methodist missionaries have held up the Wesleys as exemplars of evangelistic and missionary zeal—as tireless in their efforts to spread the Gospel. Similarly, In world Methodism, the scholars should not be surprised if they discover that Methodist missionaries promoted the Wesleys as masters of organization Wesleys have functioned for the sake of mission,23 or as exemplars of a pattern of Christian primarily not as great living that progresses from sincere repentance to the new birth, assurance, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, a longing for theologians but as saints holiness, and ultimately Christian perfection.24 Finally, scholars of the church. should not be surprised if the story about young John being rescued from the Epworth rectory fire turns out to be a favorite in some quarters, conveying as it does a robust sense of special global field research. My thesis is that, historically speaking, the divine providence that can be readily extended to the larger global transmission of Methodism took place within two horizons Methodist movement today.25 simultaneously, namely, the horizons of (1) the modern mission- My point here is that while the early, embellished stories of ary movement and (2) trans-Atlantic revivalism—in particular, the Wesleys make for bad history, there is also a sense in which the second Great Awakening and the Holiness and Pentecostal they can help to make history by shaping religious identities. movements. That is, insofar as the Wesleys have been influential Thus I suspect that the Wesleys’ role in world Methodism, both in world Methodism, their influence has been mediated by the historically and presently, above all concerns the ways in which complex cultures of these two horizons.22 the popular stories about their lives have helped to shape an What does this hypothesis entail? As Methodist missionaries understanding of the Christian life in which three things are introduced the Wesleys in various areas of the world, the Wesleys paradigmatic: conversion, evangelistic and missionary zeal, and that they portrayed are precisely those that Wesley scholars in the a life of humble and joyful obedience before God. These stories, latter third of the twentieth century have worked diligently to I suspect, may actually help to account for the rapid spread of deconstruct, namely, the Wesleys of the early hagiographic period Methodism in many world areas. Within the complex cultures in Wesley studies. In other words, the stories about the Wesleys of the modern missionary movement, revivalism, and the Holi- that Methodist missionaries are most likely to have known and ness and Pentecostal movements, the Wesleys have functioned passed along are precisely those that were most beloved (and primarily as exemplars of a form of Christian piety that demands often embellished) by early Methodist clergy-scholars, simply replication. because the global transmission of Methodism generally preceded I am not at all suggesting that scholars should cease to the rise of critical Wesley studies detailed above. Consequently, think critically when they research the Wesleys’ role in world the hagiographic Wesleys were the only Wesleys that the vast Methodism. Rather, as they do so, they must be on guard against majority of Methodist missionaries ever knew. accepting a set of hagiographic tales involving empire and escha- For historians whose work revolves around discovering tology. The former has figured in recent discussions of the global the real, historical Wesleys, this may be a lamentable situation. transmission of Christianity; the latter, in recent discussions of Indeed, it may even serve as a deterrent to the ongoing research revivalism and the Holiness and Pentecostal movements.26 For that is so desperately needed. Why would anyone want to study example, because the modern missionary movement occurred the global dissemination of the hagiographic Wesleys in lieu of more or less simultaneously with the spread of European (and joining the quest for the real Wesleys? Why study the Wesleys later American) political and economic hegemony, scholars have of faith when we need to fully unearth the Wesleys of history? often assumed that missionaries were, at the very least, unwitting agents of imperialism and empire, spreading political and eco- The Wesleys in Worldwide Methodist Missions nomic doctrines alongside the Gospel. Recent studies, however, have questioned this assumption, asking whether missionaries While the temptation may be strong to limit critical Wesley were entirely lacking in self-critical awareness with respect to the studies to the study of John and Charles in eighteenth-century political and economic aspirations of the empires to which they England, another kind of history waits to be written. In fact, we belonged and which they therefore represented.27 Along these now have an abundance of scholarship related to the Wesleys in lines, there is a growing need to investigate whether the vision

144 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 of the Christian life that Methodist missionaries transmitted Methodism and of the lives of the Wesleys that have emerged in globally might actually have contained within it crucial resources England and America over the last fifty years. From atheological for resisting the trappings of empires and whether Methodist point of view, many critical accounts of Methodism and of the missionaries recognized these resources and appropriated them lives of the Wesleys reflect a crucial aspect of empire evident in in self-critical ways.28 the late modern West insofar as they are refracted through the With respect to revivalism and the Holiness and Pentecostal lenses of radical skepticism, secularism, and a thoroughgoing movements, there is a need for a fresh, critical examination of naturalism. Many critical accounts of the Wesleys and of Meth- standard accounts of Methodist eschatology. Fortunately, this odism limit themselves only to sociological and psychological work is already under way, as scholars are rediscovering the categories, studiously avoiding explanatory reference to actions intense political and social activism of people who were neck taken for distinctly religious or theological reasons, not to men- deep in revivalism, awakening, and the Holiness and Pentecostal tion a recognition of God’s overarching providence lying behind movements.29 For example, people who embraced premillen- the Methodist movement as a whole. nialism also advocated prohibition, and they did so for political Before chastening others for embracing and celebrating a and social reasons. That is, there is reason to challenge the view vision of the Wesleys and of Methodism that obscures the truth that premillennialism led to a form of Christianity in which about the past by reading the past through theological lenses, the expectation of the imminent return of Christ left Christians scholars should ask themselves what sort of future their more tone-deaf to social concerns. critical visions of the Wesleys and of Methodism are likely to open. In conclusion, I call attention to some anecdotal evidence Shorn of any robust conviction regarding the providential role of for my thesis about the Wesleys’ role in world Methodism, both John and Charles Wesley or of the world Methodist movement, historically and in the present. For many years now, Method- what would Methodists around the world have to sing about at ists in Singapore have held an annual Aldersgate Convention their Aldersgate conventions and hymn festivals? and Hymn Festival.30 The name of the convention refers to John Second, a suggestion: If scholars are to understand the Wes- Wesley’s heart-warming conversion experience, which took place leys’ role in world Methodism, they may have to set aside, at least on Aldersgate Street on May 24, 1738. As I noted above, stories temporarily, their worries about differences between the Wesleys about this experience were among the most beloved (and most of history and the Wesleys of faith. In many quarters of world heavily embellished) in early biographical sketches of Wesley, Methodism, scholars must recognize and accept that the Wesleys and they were therefore among the most likely to be known and of faith are no less historical than the Wesleys of history insofar shared by Methodist missionaries. Today, Aldersgate-themed as the former made a real difference in how Methodist identity conferences and celebrations occur in a wide variety of places was constructed and understood. Along these lines, scholars around the globe—South Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Korea, need to ponder afresh whether they really can establish a neat to name just a few.31 Conference organizers routinely pick themes boundary between the missions of history and the missions of that reflect the cultures of the modern missionary movement, faith. I am not suggesting that we end the scholarly pursuit of revivalism, and the Holiness and Pentecostal movements. For example, for its 2011 Aldersgate Convention and Hymn Festival theme, the Methodist Church in Singapore selected “Go and Tell: Proclaiming the Gospel Today.” Moreover, the conference itself Did the vision of the revolves around a “key event” known as the Evangelistic Rally. Christian life that Moving Forward Methodist missionaries transmitted contain within This discussion raises a series of questions about what role the it resources for resisting the Wesleys should play in world Methodism today. Should schol- ars and church leaders work to introduce Methodists around trappings of empires? the world to the real, historical Wesleys unearthed by critical Wesley studies? Should Methodists worldwide be disabused of the notion that the Wesleys are exemplars of Christian faith and the Wesleys of history. In fact, scholars must have the Wesleys of Christian living in favor of a more critical account that depicts history if they are to see clearly the Wesleys of faith. But they need them as failed missionaries and priests (and, in John’s case, a also to think about the Wesleys of history from the standpoint failed husband)? Should scholars work to divest world Method- of the Wesleys of faith, which is to say, from the standpoint of ism of the hagiographic tales of the Wesleys and of the trappings the ongoing global transmission of Methodism. In other words, of empire that purportedly accompany those tales? Should they the time has come to inquire what contributions critical Wesley seek to remove the pietistic, revivalistic, and Holiness-Pentecostal studies might make now to the future of global Methodism overlay as so many layers of dross that presently obscure the beyond simply getting the story straight about what happened real, historical Wesleys? in the past. Having done their historical spadework, scholars Rather than answering these questions directly, I want to must press forward, asking how the past they have labored to issue a warning and make a suggestion. First, the warning: Before unearth might inspire and sustain Methodists around the world scholars point out the speck in the eyes of Methodists in other today. If they have not asked and answered these questions, then parts of the world, they should take a moment to check for a plank they should think twice before setting out to disabuse Methodists in their own. For example, before they point out the purported around the world of the Wesleys that they have come to know trappings of empire latent in the version of Methodism and of and to love—yes, even to celebrate. the lives of the Wesleys that have been transmitted globally over I believe that scholars can ask and answer these questions. the last two hundred years, they should ask whether there might For example, a critical account of Wesley’s conversion experience be trappings of empire latent in the more critical accounts of at Aldersgate can provide spiritual nourishment for those who,

July 2012 145 following their own conversion experience, find themselves fresh angles of vision from which to see and to think about once again doubting whether all is well with their soul.32 This is both the Wesleys and world Methodism. Indeed, for those with possible because the spiritual wasteland that was modernity is eyes to see, strange-sounding studies like Methodist dogmatics finally beginning to fade, which at long last is allowing a certain and critical hagiography are already on the horizon.33 In the freedom to emerge, presenting scholars with a rare opportunity meantime, serious and sustained study of the Wesleys’ role in to rethink the very work that they do. There may even be an world Methodism may serve to awaken scholars still beholden opportunity to invent new scholarly genres that would provide to modernity from their Kantian slumbers.

Notes 1. This article is adapted with permission from a longer essay, “The The Democratization of American Christianity (New Haven: Yale Wesleys’ Role in World Methodism,” in The Ashgate Research Univ. Press, 1989), and Russell Richey, Early American Methodism Companion to World Methodism, ed. Peter Forsaith, William Gibson, and (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1991). Martin Wellings (Farnham, Eng.: Ashgate Publishing, forthcoming). 14. For recent works on these and other topics, see Dee Andrews, The 2. The distinction between history and hagiography often turns on Methodists and Revolutionary America: The Shaping of an Evangelical modernist or positivist conceptions of historical inquiry and criticism. Culture (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 2000); Morris L. Davis, The 3. For more on the ecclesial orientation of early Wesley studies, see Methodist Unification: Christianity and the Politics of Race in the Jim Jeremy Gregory, “Wesley’s Tercentenary and the State of Wesley Crow Era (New York: New York Univ. Press, 2008); Methodism and Studies,” in Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester the Shaping of American Culture, ed. Nathan O. Hatch and John 85, nos. 2–3 (2003): 17–29. H. Wigger (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2001); Peter Murray, 4. In recent years, scholars have begun to focus on Wesley’s role as a Methodists and the Crucible of Race, 1930–1975 (Columbia: Univ. of saint. For example, see William J. Abraham, “The End of Wesleyan Missouri Press, 2004); Beth Barton Schweiger, The Gospel Working Theology,” Wesleyan Theological Journal 40, no. 1 (2005): 7–25; Peter Up: Progress and the Pulpit in Nineteenth-Century Virginia (Oxford: S. Forsaith, John Wesley, Religious Hero? “A Brand Plucked as from the Oxford Univ. Press, 2000); and Douglas Strong, Perfectionist Politics: Burning” (Oxford: Applied Theology Press, 2004); and Randy L. Abolitionism and the Religious Tensions of American Democracy Maddox, “Celebrating Wesley—When?” Methodist History 29 (1991): (Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse Univ. Press, 1999). Also see The Cambridge 63–75. Companion to American Methodism, ed. Jason E. Vickers (Cambridge: 5. For a recent survey of the history of Wesley studies, see Henry Cambridge Univ. Press, forthcoming). D. Rack, “Some Recent Trends in Wesley Scholarship,” Wesleyan 15. See Dennis C. Dickerson, “Liberation, Wesleyan Theology, and Theological Journal 41, no. 2 (2006): 182–99. Early African Methodism, 1766–1840,” Wesley and Methodist Studies 6. On this front, see especially the work of the Oxford historian 3 (2011): 109–20; and Randy L. Maddox, “Respected Founder/ V. H. H. Green, most notably The Young Mr. Wesley: A Study of John Neglected Guide: The Role of Wesley in American Methodist Wesley and Oxford (London: Wyvern, 1963). Theology,” Methodist History 37 (1999): 71–88. 7. As of 2011, seventeen of the projected thirty-five volumes had been 16. An exception is the four-volume History of Methodist Missions published. series commissioned by the Methodist Church’s Board of Mission 8. Richard P. Heitzenrater, The Elusive Mr. Wesley (Nashville: Abing- in 1949. The volumes, each published in New York by the church’s don Press, 1984). (variously named) mission board, are as follows: Wade Crawford 9. The Cambridge Companion to John Wesley, ed. Randy L. Maddox Barclay, Early American Methodism, 1769–1844: Missionary Motiva- and Jason E. Vickers (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010), tion and Expansion (1949); Barclay, Early American Methodism, exemplifies the multidisciplinary nature of Wesley studies today. 1769–1844: To Reform the Nation (1950); Barclay, The Methodist For an intriguing study of Wesley and early Methodism from the Episcopal Church, 1845–1939: Widening Horizons, 1845–95 (1957); and standpoint of rhetorical and cultural disciplines, see Vicki Tolar J. Tremayne Copplestone, The Methodist Episcopal Church, 1845–1939: Burton, Spiritual Literacy in John Wesley’s Methodism: Reading, Writing, Twentieth-Century Perspectives, 1896–1939 (1973). and Speaking to Believe (Waco, Tex.: Baylor Univ. Press, 2008). 17. See, for example, Robert Kipkemoi Lang’at, “The Impact of Wes- 10. Henry D. Rack, Reasonable Enthusiast: John Wesley and the Rise of leyanism on Africa: Toward an Understanding of Divine Grace in Methodism, 3rd ed. (London: Epworth Press, 2002). Also see Richard a Changing Continent,” in The Global Impact of the Wesleyan Tradi- P. Heitzenrater, Wesley and the People Called Methodists (Nashville: tions and Their Related Movements, ed. Charles Yrigoyen, Jr. (Lan- Abingdon Press, 1995). ham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2002), p. 101. 11. As with the critical study of John Wesley, so the critical study of 18. See Kenneth Cracknell and Susan White, An Introduction to World Charles Wesley is presently being aided by the production of critical Methodism (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005). Also see editions of his works. For example, see Kenneth G. C. Newport, Kenneth Cracknell, “Spread of Wesleyan Methodism,” in Cambridge The Sermons of Charles Wesley: A Critical Edition, with Introduction Companion to John Wesley, ed. Maddox and Vickers, pp. 245–61. and Notes (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2001); and The Manuscript 19. See the relevant chapters in T&T Clark Companion to Methodism, Journal of the Reverend Charles Wesley, M.A., ed. S. T. Kimbrough ed. Charles Yrigoyen, Jr. (London: T&T Clark, 2010), and Oxford and Kenneth G. C. Newport (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2008). Handbook of Methodist Studies, ed. Abraham and Kirby. Recent secondary works on Charles Wesley that are especially worth 20. These volumes were written or edited by Charles E. Cole, Ruth A. noting include Gary Best, Charles Wesley: A Biography (London: Daugherty, Linda Gesling, Robert J. Harman, J. Steven O’Malley, Epworth Press, 2006); Gareth Lloyd, Charles Wesley and the Struggle and Robert W. Sledge. for Methodist Identity (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2007); and Charles 21. One of the first volumes to do so was The Global Impact of the Wesley: Life, Literature, Legacy, ed. Kenneth G. C. Newport and Ted Wesleyan Traditions, ed. Yrigoyen. Another good example of this A. Campbell (Peterborough: Epworth Press, 2007). type of literature is Andrew Sung Park, “Holiness and Healing: 12. For example, see J. C. D. Clark, “The Eighteenth Century Context,” in An Asian American Voice Shaping the Methodist Tradition,” in The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies, ed. William J. Abraham and Methodist and Radical: Rejuvenating a Tradition, ed. John J. Vincent James E. Kirby (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2009), pp. 3–29; Jeremy and Joerg Rieger (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2003), pp. 95–106. Gregory, “The Long Eighteenth Century,” in Cambridge Companion 22. This is precisely José Míguez Bonino’s judgment with respect to to John Wesley, ed. Maddox and Vickers, pp. 13–42; David Hempton, the transmission of Methodism in Latin America. According to “Wesley in Context,” in ibid., pp. 60–77; and Jason E. Vickers, Bonino, all that Latin America received with respect to Wesley and Wesley: A Guide for the Perplexed (London: T&T Clark, 2009). Methodism “was filtered through the [North] American experience. 13. Two of the most important works in this area are Nathan O. Hatch, More precisely, the Methodism introduced into Latin America was

146 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 that shaped by the North American ‘second great awakening’ and of Wesleyanism on Africa,” pp. 88–90. For a work that questions the holiness movement” (“Wesley in Latin America,” in The Global Impact standard assumptions about the relationship between the modern of the Wesleyan Traditions, ed. Yrigoyen, p. 172; this volume is the missionary movement and colonial expansion, see Missions and source of all articles cited in this note). For more on the mediation of Empire, ed. Norman Etherington (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008). Methodism in Latin America, see Bonino’s “Catholic and Protestant, Another work making a similar argument is Mark A. Noll, The New but Missionary” (pp. 69–79). Michel Weyer makes a similar point Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global about the transmission of Methodism in Germany (“The Impact of Faith (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2009). Also see Andrew Wesleyanism on Continental Europe: The Case of the Germans,” Porter, Religion Versus Empire? British Protestant Missionaries and pp. 231–43). Robert Kipkemoi Lang’at argues that, in Africa, Overseas Expansion, 1700–1914 (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, Methodism was introduced within the horizons of the Holiness 2004). and the missionary movements, which is to say, within a form of 28. Methodist theologian Joerg Rieger, who is deeply invested in pietistic Christianity (“The Doctrine of Holiness and Missions: current discussions about empire, acknowledges this point. For A Pietistic Foundation of African Evangelical Christianity,” pp. example, in his Christ and Empire: From Paul to Postcolonial Times 91–104). John Cho describes the Wesleys’ impact in Korea in ways (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), Rieger is mostly concerned to that suggest mediation by the cultures of these two horizons (“The discuss the ways in which the early councils and creedal statements Impact of John Wesley’s Ministry and Theology on the Korean became instruments of empire. Yet he also acknowledges that there Church: A Model for Church Renewal,” pp. 157–70). For a similar are ways in which Nicaea and Chalcedon can also be instruments argument with respect to the spread of Methodism in Japan, see for resisting empire. Kiyoshi Nathanael Kunishige, “Alternate Wesleyan Influence: The 29. The standard works here are Timothy Smith, Revivalism and Social Impact of Eighteenth-Century British Methodism and Nineteenth- Reform (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1980), and Donald Century American Revivalism on a Japanese Indigeneous Holiness Dayton, Discovering an Evangelical Heritage (New York: Harper Church,” pp. 143–56). & Row, 1976). For more recent works, see especially Benjamin L. 23. David K. Yemba clearly sees organization/connectionalism as one Hartley, Evangelicals at a Crossroads: Revivalism and Social Reform in of the main ways that the Wesleys influenced the transmission of Boston, 1860–1910 (Durham: Univ. of New Hampshire Press, 2011), Methodism in Africa. See his “The Impact of Wesleyanism on and William Kostlevy, Holy Jumpers: Evangelicals and Radicals in Africa: Toward an Understanding of Divine Grace in a Changing Progressive Era America (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2010). Continent,” in The Global Impact of the Wesleyan Traditions, ed. 30. See www.methodist.org.sg/index.php. Yrigoyen, pp. 81–90. 31. For more on this, see Randy L. Maddox, “Aldersgate: A Tradition 24. Bonino suggests that the Wesleys functioned this way in Latin History,” in Aldersgate Reconsidered, ed. Maddox (Nashville: America. Yemba and Lang’at suggest the same for Africa. Kingswood Books, 1990), pp. 133–46. 25. One of the crucial differences between (1) British and American 32. Traditional accounts often claim that following his conversion at Methodism and (2) broader world Methodism is that adherents of Aldersgate, John Wesley never again had any doubts about whether the former two forms of Methodism are less certain than adherents he was a true Christian, a child of God, born again, saved, etc. of the latter that they are the object of special divine providence. Critical accounts, however, have provided evidence from Wesley’s 26. For recent works on empire and the global transmission of own journals and diaries that he did have lingering doubts after Christianity, see Anxious About Empire: Theological Essays on the Aldersgate. Indeed, this is the point of what is one of the most New Global Realities, ed. Wes Avram (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, important essays in Wesley studies of the last fifty years, namely, 2004); Empires of God: Religious Encounters in the Early Modern Richard P. Heitzenrater’s “Great Expectations: Aldersgate and Atlantic, ed. Linda Gregorson and Susan Juster (Philadelphia: the Evidences of Genuine Christianity,” in his Mirror and Memory: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2010); and Carla Pestana, Protestant Reflections on Early Methodism (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1989), Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World (Phila- pp. 106–49. delphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2010). For a recent work that 33. I have done some initial work in Methodist dogmatics; see Jason E. examines the role of eschatology in the Holiness and Pentecostal Vickers, “Christology,” in The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies, movements, see Randall Stephens, The Fire Spreads: Holiness and ed. William J. Abraham and James Kirby (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, Pentecostalism in the American South (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard 2010), pp. 554–72. And we have a wonderful example of critical Univ. Press, 2010). hagiography in John Wigger’s American Saint: Francis Asbury and 27. David Yemba calls attention to this old scholarly saw in “The Impact the Methodists (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2009).

OMSC Scholarships Strengthen the Christian World Mission In keeping with its mission to strengthen the Christian of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, world mission, the Overseas Ministries Study Center grants Russia, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. Each year there are about scholarships to select international Christian missionaries, seven applications for every scholarship available, and church workers, and academics from outside the United many deserving applicants must be denied due to a lack States—especially those engaged in cross-cultural ministries. of resources. Applicants are encouraged to apply for scholarships for On behalf of future residents, OMSC leaders express residency and study toward OMSC’s Certificate in Mission their appreciation for those who provide financial contribu- Studies. These scholarships, which are granted on a competi- tions for these scholarships. Go online to www.omsc.org/ tive basis, include furnished accommodations and modest scholarships for details about the Anderson International living stipends. Scholarships, the Doane Missionary Scholarships, the Mac- OMSC awards scholarships to church leaders from Dougall Senior Administrator Scholarship, and the Martens countries where Christian faith is often restricted, to those Latin American Scholarship. from impoverished countries, to senior administrators and For details of the latest scholarship fund, go to www academics of majority-world denominations and univer- .omsc.org/bonkfellowship. Donations may be made online sities, and others. In recent years, OMSC has welcomed at http://secure.omsc.org/donate or be mailed to OMSC, scholarship recipients from China, Democratic Republic 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511 USA.

July 2012 147 My Pilgrimage in Mission Jan A. B. Jongeneel

y grandparents and great-grandparents lived in a commitment, I was able to research and draft a large portion Mrural area as farmers and were faithful members of of my doctoral dissertation. the Netherlands Reformed Church (NRC). As a young man, I chose as my subject the views of Enlightenment philoso- my father left the community of his forebears and settled in the phers about Jesus Christ. This choice was influenced by the fact village of Kockengen, not far from Utrecht. Here he served as that, having grown up in a committed Christian environment, I clerk of the village council. My mother also moved away from knew very little about post-Christian belief systems in the West. her family and served as a hospital nurse in Rotterdam. They Family members and friends feared that I would end up as an were married in 1937 and had three sons: myself, born in 1938, agnostic or an atheist, but I felt confident this would not happen. and my younger brothers Bas and Cor. I am very thankful for I simply wanted to describe and analyze why most Enlighten- the guidance and support of my parents. Like their parents and ment philosophers moved away from the biblical view regard- grandparents, my father and mother never left Europe, but they ing Jesus Christ, propagating for instance the “historical Jesus,” were to witness the departure of their oldest son to Indonesia. as in British empiricism, or the ahistorical “ideal Christ,” as in German idealism. Theological and Missionary Training, 1957–71 During my advanced theological studies I was approached by an NRC mission board, inviting me to serve in Indonesia After attending primary school in Kockengen, I was enrolled in as a teacher of theology. After talking over this invitation with the Christian “gymnasium,” a secondary school in Utrecht, with Magritha and receiving her agreement, I accepted. In 1968, after a curriculum that included Greek and Latin. My father’s hope Magritha had completed her four-year teaching commitment, we was that after graduation I would study theology and ultimately moved to the NRC mission house in Oegstgeest. Here we received enter the ministry. However, in the final stage of the gymnasium three semesters of missionary training, including study of the education, my mother, sensing uncertainty in my spiritual life, Indonesian language and of the country’s history and religions, stated that only “reborn” Christians are properly equipped to study as well as cultural anthropology and tropical hygiene; I also theology and seek ordination. It was clear that she questioned my spent a year completing my doctoral work. The year 1971 was spiritual state! intensely eventful: I defended my dissertation “The Rational Belief As a result, I did not register for theology at Utrecht Uni- in Jesus Christ: A Study of the Philosophy of the Enlightenment” versity but opted for a law degree. Yet over a period of time, as (in Dutch) at Leiden University, took my mission examination in a result of discussion with fellow Christian students, I became Oegstgeest, was ordained as a Netherlands Reformed minister in convinced of my call to study for a theological degree and to The Hague, and departed for Indonesia with Magritha and our enter the ministry. I went home and informed my parents that I son, Christian, who was born in 1969. Our second son, Michael, wanted to change to theology. Mother kept her silence; my father was born in 1973 in Indonesia. welcomed my decision but urged me to finish my law study first, since I was two-thirds of the way through the course. I complied Teacher of Systematic Theology, 1971–80 and obtained a master’s degree, with public law as my specializa- tion. Though I never served as a lawyer, my studies gave me a After a month of acclimating ourselves in Java, we arrived at lifelong interest in conventions and laws regarding the freedom of our destination in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the capital of East religion. A few years later, in Indonesia, I published a booklet on Indonesia. We settled in a small house not far from the campus this topic, with an Indonesian translation of the relevant United of the theological seminary, Sekolah Tinggi Theologia (STT), and Nations documents as an appendix. lived in harmony with our Muslim neighbors. I was appointed I studied theology at the universities of Utrecht (bachelor), to teach dogmatics, ethics, and encyclopedia of theology (that is, Göttingen in Germany (special studies), Groningen (M.Th.), the overview and interrelationships of all theological disciplines), and Leiden (Ph.D.). During my M.Th. studies, I fell in love with and Magritha was invited to teach Indonesian church history Magritha B. Touw, who, after earning her degree in history at and current affairs. the Free University in Amsterdam, accepted a teaching position The seminary was founded by the Dutch before the Second at the Christian gymnasium in The Hague. In discussing our World War. After independence (1949), it was managed by leaders future, she made it clear that she was willing to follow me wher- from the Ambonese community. In the course of time the school ever I felt God calling me, but first she would like to complete board appointed to the faculty some Indonesians who were not four full years of teaching history in her school. I agreed, and Ambonese. I viewed these Indonesian colleagues as equal with we set the end of 1965, during the second year of her teaching, the Ambonese, but my views were not shared by the Ambonese as the time of our wedding. During the years of her teaching leaders. A clash developed that ended with the transfer of one of the Ambonese teachers to a high position in Jakarta. During Jan A. B. Jongeneel, a contributing editor, is Honorary our first furlough the mission board decided it would be better that Professor Emeritus of Missiology at Utrecht Univer- Magritha and I not return to Makassar. We were very disappointed sity. The editor of the series Mission, he has supervised but accepted this decision. We were transferred to the Theologi- forty-one doctoral dissertations in missiology. His cal Faculty of the Indonesian Christian University in Tomohon most recent publication is Utrecht University: 375 (UKIT), North Sulawesi, and worked there from 1976 to 1980. I Years of Mission Studies, Mission Activities, and taught the same subjects as before and Magritha taught church Overseas Ministries (Peter Lang, 2012). history. The whole family enjoyed the new location: an excellent —[email protected] climate, no tribal clashes, and a larger house on the campus.

148 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 There were many differences living and doing theology in The change from lecturing in Indonesia to becoming a pas- rural Tomohon as compared with our experience in Makassar. tor in a local congregation in the Netherlands was bigger than The STT in Makassar serves the whole of East Indonesia, while my subsequent change to the university. Since I knew I might UKIT tends to be a regional institution. The main difference, be staying only a short time in the Leiden church, I did not start however, is that STT is located in a dominantly Muslim area, new projects. I did the customary tasks of a pastor, paying special whereas UKIT operates in a dominantly Christian area. In STT attention to two issues. First, I intensified the cooperation of my I encountered first-generation Christian students who had converted from animism, Hinduism, and Islam. In Tomohon, however, all the students originated from Christian families. In summary, Makassar was more challenging, Tomohon more My first major project was relaxed. a two-volume bibliography UKIT has a strong link with Gereja Masehi Injili Minahasa (GMIM, the Minahasa Evangelical Christian Church), one of the of all Christian theological largest churches in Indonesia, with its synod office in Tomohon. books past and present in In addition to my ordination in the Netherlands, I became an ordained minister in the GMIM. This position offered the oppor- the Indonesian language. tunity to become a member and subsequently the chairperson of the synod committee for worship and confession of faith. This committee saw the need to draft a new worship book. After a Netherlands Reformed congregation with the congregation of the series of discussions with the synod leadership, the committee Reformed Churches (Gereformeerde Kerken) in the same district, was authorized to proceed. After the draft received approval resulting in one common worship service on Sunday mornings. from the General Synod and some minor changes were made, Second, I did more pastoring than might have been expected, Tata cara ibadat was published, with an initial printing of 10,000 visiting hundreds of active and marginal church members in their copies. There were several reprints, with some additional changes. homes and in hospitals. In the course of this ministry I came in Tata cara ibadat includes liturgies for situations that do not occur contact with an Ambonese church member. It was a great plea- in Western worship books, for example, a liturgy for laying the sure to ordain him as an elder. He became the first non-Western foundation stone of a building and a liturgy for occupying a member of the local church council. new house. In Tomohon, as in Makassar, I lectured in the Indonesian Senior Lecturer in Missiology, 1982–2003 language, Bahasa Indonesia. I also preached and published in that language: books, pamphlets, journal articles, and more. My I received a double appointment at Utrecht University: by the first major project was a two-volume bibliography of all Christian state, to teach the history of Christian missions and non-Western theological books past and present in the Indonesian language and Christianity in the Department of Church History, and by NRC, its predecessor Malayan language. Later I published a handbook to teach the theology of mission in the Department of Systematic of Christian ethics and an encyclopedia of theology. The intended and Practical Theology. Consequently, I gave two sets of lectures: second volumes of these two publications never materialized, the empirical ones in the former and the normative ones in the since my work in the above-mentioned worship committee had latter. My lecture notes became the starting point of a missiological to receive priority. In vain I expected to have time for finishing encyclopedia, published in Dutch and subsequently in English, this task after my return to the Netherlands. revised and enlarged as the two-volume Philosophy, Science, and One sad note from our time in Indonesia was the sudden Theology of Mission in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Peter death, in 1974, of my father. Lang, 1995–97). The first volume was the textbook for my history course; the second volume, for my theology course. NRC Minister in Leiden, 1980–82 All students at Utrecht University who were training to become NRC ministers were required to take two missiological After two full periods of overseas ministry, Magritha and I courses: one in the Department of Church History and one in the returned home with our two boys. The main reason for our depar- Department of Systematic and Practical Theology. In addition, ture was to offer a standard Dutch education for our son Christian, elective courses were offered and attended by many students. who in Indonesia was taught by Magritha. The lack of schoolmates I introduced the possibility of drafting M.Th. and ordination had made him quite lonely. theses based upon fieldwork outside the country, including As I prepared to become a minister in a local congregation, Eastern Europe and the non-Western world. Since Dutch was I received a call from a large congregation in Leiden. During the language of the M.Th. program, only four non-Dutch stu- my consideration of this call, Alexander J. Bronkhorst of Utre- dents finished their M.Th. studies under my supervision: one cht University contacted me and offered me a full-time faculty Canadian, one Ghanaian, and two South Africans. appointment as a missiologist. I had to tell him that I had In 1986 Utrecht University celebrated its 350th anniversary. decided to accept the call of the congregation in Leiden. He Each faculty was given the opportunity to award an honorary replied that he still wanted to make the appointment in due degree. (In 1936, in celebration of the 300th anniversary, degrees time. He postponed the announcement regarding the opening had been awarded to Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, and Hendrik of the position for some time. Although I saw the announcement Kraemer.) I proposed that we award an honorary degree to in the academic year 1980–81, I did not apply. I was nevertheless Stanley J. Samartha, of Bangalore, India, who was serving the appointed as senior lecturer in missiology at Utrecht University. dialogue program of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in I concluded my ministry in Leiden, bought a house in Bunnik, Geneva. Samartha had studied Kraemer carefully and argued a small village within biking distance of the Utrecht University for a post-Kraemerian theology of mission. My proposal was campus, and prepared for the new duties. accepted, and Samartha became the first non-Western theologian

July 2012 149 to be honored in this way by Utrecht University. I emphasized Anderson and Siga Arles for the first time. Both became instru- that in honoring Samartha, Utrecht University was not advocating mental in my life, as I mention below. the replacing of Kraemer by Samartha; rather, the intent was to Though my appointment as senior lecturer continued until place mission and dialogue on a par. I made my position clear in I retired, in 1986 I was also appointed extraordinary professor of an article in Bangalore Theological Forum (1989) entitled “Hendrik missiology at the university. This was an extra challenge because Kraemer and Stanley J. Samartha, Two Adverse Brothers.” In the Th.D. program was not limited to the Dutch language. From return, Samartha arranged for me to visit India in 1988 and to 1986 until my retirement in 2003, I supervised twenty-seven can- give a guest lecture at United Theological College in Bangalore. didates originating from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. While there, I attended the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the They drafted their dissertations in Dutch, English, German, and meeting of the International Missionary Council in Tambaram even (with special permission from the university) Bahasa Indo- (Madras/Chennai). I also attended a conference of the WCC at nesia. This experience broadened my horizons and produced new Mahabalipuram, held to achieve more harmony between the insights. I started the series Mission (printed by Boekencentrum in concepts and programs of its Commission for World Mission Zoetermeer), which enabled candidates to have their disserta- and Evangelism and its dialogue program. Here I met Gerald H. tions published.

Finding1 the Grave of Roland Allen in Nairobi

My wife, Michèle, and I and our three children moved the map, I still had not found it. I had made many U-turns, to Nairobi, Kenya, in August 2011 for one year. Before we followed hopeful directions, backed out of dead-end streets, left New Haven, the editors of the International Bulle- inched along in rush-hour traffic, and been blocked by many tin of Missionary Research asked me if I would try to “Deviation” signs (for roadwork detours) on piles of rubble locate and photograph the grave marker of Roland Allen, or in enormous ditches. In sheer frustration, I finally parked the prescient missions theorist and author of Missionary the car. After a five-minute walk along an unmarked road, Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? (published one hundred years I realized that I was next to one of the cemeteries. I began ago, in 1912), who was buried in Nairobi in 1947. I agreed to systematically cover the overgrown, garbage-strewn, and to do so. After a few months of living in Nairobi, however, looted burial ground. After about an hour I had covered only I realized that finding anything in Nairobi can be difficult. 10 percent of the roughly six-acre area, and my heart was heavy. Possibly half the headstones were smashed or missing. An older man who had been observing me offered to help. He was one of the caretakers for the neighboring Jew- ish cemetery, which was immaculate. Since Allen had been an Anglican from England, we went over to the adjacent “Commonwealth” cemetery, which was also well main-

Cemetery ledger showing site of Roland Allen’s grave

Street signs, house numbers, traffic signals at major intersections—these things are found at random and are generally optional; for their part, city maps are only approxi- mate. Internet research revealed that Roland Allen was bur- ied in a cemetery located in “City Park.” I found a detailed Cemetery in the vicinity of Roland Allen’s grave city map that showed two cemeteries in City Park. On sever- al occasions I visited areas of Nairobi that were in the vicinity tained, being the resting place for servicemen who died in of City Park, but I was not able to find it before nightfall. I did the various Second World War conflicts in Africa. We found not try after dark, for driving in Nairobi at night is dangerous. no persons with the surname Allen buried there. The man On November 24 I dropped my wife off in the city cen- offered to lead me to a fourth cemetery, which was about a ter at 8:00 a.m., promising to pick her up five hours later. one-kilometer walk through the park’s forest. I declined, as According to the map, City Park was about four miles north these places are known to harbor thugs. (Nairobi has been of downtown; in many other cities this would be a ten-min- called “Nai-robbery.”) We took my car, and he guided me to ute drive. Two hours later, I knew I was getting close, but the offices of the City Park administration. Not a single civil although I had memorized the major roads and was using servant was to be found in the fifteen gloomy offices of the

150 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 In the period 1986–92 Ambrose Moyo, from the University Opocensky welcomed this proposal and expressed the hope that of Zimbabwe, and I were the project supervisors of the Religious WARC and the John Knox Center in Geneva would undertake Education Training Programme, which aimed at (1) the training the project. Lukas Vischer and Jean-Jacques Bauswein gave of staff members and (2) research and curriculum development their support, and they ultimately edited The Reformed Family for Zimbabwe. Three studies, drafted by Dutch and Zimba- Worldwide: A Survey of Reformed Churches, Theological Schools, and bwean scholars, were published, each with forewords by the two International Organizations (Eerdmans, 1999). Richard van Houten, supervisors. This project was financed by the Dutch Ministry of general secretary of the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC), Development Cooperation. It was the only development project and I served as board members of the project. I drafted the text in theology and religious studies ever financed by the Dutch of some sections and helped identify the addresses of Reformed government. churches and schools worldwide, using Dutch Reformed In 1992 I wrote a letter to Milan Opocensky, the general sec- denominations and their overseas partners as sources. Perhaps retary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) in the recent fusion of WARC and REC into the World Communion Geneva, proposing that a survey of all Reformed and Presbyterian of Reformed Churches can be traced in part to the publication of churches worldwide be conducted and the results published. The Reformed Family Worldwide.

1

compound, which was overrun with vervet monkeys. My we together located grave 46, but it was not the final resting heart sank again. place of Roland Allen. We tried plot 2, and again found that A City Park gardener made a few sheepish cell-phone grave 46 was not the right one. Disillusioned, discouraged, calls and after several minutes a man appeared who led us a little angry, but still determined, I started scanning the through offices decorated with new anticorruption posters gravestones around me—and suddenly, there it was! plastered over older antigraft posters. High on a shelf at the Plot 1, we found, actually began at the southwestern edge of the cemetery. At the grave a small marble stone base, surmounted by a cross, was incised with the words

ROLAND ALLEN Clerk in Holy Orders 1868–1947 I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord.

I cleared the grass away from a cracked stone plaque that read,

also in memory The incised base with of his wife Mary Allen’s plaque MARY BEATRICE ALLEN resting against it. who died in kampala 28TH january 1960 aged 96 Roland Allen’s grave plot. A plaque in memory of his I placed a few flowers on the wife, Mary Beatrice Allen, stone, took a few pictures, paid the rests against the gravestone. elderly caretaker who had accom- panied me to this fourth cemetery a generous wage for his two hours of back of the last office, my trusty helper from the other cem- invaluable assistance, and left with etery located two large wooden cases housing the hand- a great sense of accomplishment. written registers of the two cemeteries administered by City Park. My hopes rose again, but the first register had no entry for Allen. I sensed that, either way, the end of the road Samuel M. Sigg was the artist liaison for was near. I started reading the entries for “A” in the second the Overseas Ministries Study Center’s volume, and hope soared again when I read, “Allen, Rev. artist in residence program until 2011. He Roland, British, died 78, date of death 9-6-47, interred 10-6- holds an M.A. in Art and Religion from Yale 47, grave 46, plot 1.” Finally! Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut. We immediately made the short trek to this fourth —[email protected] cemetery. The caretaker for this City Park cemetery assured me repeatedly that plot 1 started right at the entrance, so

July 2012 151 In 1996 I was transferred from the theological faculty of to research: the linear and cyclical perception and reception of Utrecht University to the Interuniversity Institute for Mis- Jesus Christ within and outside of Christianity, from the beginning siology and Ecumenical Research (IIMO) in Utrecht. (This of the Christian era until today. Robert Coote, who had retired did not affect my professorship at Utrecht University, which from OMSC in 2002, offered to be my English editor, pro bono. continued.) I became an editor of both the journal Exchange I accepted, and in 2009 this study was published as Jesus Christ and the series IIMO Research Publications. In the same year in World History: His Presence and Representation in Cyclical and I edited a handbook on the non-Western migrant churches in Linear Settings (Peter Lang). the Netherlands. Also in 1996 I served for one semester as one After my retirement, Siga Arles, director of the Centre for of two senior mission scholars in residence at the Overseas Contemporary Christianity in Bangalore, whom I had met in Ministries Study Center (OMSC) in New Haven, Connecticut. India in 1988, invited me to give concentrated courses at the (This invitation resulted from my meeting Gerald Anderson at center to missiological Ph.D. candidates and M.Th. students. I Tambaram in 1988.) C. David Harley, director of All Nations accepted and found myself with students, not only from India, College in Great Britain, was the other 1996 senior scholar in but also from surrounding nations. I have enjoyed four return trips to lecture at the center. Arles also arranged reprints of my missiological encyclopedia (2006), of Hendrik Kraemer’s 1938 Christian Message in the Non-Christian World, with an introduction I immersed myself in and appendixes that I wrote (2009), of my Festschrift (2010), and psalms and hymns, which of Jesus Christ in World History (2011). I also received an invitation from a former Ph.D. student gave me confidence of from Korea to take part in the conferences of the North East Asia recuperation. Council of Studies of the History of Christianity. I became the first European scholar to attend its meetings, first in Seoul (2007) and later in Wuhan, China (2009). As editor of Studies in the Inter- residence. At OMSC he began working with me on his Th.D., cultural History of Christianity, I arranged the publication of the taking as his subject the history of All Nations College. The conference papers in this series: Christian Mission and Education dissertation was completed under my direction at Utrecht in Modern China, Japan, and Korea (2009) and Christian Presence University and was published in 2000. and Progress in North-East Asia (2011). During my professorship I often preached on Sundays, In recent years I have continued tasks that were started and I closely followed the process of the uniting of three Dutch before retirement. I served as chairperson of the primary Prot- denominations, including my own, into the Protestant Church in estant theological journal in the Netherlands, Kerk en Theologie the Netherlands. When it became clear to me that the managers (Church and theology). I have also pursued research regarding of this process intended to close all offices and bring all activities non-Western migrants and their churches in the Netherlands. together in one new building, I concluded that the mission house After the publication of a handbook on community build- in Oegstgeest would ultimately be closed. I objected, arguing ing among Christian migrants (Gemeenschapsvorming, 1996), that a mission house is not an office but a living community. I edited by me and two other scholars (one being a migrant), I lost the battle. published an art book depicting how migrants have appeared In fact, I so internalized the issue that, given my many other in Dutch media since the seventeenth century, and how they involvements, in 1998 I succumbed to a classic case of burnout. have portrayed themselves since 1945. Paintings produced by For half a year I was not able to lecture or pursue my missiological a number of contemporary non-Western artists in the Nether- studies. I immersed myself in psalms and hymns, such as “Safe lands are also reproduced in Verbeelden en gelijken (2010), a title in the Arms of Jesus,” which gave me confidence of recuperation. based upon the concept of human beings created in the image My spirit finally returned, and I resumed my work. My IIMO of God (Gen. 1:26). colleagues suggested that I take early retirement in 1999. Instead, to the consternation of Magritha and others, I accepted a number Final Observations of new Th.D. candidates. In my heart I felt assured that I could finish the course. I retired in 2003 at the usual age of 65. I gave My involvement in mission and missiology is rooted in the my farewell lecture and received a Festschrift entitled Towards an Reformed tradition, as well as in the larger movement of Chris- Intercultural Theology (Boekencentrum, 2003). It was a great honor tian mission in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The that Gerald Anderson and his colleague Robert Coote came from tribal clash in Makassar and the passing away of my parents OMSC to attend the farewell lecture and dinner. and younger brother Cor, while difficult, have not been the greatest challenge in my life. Rather, it was the closure of the Honorary Professor Emeritus and Beyond mission house in Oegstgeest, my spiritual home. I am thankful that at the time I did not lose confidence in God. In the Netherlands, retired professors receive a period of five Since 1982, three principles related to mission have been years to finish the supervision of doctoral candidates who very important to me. First, mission and mission study involve are still working on their degrees. Since at retirement I still networking. I became a member of the American Society of had quite a number of doctoral students to supervise, I was Missiology, the German Society of Missiology, and the Interna- appointed honorary professor emeritus. In the period 2004–9, tional Association of Mission Studies (IAMS). I helped launch fourteen more candidates finished under my guidance. In all, the European branch of IAMS in 1996. In 1998, together with I supervised forty-one Th.D. candidates, a record in Dutch Norwegian leaders, I organized the first European meeting of theological education. IAMS, in Stavanger, Norway. I also was a member of the steer- In 2004 Yale Divinity School appointed me as guest profes- ing committee of the second conference in Halle, Germany, in sor. For a whole semester I lectured on a topic that I had begun 2002. To my great surprise, the IAMS named me an honorary

152 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 life member in 2008 at its twelfth quadrennial conference, in and interaction. While I greatly admire Bosch’s Transforming Mission Balatonfüred, Hungary. (1991), I value even more the magnum opus of Hendrik Kraemer, Second, mission and mission study involve colleagueship and The Christian Message in the Non-Christian World (1938). The former friendship. Over a period of many years at Utrecht University, I addresses mission within a narrowly Christian focus, but inter- cooperated with dozens of colleagues in supervising disserta- action with non-Christian religions and worldviews is missing. tions, organizing conferences, editing series such as the Studies Kraemer, in contrast, deals broadly with religions, worldviews, and in the Intercultural History of Christianity, and serving as a ideologies, all the while analyzing the task of Christian mission contributing editor for journals such as the International Bul- in the twentieth century. Similarly, Jesus Christ in World History letin of Missionary Research, Mission Studies, and Missionalia, covers twenty centuries of Christian mission history à la Bosch, and of encyclopedias such as Anderson’s Biographical Diction- while at the same time dealing with the religions, worldviews, and ary of Christian Missions (Macmillan, 1998). I greatly value the ideologies of the non-Christian world à la Kraemer, with attention friendship of Anderson, Coote, and Arles, as well as of Walter to positive and negative perceptions of Jesus Christ. I wish to avoid J. Hollenweger, whose Festschrift I edited, and of the late Lukas an intra-Christian approach, for we adore and obey the Messiah of Vischer and David J. Bosch. (After Bosch’s untimely death in the whole human community. I view Jesus the Christ as more than 1992, Willem A. Saayman was appointed his successor. He in Socrates and the Buddha, and surely more than Muhammad and turn was succeeded by my Th.D. student Nico A. Botha, the Mao, who relied on violence. He is the pioneer and perfecter of a first nonwhite scholar in the department.) worldwide, goal-directed faith (Heb. 12:2), as well as the pioneer Finally, mission and mission study involve global commitment and perfecter of global mission and missiological reflections.

International Association for Mission Studies General Assembly

The thirteenth general assembly of the International Associa- Jehu J. Hanciles, associate professor of the history of tion for Mission Studies (IAMS) will be hosted by Wycliffe Christianity and globalization, and director of the Center for College at the University of Toronto, August 15–20, 2012. Missiological Research, School of Intercultural Studies, Full- An estimated 200 scholars from around the world will pre- er Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. sent papers, attend workshops, and take part in field trips Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome, professor in the political relating to the theme of the conference, “Migration, Human science department of City University of New York’s Brook- Dislocation, and the Good News: Margins as the Center in lyn College. Christian Mission.” M. Daniel Carroll Rodas, distinguished professor of Old Seven plenary speakers will address the assembly: Testament, Denver Seminary, Littleton, Colorado, is the Bible Bernard I. Alphonsus, a Catholic priest from Jaffna, Sri study leader. Lanka, founded the Centre for Peace and Human Rights Emma Wild-Wood, director of the Henry Martyn Cen- Culture in Jaffna and edited its Tamil periodical Urimai Noku tre, Westminster College, Cambridge, U.K., and lecturer in (Rights perspective), publishing a number of articles relating missiology in the Cambridge Theological Federation. to peace. He now lives in Canada as a refugee and works for Jonathan J. Bonk, executive director of the Overseas the Archdiocese of Toronto. Ministries Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut, editor of Daniel G. Groody, a Catholic priest and award winning the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, and president author and film producer; associate professor of theology and of IAMS, will give the opening address. director of the Center for Latino Spirituality and Culture, Insti- For details and to register, go to https://sites.google tute for Latino Studies, University of Notre Dame, Indiana. .com/a/iams2012.org/toronto-2012/.

July 2012 153 The Legacy of Josiah Pratt William C. Barnhart

n October 1814 a meeting was held in Birmingham, Eng- Newton, whose ministerial capabilities by this time were quite Iland, to discuss the possibility of forming a local branch limited.3 From 1810 to 1826, coinciding with his most active years of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in that city. During the in the CMS, Pratt was minister at Sir George Wheler’s Chapel in deliberations, Thomas Rock, a Birmingham merchant, rose to Spital Square. He became a beneficed clergyman in 1826 upon make the following statement: “Do we need motive? Let us take his election to the vicarage of St. Stephens in the City of London, it again from the conduct of the worthy Secretary, who is come a position he retained until his death in 1844. from the metropolis of our own country, with his heart filled with love and compassion for the poor heathen: who has labored The CMS and the Anglican Missionary Revival night and day to promote their welfare, and whose name will be handed down to posterity with honor, enrolled among the best In 1797, while serving as curate at St. John’s, Pratt became a friends of the Church Missionary Society.”1 member of the Eclectic Society, an informal gathering of Anglican Rock was referring to the Reverend Josiah Pratt, secretary of Evangelicals to periodically discuss common theological interests the CMS and one of its founding members. He served as CMS and issues. It had been formed in 1783 by two of Pratt’s early secretary from 1802 to 1824, and he also edited the Missionary Register, one of the most important missionary magazines of the early nineteenth century. Along with other members of the Evangelical wing of the Church of England, Josiah Pratt played a major role in the expansion of Anglican foreign missionary efforts to regions beyond North America, and into areas such as Africa and India. Although he never served as a missionary in the field, Pratt made crucial contributions to the missionary cause through his organizational and promotional efforts at home to advance a spirit of missions among the British public. Early Life and Ministerial Career

Josiah Pratt was born on December 21, 1768, in Birmingham. He was initially destined for a career in manufacturing, like his father, but soon gravitated toward a career in the church after hearing sermons read by Charles Simeon at St. Mary’s, Birmingham. Pratt was “born again” into the church when he was seventeen years old, after hearing a sermon by Thomas Robinson of Leices- ter. The young man was particularly struck by the solemnity with which Robinson delivered the words “Let us pray.” It was here, according to his sons, that Pratt learned of the power of Courtesy of CMS Archives, Oxford, England prayer: “He thought what a solemn act prayer was! He doubted Josiah Pratt, 1768–1844 whether he had ever prayed in his life. His mind was filled with awe and contrition for his past neglect.” This led to a greater mentors, Richard Cecil and John Newton, to stimulate more interest in spiritual matters and a desire to become a minister in interaction among Evangelicals in London and those visiting from the Church of England. According to his sons, however, Pratt’s outlying provinces. Included among its membership were other early experience in the commercial interests of his father were Evangelical notables such as John Venn, Charles Simeon, Charles instrumental to his later clerical duties: “He was then acquiring Grant, and Henry Thornton. At the meeting of March 18, 1799, those habits of business, and that practical turn of mind, which the society met to discuss the following question posed by John so eminently qualified him for many duties to which he was Venn: “What methods can we use most effectively to promote afterwards called.”2 Pratt graduated from St. Edmund’s Hall, the knowledge of the Gospel among the heathen?”4 Subsequent Oxford, and was ordained as a minister on June 3, 1792. His first discussions led to the formation of the CMS in April 1799. From assignment was as curate to Richard Cecil at St. John’s Chapel, the beginning, Pratt and other founders of the CMS viewed their London, where he remained until 1804. In that year he became new society as an adjunct to the older Society for the Propaga- curate at St. Mary’s, Woolnoth, where he assisted the aged John tion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK, 1698) and Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG, 1701). It was in no way meant to William C. Barnhart is Professor of History at Caldwell replace the efforts of the older societies, but rather to supplement College, Caldwell, New Jersey. their activities to include newly established missions in Africa, —[email protected] India, and the Pacific. However, while the CMS was designed as a voluntary institution run by lay and clerical members of the Anglican Church, Pratt insisted that the new society “must be kept in Evangelical hands” to distinguish it from its predecessors.5 From the start, Pratt played a very active role in the affairs of the CMS. He was appointed a member of its General Committee,

154 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 and in 1802 he replaced Thomas Scott as secretary of the new to India, and Anglicans in particular envisioned the formation society. In that same year he was also appointed the first editor of an episcopal establishment in the subcontinent. By using their of the Christian Observer, the first Anglican Evangelical periodi- growing influence in Parliament and contacts in the East India cal published in the nineteenth century. However, because of his Company, Anglican Evangelicals hoped to change the company’s ever-growing responsibilities as CMS secretary, Pratt resigned long-standing policy of religious neutrality. The parliamentary the editorship of the Christian Observer only a few months into effort to open India to more missionaries was begun by William the position and was replaced by Zachery Macaulay.6 Wilberforce in 1793. Wilberforce, who became a leading mem- As secretary, Josiah Pratt performed a wide variety of duties, ber of the CMS, introduced two clauses in a bill to renew the ranging from managing the logistic and organizational work- company’s charter stipulating that it was the company’s duty to ings of the society, to overseeing and editing a variety of CMS promote the spiritual improvement of the Indian people. Both publications. He was responsible for organizing the annual CMS clauses, however, failed to pass. British missionaries resorted to anniversary meetings in London, which entailed selecting a suit- serving at foreign missionary stations in India, such as the Dan- able location, inviting clergy to give anniversary sermons, and ish station at Serampore. advertising the event both to CMS members and to the general The next opportunity for Evangelicals to establish a mission- public.7 Although he never served in any mission field, Pratt ary presence in India came in 1813, when the East India Company’s drew up instructions for new missionaries, which he read aloud charter was again up for renewal. On the eve of, and during, the at sending-off ceremonies.8 1813 parliamentary debate over Indian missions, Pratt tirelessly Perhaps the most critical responsibility shouldered by Pratt devoted most of his time to publicizing the missionary cause. was organizing and editing the voluminous reports, proceedings, Indeed, one scholar claimed that in 1812–13 Pratt “must have and correspondence of the CMS. In this sense, he was the chief been about the hardest-working clergyman in London.”14 He publicist of the new society and the person most responsible for crafted resolutions, statements, and informational pieces, drew collecting information on potential mission fields and presenting up petitions, and organized meetings in London and the prov- the society’s agenda and activities to the British public. As an inces. Characteristically, according to his sons, he managed all of ordained Evangelical cleric, Pratt was somewhat surprised by the this important work behind the scenes and, in general, avoided degree to which he became immersed in the business aspects of self-promotion.15 In the midst of the parliamentary debate he the religious press: “An active and sanguine mind, with a wish devoted much of the April 1813 issue of the Missionary Register to eke out my means for providing for my children, and a feeling to the India question. To illustrate the ecumenical efforts behind that my taste and talents led me to book making and editorship, the missionary cause, he inserted printed petitions to Parliament have carried me further into mechanical details, and involved from the CMS, SPCK, Wesleyan Methodists, Baptist Missionary me more in secular occupation, than I ever anticipated, and than Society, and London Missionary Society (LMS).16 could well consist with my own personal spiritual growth.”9 During the India debate the CMS leadership decided that Indeed, Pratt claimed that the press was “the great engine Pratt should reach out to Claudius Buchanan, a former East India acting upon society” and that the Evangelical clergy should Company chaplain, with a request that he pen an essay on the use it to their fullest advantage.10 In particular, Pratt and his necessity of a colonial episcopal establishment in India. By this colleagues recognized the importance of knowledge and infor- mation in launching a successful missionary society. The press was to be used “as a most powerful auxiliary” in promoting the goals of the society. To that end, the first task of the CMS General Although he never served Committee, and especially Pratt, was “to procure those publica- in any mission field, Pratt tions, which relate to the history of missions; which point out drew up instructions for the difficulties encountered, or display the success obtained, in the various attempts made to promote the Christian faith.” Also new missionaries, which needed were printed works in indigenous languages, primers on he read aloud at sending- Christian ideas, spelling books, and parts of the Bible.11 To keep members informed of the society’s activities and garner public off ceremonies. support of Christian missions in general, Pratt was charged with editing the Annual Report and Proceedings of the CMS. This yearly publication contained the anniversary sermon, CMS com- time Buchanan had already emerged as an important missionary mittee minutes, brief notices of missionary stations throughout publicist in his own right and someone who could strengthen the world, a list of subscribers and officers, and the laws of the the missionary lobby by virtue of his experience in India.17 To society. Pratt was given full discretion in sending out the report to prepare, Buchanan requested that Pratt furnish him with the various booksellers, magazines, and reviews for publication.12 For most up-to-date information on various parts of the empire for example, Pratt forwarded CMS-related news items for inclusion use in his essay. Clerics and politicians who supported the CMS in such London newspapers as the Times, Post, and Observer, as were to be canvassed for information: for example, Wilberforce well as provincial newspapers in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich, on the West Indies, Zachary Macaulay on Western Africa, and Leeds, and Leicester.13 J. W. Cunningham for more information on India.18 The result was Buchanan’s Colonial Ecclesiastical Establishment (1813), 800 The India Debate copies of which were sent to both houses of Parliament, with an additional 25 copies sent to the East India Company leadership.19 Following their successful efforts in the movement to abolish the The extensive petitioning, publicizing, and lobbying efforts of slave trade in 1807, Evangelicals turned next to the promotion of Anglican Evangelicals and Dissenters resulted in a victory for Christian missions in British India. Evangelicals both within and the cause of Indian missions. In May 1813 Parliament passed a outside the Church of England sought more missionary access resolution in favor of wider Christian missionary access to India.

July 2012 155 The revised East India Company charter allowed missionaries men to present themselves as candidates for missionary work. To of various denominations to enter India and also created an that end, many issues of the Missionary Register included serial Anglican episcopate in the Subcontinent.20 biographical sketches of notable missionaries such as John Eliot, David Brainerd, and Christian Friedrich Schwarz.25 The Missionary Register Copies of the Missionary Register were to be given, gratis, to “all such persons throughout the Empire” who made weekly During the 1813 India debate Josiah Pratt saw an opportune time collections for the CMS of £1 or more.26 While Pratt hoped that to launch the Missionary Register. Prior to the Missionary Register, increased circulation of the magazine would promote the mis- the only CMS literature for supporters was the Annual Sermon sionary cause in general, he was hopeful that its success would and Report. As early as 1810 Pratt was contemplating a monthly advance CMS prospects in particular. Indeed, one year after the missionary periodical, but the project was delayed until 1812 first appearance of theMissionary Register, the annual income of because he was busy editing the works of Richard Cecil, who the CMS increased from £3,000 to £14,000.27 To supplement the died in 1810.21 The CMS General Committee approved Pratt’s ever-growing distribution and readership of the Missionary Regis- proposal for a missionary magazine in early December 1812 and ter, Pratt decided to launch an additional missionary publication gave him full discretion as to its advertisement and distribution.22 aimed mainly at the poorer classes within the Anglican fold. This The Missionary Register, which Pratt edited until 1841, was a sector of the church that, according to Evangelicals, had regularly included lists of CMS members and their donations, largely been ignored by the Anglican hierarchy. The result was the miscellaneous prayers for the success of missions, reports of publication in 1816 of the first CMSQuarterly Papers. Consistent with Evangelical principles, they would be designed “as far as possible, to interest and instruct the laboring orders, servants and children,” and transform them into active participants in Pratt took it upon himself 28 to lead the earliest the cause of evangelization. deputations in a series of The First CMS Associations whirlwind preaching tours Selected portions of the Missionary Register were also read at across the country. meetings of local CMS associations across the country. Pratt was indeed the driving force behind the creation of a system of local CMS associations that, combined with missionary literature CMS auxiliary associations, brief reports of the activities of other and news, helped create a vast information network crucial to missionary societies, poems with missionary themes, extracts sustaining interest in missions among Anglican churchgoers. of letters from missionaries in the field, and news of the latest Pratt had previously designed a similar system for the British scriptural translations. Also featured were descriptions and and Foreign Bible Society, of which he was a founding mem- woodcut illustrations of various aspects of indigenous cultures. ber in 1804. And Dissenting missionary organizations such as Indeed, as Elizabeth Elbourne has noted, the Missionary Reg- the LMS already had extensive networks of local associations ister was similar to William Carey’s influential An Inquiry into that coordinated their efforts with leaders in London. Seizing the Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the the momentum of the 1813 charter victory, Pratt laid out a Heathens (1792) in the extensive information it provided readers plan of clerical deputations to the provinces to help form local about non-Western cultures, as well as statistics on the relative CMS associations. Deputations of London-based CMS clerics growth of various religions throughout the world. Both combined preached sermons, explained the workings of the society, col- aspects of theology and science that were consistent with most lected donations, and distributed various CMS publications to Evangelical missionary publications during that time.23 Pratt lay the groundwork for new local societies.29 While Pratt was recognized, however, that the wide array of information found responsible for soliciting volunteers among London clerics in magazines such as the Missionary Register could also be used to undertake deputations, he took it upon himself to lead the by the very members of the British intelligentsia who ridiculed earliest deputations in a series of whirlwind preaching tours the foreign missionary cause: across the country. About this responsibility he wrote to a col- league, “I am not only the Sedentary Secretary of the society, but Missionary information is now become such, both in extent and the Traveling Preacher; and everywhere I find the hearts of our nature, as to attract attention from writers, who periodically fur- English Christians open towards India. . . . I will plead for India nish information and amusement to a large body of readers. Lit- from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to the Land’s End, rather than not erature and science are, every year, under increasing obligation meet its just demand.”30 Between 1814 and 1816 Pratt led initial to the labors of missionaries. The writers to whom we allude will preaching and follow-up deputations to Bristol, Birmingham, enrich their pages by large extracts from the Proceedings of mis- 31 sionary societies, conveying important intelligence concerning Hull, Dublin, and Liverpool. Not only did the deputation the state and condition of man in various quarters of the world, system aid in the spread of missionary intelligence across the which can be obtained from observers and travelers of no other British Isles, but it also dramatically increased the coffers of the description; while they will caricature and misrepresent the pro- society by garnering contributions beyond those collected in ceedings of these very men, in their plans and exertions for the churches toward CMS missions.32 salvation of the souls of the Heathen.24 Conclusion Finally, Pratt and other members of the CMS leadership also recognized the importance of celebrating the efforts of mis- By 1818, Pratt’s secretarial duties had become so extensive that sionary “heroes” past and present, both to garner more public he had to spend most of his working hours in London, with support for missions and to inspire a new generation of young only occasional visitations to the provinces. In 1824, the year

156 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 he resigned his secretaryship, the CMS had nine different mis- nected with the evangelization of the world.”34 He steered the sions, thirty-five missionaries, and an annual income of £37,000.33 society through its formative years and, through his vast publicity Pratt died in 1844 at the age of seventy-six. While somewhat efforts, was its chief liaison with the British public. Josiah Pratt’s overshadowed by other, better-known leaders of the CMS, Pratt contributions were critical in putting the CMS on a secure footing was acknowledged by his contemporaries for his unsurpassed and laying the groundwork for the heyday of Anglican missions organizational abilities and “practical view of all questions con- in the mid- and late Victorian periods.

Selected Bibliography

Works by Josiah Pratt 1838 (ed.) Seven Hundred and Fifty Hymns, Private, Family, and Social: Because Pratt left no papers, the chief details of his career are to be found Collected from Various Authors. London: Seeley. in the archives of the Church Missionary Society. And it was mainly as an editor, rather than author, that he made his most important literary Works About Josiah Pratt contributions. Along with the CMS publications mentioned above, he Pratt, John Henry, ed. The Thought of the Evangelical Leaders: Notes of the edited numerous collections of sermons and the works of important Discussions of the Eclectic Society, London, During the Years 1798– Anglican divines. 1814. London: James Nisbet, 1856. Reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1978. 1808 (ed.) Contemplations upon the Principal Passages of the Old and New Pratt, Josiah, Jr., and John Henry Pratt. Memoir of the Reverend Josiah Pratt, Testaments, by the Rev. Joseph Hall. London: Whittingham. B.D. New York: Protestant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of 1811 (ed.) The Life, Character, and Remains of the Rev. Richard Cecil. Evangelical Knowledge, 1859. London: Whittingham. Seeley, Mary. The Later Evangelical Fathers: John Thornton, John Newton, 1830 (with Zachary Macaulay, Samuel Charles Wilks, and John William William Cowper, Thomas Scott, Richard Cecil, William Wilberforce, Cunningham) Forty Family Sermons. London: Hatchard. Charles Simeon, Henry Martyn, Josiah Pratt. London: Seeley, 1879. 1835 Sermon Preached at the Consecration of Daniel Corrie, Bishop of Stock, Eugene. The History of the Church Missionary Society: Its Environ- Madras. London: n.p. ment, Its Men, and Its Work. 4 vols. London: CMS, 1899.

Notes 1. Birmingham Church Missionary Association, Two Sermons, Preached 17. CMS Minutes, October 2, 1812. For more on Buchanan, see Wilbert R. October 16, 1814, at St. Mary’s in the Morning, by the Hon. and Very Shenk, “The Legacy of Claudius Buchanan,” International Bulletin Rev. the Dean of Wells, and in the Afternoon at St. James’, Ashted, by of Missionary Research 18 (1994): 78–82. the Rev. T. T. Biddulph. With an Appendix, Containing the Proceedings 18. CMS Minutes, October 12, 1812. of a Public Meeting, Held on Wed, Oct. 19, 1814, for the Purpose of 19. CMS Minutes, April 12, 1813. Forming an Association Auxiliary to the Church Missionary Society 20. On the importance of the 1813 victory for the missionary movement (Birmingham: Thomas Knott, 1815), p. 92. as a whole, see Allan Davidson, Evangelicals and Attitudes to India, 2. Josiah Pratt, Jr., and John Henry Pratt, Memoir of the Reverend 1786–1813: Missionary Publicity and Claudius Buchanan, with the Text Josiah Pratt, B.D. (New York: Protestant Episcopal Society for the of Buchanan’s Memoir (Abingdon: Sutton Courtenay, 1990). Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge, 1859), pp. 17–22; quotations 21. Stock, History of the Church Missionary Society, 1:126; Pratt and Pratt, from pp. 20–21. Memoir of the Reverend Josiah Pratt, p. 69. 3. John Overton, The English Church in the Nineteenth Century (London: 22. CMS Minutes, December 11, 1812. Longmans, 1894), p. 83. 23. Elizabeth Elbourne, Blood Ground: Colonialism, Missions, and the 4. John Henry Pratt, ed., The Thought of the Evangelical Leaders: Notes Contest for Christianity in the Cape Colony and Britain, 1799–1853 of the Discussions of the Eclectic Society, London, During the Years (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s Univ. Press, 2002), p. 52. 1798–1814 (London: James Nisbet, 1856; repr. Edinburgh: Banner 24. “Introduction,” in Missionary Register 9 (1821): 2. For more on this of Truth Trust, 1978), p. 95. theme, see Jane Samson, “Ethnology and Theology: Nineteenth- 5. Ibid., p. 98. Century Mission Dilemmas in the South Pacific,” inChristian Missions 6. Ernest Howse, Saints in Politics: The Clapham Sect and the Growth of and the Enlightenment, ed. Brian Stanley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Freedom (London: Allen & Unwin, 1953), pp. 106–7. 2001), pp. 99–122. 7. CMS Minutes, April 25, 1814, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, 25. CMS Minutes, June 14, 1813; Missionary Register 2 (1814): 305–14; Connecticut, CMS Archives, microfilm edition, section 3, part 7, 4 (1816): 41. GC1 reel 75. (All subsequent references to CMS Minutes are to this 26. CMS Minutes, December 11, 1812. Copies were also sent to location.) missionaries in the field to keep them informed of wider missionary 8. Eugene Stock, The History of the Church Missionary Society: Its exertions and to inspire them to sustain their own efforts. See Pratt Environment, Its Men, and Its Work, 4 vols. (London: CMS, 1899), and Pratt, Memoir of the Reverend Josiah Pratt, p. 180. 1:224. 27. John Kaye, Christianity in India: An Historical Narrative (London: 9. Quoted in Pratt and Pratt, Memoir of the Reverend Josiah Pratt, p. 70. Smith, Elder, 1859), p. 283. 10. Quoted in Pratt, The Thought of the Evangelical Leaders, p. 13. 28. Missionary Register 4 (1816): 236. 11. Proceedings of the Church Missionary Society 1 (1801): 77–78, 80. 29. Stock, History of the Church Missionary Society, 1:132. 12. CMS Minutes, August 7, 1812. 30. Quoted in Pratt and Pratt, Memoir of the Reverend Josiah Pratt, p. 82. 13. CMS Minutes, May 17, 1813. 31. Ibid. 14. Mary Seeley, The Later Evangelical Fathers: John Thornton, John Newton, 32. Stock, History of the Church Missionary Society, 1:129. William Cowper, Thomas Scott, Richard Cecil, William Wilberforce, 33. William Knight, Church Missionary Jubilee, 1848: The Principles of the Charles Simeon, Henry Martyn, Josiah Pratt (London: Seeley, 1879), Church Missionary Society, Traced in the Lives of Its Founders (London: p. 349. Seeleys, 1848), p. 19. 15. Pratt and Pratt, Memoir of the Reverend Josiah Pratt, p. 80. 34. Henry Venn, quoted in Pratt and Pratt, Memoir of the Reverend Josiah 16. Missionary Register 1 (1813): 107–34. Pratt, p. 197.

July 2012 157 Arthur Walter Hughes: He Spent Himself for Africa Maurice Billingsley

tories of poor boys rising to rub shoulders with royalty Kingdom. On one occasion he arrived starving and thoroughly Sare likely to involve a measure of ruthlessness and of wet on a Scottish priest’s doorstep, mistaken at first for a gentle- conveniently forgetting one’s roots. Archbishop Arthur Walter man of the road. Nearer to home, he addressed a distinguished Hughes did not take himself seriously enough to fall for these audience, including the colonial secretary, speaking for an hour temptations. He died aged forty-six as papal internuncio to the without notes on the slave trade but giving copious and accurate Kingdom of Egypt, beloved for his openness to Christians, Jews, references from his preparatory studies. and Muslims and his desire to be of service to all. Arthur Hughes was born in 1902 in Clapton in East London, In Uganda, 1933–42 an area with many poor residents, including a sizable Jewish com- munity. His parents, migrants from Wales and Ireland, were not In 1933 Hughes received his longed-for appointment to Uganda. churchgoers. England then provided free elementary education His superior, Vicar Apostolic Bishop Michaud, was impressed to the age of fourteen, but the more academic grammar schools when Hughes greeted him in the local language, Luganda, which were fee-paying and beyond the family’s means. Arthur therefore he had studied in London before departure. Michaud gave him left school at fourteen and took a job in a newspaper office, but responsibility for education, where he answered to another Eng- he pursued wide-ranging studies in the local free library. His lish convert, former headmaster Archbishop Arthur Hinsley, the reading convinced him of the claims of the Catholic Church. apostolic delegate, who was determined to see church schools in After being received in the church, he applied to the archbishop East Africa offer a good all-round education. His brief covered of Westminster to train as a priest. institutions ranging from village schools to seminaries and the Cardinal Bourne, wary that a convert’s zeal might not last, teacher training college, which Hughes called his “nine choirs asked him to use the next two years to discern his vocation. of angels.”1 He had responsibility for Catholic students at the When Arthur duly returned, still eager, he was dispatched to national university being set up in Makerere. In 1937 he insisted Bishop’s Waltham in Hampshire, where Fr. Pierre-Marie Travers to the governor, Sir Philip Mitchell, that outside England the ran the junior seminary of the Missionaries of Africa, or White Catholic Church had the same rights as the Anglican to set up a Fathers. This boarding school then housed French and English chaplaincy: “Your Excellency, you can not honestly deprive the boys. Arthur’s time was devoted to learning French and Latin, many believers in Jesus-Eucharist [sic] of his presence in their subjects not taught in elementary schools but required for his midst. He is their bosom friend, their inspiration, their safeguard, continuing studies in France and North Africa. their strength. Without Him their life becomes wasted, bare, dull, Small classes helped Arthur’s gifts blossom. He gained mas- and aimless.”2 tery of both languages, earning himself the nickname of “profes- Church schools in Uganda received grants from the Protector- sor.” He once accepted a challenge to speak on any given topic ate Government, although never enough to meet all needs. When in French for an hour, and he successfully held forth on cheese. Hughes asked for more money, he was told that he belonged Later, it was said that his Latin replies were more fluent than the to one of the richest organizations in the world. “The Church lectures of the seminary staff who used it to teach in Carthage. was founded on a rock, and has been on the rocks ever since,” Once at lunchtime, a salad was sent up dressed in paraffin rather Hughes replied, and won the increase.3 Like Hinsley, an early than olive oil. Priests and pupils pushed it away as uneatable, ecumenist, he cooperated with other churches to achieve benefits only to see Arthur chewing away, apparently quite happily. for all. His respect for other Christians led to his praying with a His sense of humor had already been manifest in Hampshire, Protestant school inspector whose wife was ill, an unlooked-for but the staff in Carthage were less sure about his punning in gesture in those days. three languages and misquoting Scripture, fearing he was not This was a time of rapid change for the church in Uganda, as serious. Eventually, they were convinced that he was possessed the vicariate was divided from 1934, leading to a major reshuffle of a joyful spirit rather than empty levity, and they recommended of personnel, with one area handed over to Ugandan clergy, in him for ordination in 1927 despite some concern for his health. preparation for the time, in 1939, when Joseph Kiwanuka would Disappointment followed when Hughes found himself “in exile became the eagerly anticipated first Uganda-born bishop. All this from Africa,” back at Bishop’s Waltham. Short and stout, he was meant extra work for Hughes, though he still found time to care a popular teacher despite having no sporting talent—other than for boy scouts and other young people. an encyclopedic memory for cricketing statistics. When the Second World War came, Uganda was not far This posting did not last long, as the society had agreed to enough from Europe to avoid the conflict. When Italy declared run a parish in Heston, West London. From this base Hughes hostilities in 1940, the Italian missionaries in the northern Vicari- could readily travel to speaking engagements around the United ate of Gulu were interned as enemy aliens. At the same time, as the town was close to Italian-held Ethiopia, the British army Maurice Billingsley, who studied with the Mission- requisitioned the main vicariate buildings to provide barracks for aries of Africa at school and senior seminary, teaches troops to counter any Italian aggression from the north. Hughes disaffected young people and has taken an M.A. in was dispatched to take charge, overseeing the evacuation of theology at the Franciscan International Study Centre, buildings so effectively that no losses were reported. Canterbury, England. That his was a temporary responsibility did not tempt —[email protected] Hughes to go easy. He began by writing a sermon and having it translated into each of the four local languages, so that he could preach from memory as he visited each mission. When

158 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 he eventually left this responsibility, the vicariate’s work had attending festivals and praying with them.6 He also established doubled in size. cordial relations with the country’s Islamic and Jewish leaders. This was possible only because he was a true missionary, a man In Ethiopia and Egypt, 1942–49 of God before he was an Englishman. Hughes established clinics and schools, open to all, in the Hughes was sent to Ethiopia in 1942 to resolve difficulties for poverty-stricken villages of the Delta and Upper Egypt, sup- the church following the Italian expulsion, and then on to Egypt ported by his contacts at home. It is a tribute to the wisdom of after a few months. The apostolic delegate there was an Italian, Hughes and the Egyptian Church that the schools remained unacceptable to the British, occupiers in all but name. Hughes’s open throughout the Suez crisis and to this day; one of them is appointment was seen as a minor success by British diplomatic named in his honor. They were regarded as Egyptian schools, and propaganda services; his close but critical cooperation with not British. Such enterprises needed government blessing. Hav- the authorities in Uganda may have led them to believe he would ing established his credentials as independent of the British be useful, if not docile, in Egypt. government so forcefully on his arrival in Egypt, Hughes won Earlier in the year the British had parked their tanks outside the ear of the young king. (Farouk, notorious for his sensuality, the palace to intimidate King Farouk into changing a government respected Hughes enough not to bring on the dancing girls till seen as favorable to Italy and Germany. Hughes was well aware Hughes had left his company.) of the outrage this action had caused. From the outset he asserted Hughes also had a ministry to foreign Catholics in Egypt, his independence from the British. When the embassy offered to mainly troops, including Italian and German prisoners of war. effect an introduction to the twenty-two-year-old king, Hughes Although the British Army supplied a staff car for his use, he insisted on flying the Vati- can flag rather than that of the British. He continued to pray with clergy of other denominations, endearing himself to the army chap- lains by insisting on meeting their wives before an official reception. He once disap- peared from dinner with the chief of staff to make his way to the kitchen, where he delighted the Maltese cooks by thanking them for the meal. In the POW camp he helped set up a seminary for Germans who had sensed a call to ministry or, in the expression of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Arthur Hughes who sought to try their as internuncio in Egypt vocations. and his nunciature As the war drew to a close in 1945, Hughes was declined, saying confirmed in his position as apostolic delegate and ordained that he did not bishop, but Egypt now sought full diplomatic relations with the represent the king Vatican, the first Muslim-majority state to do so. In 1947 Arthur of England, but the Hughes was named the first internuncio to Egypt and became Prince of Peace.4 archbishop. He still lived in community rather than the style his On this point he position might have afforded. His hard work continued unabated, was following the despite concerns for his health among those close to him. Well injunction of Pope Benedict XV, who had warned in Maximum aware that he was spied upon and that the diplomatic bag was illud (1919) of the dangers to Christian witness of missionaries tampered with, he would post confidential letters himself at the being identified with their home nation. local mailbox. On a journey to Jerusalem he allowed the spies Determined not to be “dust on the hem of Egypt,”5 Arthur following him from Cairo to steal his suitcase, while walking Hughes found ways to succeed in the many ministries open away with the important papers on his person. Another visit to before him. His task was to represent the pope to the Catholic the Holy City found him among the many who were caught up Church in Egypt, a delicate task in which he succeeded, bring- in the turbulence surrounding a terrorist bomb outrage. ing together the six sometimes mistrustful rites, each with its own traditions. They still work together today. When Hughes Final Days and Summary was made bishop, his ring was presented by the Greek Catho- lics, his pectoral cross by the Coptic Catholics. Most Egyptian In 1949 Hughes was due to take a home visit. He said Mass below Christians were Coptic or Greek Orthodox, and Hughes worked decks onboard his steamship for crew members, finding himself toward unity with them, most notably by the unheard-of step of briefly “a missionary again.” Visits to the junior seminary and

July 2012 159 other White Father houses showed his confrères how exhausted Hughes’s burial was another homecoming, for he was laid to he was; he once slept for thirty hours straight. He had remained rest beside Father Travers, “who had first fostered his missionary close to his family, despite vocation and guided him to the altar.”7 The Egyptian Embassy his rise to fame. The society attended in force, bringing a wreath from King Farouk, while treasured the story of a visi- another came from the British armed forces. tor scandalized to encoun- Amid the tensions of the Middle East, the schools and ter an archbishop drying hospitals he founded are still Egyptian and still open to all. the dishes as his mother The Egyptian Catholic Church remains small but bears witness washed them. When at to God’s love “without directly speaking about Christ,” in the home, he would rise first words of one bishop. and light the fire before Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, M.Afr., today’s Vatican leaving to say Mass at the nuncio, attended the same school in Hampshire as Arthur local church. Hughes only Hughes and continues his predecessor’s work of friendship, reluctantly agreed to see a supporting a church with roots in apostolic times. doctor—but he never kept Hughes’s motto—Licet plus diligens minus diligar—was the appointment; on July 12 drawn from 2 Corinthians 12:15: “I will most gladly spend and he died at home of a massive be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” heart attack in the arms of Hughes’s coat of arms Arthur Hughes spent himself, for he loved greatly, and was his brother. with his motto greatly loved by those whose lives he touched.8

Annotated Bibliography Ayrout, Henry Habib. “Panégyrique prononcé par le Réverend Père material from the White Fathers, memories of Egypt from John H. Ayrout S.J. en L’Église S. Joseph au Caire le 19 Juillet 1949.” Ramsay-Fairfax, and an unidentified contemporary newspaper. Available from the Missionaries of Africa, London. Father Ayrout, Kittler, Glenn D. The White Fathers. New York: Harper, 1957. An Ameri- an Egyptian Jesuit, worked with Hughes in developing poor can who traveled through Africa researching his portrait of the Christian villages in Egypt. Translated by the present writer, 2007. Society; he also tapped oral tradition no longer available. Cavalli, Dimitri. “The Good Samaritan: Jewish Praise for Pope Pius Marchant, Leonard [?]. “A History of the White Fathers in Scotland.” XII.” In Inside the Vatican, October 2000, pp. 72–77. Available at N.d.; available at www.thepelicans.co.uk/history11.htm. www.ewtn.com/library/issues/pius12gs.htm. Cavalli seeks to McGuire, Manus, and Michael Goodstadt. “The Late Archbishop vindicate Pius XII’s record in the Second World War. He mentions Hughes.” Columban, Christmas 1952. These schoolboys based their Hughes in connection with his meeting an official of the Jewish work primarily on Howell, Archbishop Arthur Walter Hughes, and Agency in Turkey. on recent oral tradition. “Christianity in the United Arab Republic.” Tablet, September 6, 1955, “Obituary: Archbishop Hughes—Apostolic Internuncio to Egypt.” p. 181. From a correspondent writing about Catholic communities Times, July 13, 1949, p. 7. A useful picture of Hughes from a and their schools during the Suez crisis. secular source. Finn, Peter. History of the Priory Bishop’s Waltham. Winchester, Eng.: Payeur, François. “The Story of Saint Augustine Catholic Chapel at Hedera Books, 1999. Finn compiled the history of the White Makerere.” Missionaries of Africa Archives, Uganda, n.d. Fathers’ junior seminary in Hampshire, where Hughes studied Petit Echo, 1949, pp. 193–96. The White Fathers’ in-house newsletter and taught. He had access to oral tradition no longer available. recorded Hughes’s life and death. Translated from the French by Holmes-Siedle, James. “Memories of a Year at the Priory (1926–1927).” the present writer. Pelican, Summer 1962. Bishop Holmes-Siedle studied under Stark, Freya. Dust in the Lion’s Paw: Autobiography, 1939–1946. London: Hughes. John Murray, 1961; repr., London: Century, 1995. Stark, in her Howell, Arthur E. Archbishop Arthur Walter Hughes of the White Fathers, account of working in British intelligence and diplomacy in Apostolic Internuncio to Egypt. London: Samuel Walker, n.d. wartime in the Middle East, refers to Hughes’s appointment as a [between 1949 and 1952]. A confrere of Hughes who drew on minor victory for her service. Notes . 1 Arthur E. Howell, Archbishop Arthur Walter Hughes of the White for “praying with heretics” when asked by the Anglican bishop Fathers, Apostolic Internuncio to Egypt (London: Samuel Walker, n.d. of Chichester to lead the Lord’s Prayer at the Albert Hall after the [between 1949 and 1952]). Blitz of May 10, 1942. See Adrian Hastings, A History of English 2. François Payeur, “The Story of Saint Augustine Catholic Chapel at Christianity, 1920–1985 (London: Collins, 1986), p. 395. Makerere”; Missionaries of Africa Archives, Uganda, n.d. 7. Petit Echo, 1949. 3. Howell, Archbishop Arthur Walter Hughes of the White Fathers. 8. Many thanks to Christopher Wallbank, M.Afr., and Aloysius Beebwa, 4. Ibid. M.Afr., who kindly provided copies of primary sources, and to 5. Henry Habib Ayrout, “Panégyrique prononcé par le Réverend Paul West, webmaster of www.thepelicans.co.uk, a site for friends Père H. Ayrout S.J. en L’Église S. Joseph au Caire le 19 Juillet 1949”; of the White Fathers, or Missionaries of Africa. Three items in the Missionaries of Africa Archives, London. bibliography (articles by Holmes-Siedle, by McGuire and Goodstadt, 6. In London, Arthur Hinsley had been rebuked by his fellow bishops and by Marchant) appear on this Web site.

Guidelines for Contributors Guidelines for contributors to the International Bul- lishes original articles and reviews of analysis and reflec- letin of Missionary Research can be found online at tion upon the Christian world mission. Articles previ- www.internationalbulletin.org/node/377. The IBMR pub- ously published in print or online will not be accepted.

160 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 Announcing the Jon and Jean Bonk International Fellowship Fund Dr. Jonathan J. Bonk has announced that as of June 2013 he will retire as executive director of the Overseas Ministries Study Center and editor of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research. With that leadership transition in view, the OMSC Board of Trustees has launched a substantial scholarship initiative—the Jon and Jean Bonk International Fellowship Fund.

OMSC Associate director J. Nelson Jennings, staff forged have deepened through visits from staff and leader for the fund, says the initiative “will enable be- friends, ongoing communication, and mutual prayer.” leaguered Christian leaders to come to OMSC from Residency for a program year (September to May) challenging situations. Currently we have to turn away “costs more money than most of these Christian lead- many worthy candidates due to lack of funding.” ers could ever imagine,” and the lack of funding most The fund will provide encounter “obviously presents friends of the Bonks, OMSC a significant barrier,” Jennings alumni from around the world, comments. To permanently and others who have admired fund the endowed scholarships their ministries from afar, a will require $500,000 each. “concrete way of honoring These will include housing in Jon and Jean on the occasion an OMSC apartment, a stipend of their retirement,” adds Jen- for basic needs including food, nings. Jon and Jean have want- airfare to and from Connecticut, ed to find a way after they retire insurance required to live for even and return to Canada to per- a few months in the United States, petuate their longtime commit- and administrative support. ment to serving marginalized R. Donald MacDougall, for- church leaders and missionaries mer OMSC board member and who live and minister in places treasurer, who is the fund’s hon- where it is extraordinarily diffi- orary chairman, expresses appre- cult and sometimes dangerous to be a follower of Christ. ciation for Jon and Jean for their service to OMSC, given “Christian leaders who face difficult sociopolitical “with such great energy and distinction.” He acknowledges situations are at the heart of OMSC’s ministry,” com- that the cost for many residents, “while modest, is still be- ments Nelson. “Many such leaders—including admin- yond their means.” MacDougall retired as vice president of istrators, pastors, educators, academics, artists, develop- the Towers Perrin management consulting firm. ment workers, and missionaries—have come to OMSC The Bonks, Mennonites who were famine relief from throughout the world and found rest, perspective, and workers in Ethiopia (1974–76), moved to New Haven rejuvenation for reentering their challenging contexts.” from Canada in 1997, after then-director Gerald H. An- OMSC residents, he adds, “have inspired us to serve derson selected Jon as associate director. Jon was pro- in our own contexts with newfound insight, wisdom, fessor of global Christian studies at Providence Theo- and passion. Even after these leaders have complet- logical Seminary, Otterburne, Manitoba, Canada, and ed their OMSC residencies, friendships they have has been executive director since June 2000.

Working alongside Jon and Jean Bonk has been such an honor and inspiration. Their leadership, vision, compassion, strength, and patience, a rare combination of traits, have served the Bonks and OMSC very well. The Jon and Jean Bonk International Fellowship Fund—www.omsc.org/bonkfellowship—is a crowning glory to their ministry. In keeping with their humble spirit, this fellowship is a benefit to others. It will enable those who serve the risen Christ in difficult, oppressive, and challenging circumstances to enjoy the unique opportunities for renewal offered by OMSC. I invite you to join many good people who are truly grateful for the Bonks by making this dream come true. —Dr. David Johnson Rowe, president, OMSC Board of Trustees

Read the Jon and Jean Bonk International Fellowship Fund newsletter online. For details, go to www.omsc.org/bonkfellowship or contact Dr. J. Nelson Jennings, Associate Director.

OVERSEAS MINISTRIES STUDY CENTER www.omsc.org/bonkfellowship [email protected] (203) 624-6672, ext. 306 Book Reviews

Witness to World Christianity: The International Association for Mission Studies, 1972–2012.

By Gerald H. Anderson, with John Roxborogh, John M. Prior, and Christoffer H. Grundmann. New Haven: OMSC Publications, 2012. Pp. xi, 227. Paperback $15.

No one is better placed to tell the bust—met with a rather mixed response. outside the West, and of gender diversity. forty-year history of IAMS than Gerald The volume also includes comprehensive One of the most striking things about Anderson, who was a founding member reports by leaders of the three long-stand- the IAMS story is that, as a “society of the executive committee, served as ing IAMS study group projects, which have for the study of mission” rather than a vice president (1978–82) and president each produced significant work in between “missionary society” (p. 11), it has had (1982–85), and has been an honorary the main events: Documentation, Archives, full Catholic participation in member- life member since 2001. As a leading Bibliography, and Oral History (DABOH), ship and leadership almost from the missiologist and missionary statesman Biblical Studies and Mission (BISAM), beginning. Anderson, who co-edited himself, Anderson is able to highlight key and Healing/Pneumatology. Appendixes the series Mission Trends with Thomas developments, identify key figures (truly a giving details of IAMS conferences, offi- Stansky, C.S.P., in the 1970s, is himself a Who’s Who of mission studies), and assess cers, membership, and the constitution prime example of such partnership. the significance of the decisions made. complete the historical record. Selected Much of the material in this book has He is also able to set the founding and photographs and an index are also included, been painstakingly collected from archi- functioning of IAMS in a wider mission- making this account more readable and val materials and checked with officers historical context. accessible. and other members. We are greatly in the In keeping with the nature of the The focus of IAMS is on Christian debt of Anderson and his colleagues for organization, Witness to World Christianity mission, but as Anderson shows, it is a making the history of this key scholarly is structured around the IAMS confer- product of a postcolonial age in which association for the study of mission more ences, beginning in 1972 and numbering mission is multidirectional and theology widely known, and for presenting it in an twelve to date. As well as reporting on is intercultural. In many ways Anderson’s appropriately scholarly way. these, the book gives comprehensive infor- approach to the topic epitomizes the —Kirsteen Kim mation about the activities of the Associa- ecumenical breadth and openness of tion in the intervening years. Additionally, IAMS. He is careful to represent diverse Kirsteen Kim, a contributing editor, is Professor it is prefaced with a revealing look back points of view, and his own particular of Theology and World Christianity, Leeds Trinity over the years to 1951, when the first pro- concerns are not allowed to dominate University College, England. Originally from posal of such an association—by the great the history. Particular attention is given Britain, she has lived in South Korea (1987–92), Norwegian missiologist Olav G. Mykle- to representation in IAMS of the world the United States (1992–93), and India (1993–97).

Faith and Order in the U.S.A.: contains findings of the F&O colloquium A Brief History of Studies and “Salvation and Life,” which is a landmark Relationships. event in American ecumenical history. While successfully taking account By William A. Norgren. Grand Rapids: of the regional aspects of F&O in the Eerdmans, 2011. Pp. vi, 97. Paperback $20. United States and considering them in the wider perspective of the world This small book is in many ways an ideal chapters. The first covers the period from ecumenical movement, this book offers entrée into the history of the Faith and 1957, the beginning of F&O in the United little concerning its relationships with Order (F&O) movement in the United States, to 1971, dealing with regional other regional, particularly Majority States. First, it rightly emphasizes the aspects such as the characteristics of the World, ecumenical movements. Similarly, regional aspects of the movement rather United States as an immigrant nation, the the book does not deal adequately with than simply discussing it at the global ecclesiological significance of councils subjects that show the interrelatedness level. Second, it is written by an expert of churches, sociopolitical and gender between F&O and Life and Work and that who knows all the ins and outs of the contexts, and local ecumenism. Chapter reflect the reality of the Majority World, movement, having worked in various 2 reveals “many voices” in the movement such as Koinonia and Justice, Peace, and capacities, first as director of F&O studies after 1971, such as the F&O texts and Creation: Costly Unity (1993) and The Nature of the National Council of the Churches of projects Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry and Mission of the Church (2005). Christ in the U.S.A., and then as ecumenical (1982), Church and World: The Unity of —Kyo Seong Ahn officer of the Episcopal Church. Finally, in the Church and the Renewal of Human writing the history, the writer draws on Community (1990), and Toward a Common Kyo Seong Ahn, Assistant Professor of Historical materials available, along with his own Expression of the Apostolic Faith Today (1982). Theology, Presbyterian College and Theological service experience. The final chapter is a kind of postscript, Seminary, Seoul, Korea, served as a missionary in The book is divided into three “Looking Back/Ahead.” An appendix Mongolia (1992–2000).

162 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 African Christian Presence Pastoral Research in Goroka, PNG, and If read against the background of Paul in the West: New Immigrant still later director of the Society of the Hiebert’s famous axiom of the “excluded Congregations and Transnational Divine Word’s Anthropological Institute in middle,” Mantovani’s chronicle becomes Networks in North America and Germany, provides readers with a fifteen- all the more important. Hiebert maintains Europe. year chronicle (1962–77) and overview that most missionaries are unable to cope of Catholic missionary practice in the with alternative logics of peoples like Edited by Frieder Ludwig and J. Kwabena highlands of Papua New Guinea. It is an the Chimbu, but especially are unable to Asamoah-Gyadu. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World extremely good read and analysis of both take seriously the reality of nature and Press, 2011. Pp. vii, 472. Paperback $39.95. the Yobai parish and the way a perceptive place “spirits” or the experience that such Italian missionary went about deepening peoples have of the presence and agency From Ireland to Minnesota, one of the faith among first- and second-generation of ancestral spirits. In this book, however, most significant Christian developments Christians in one of the most challenging one encounters a man who has learned of recent years is the expansion of African missionary venues on earth. from Mircea Eliade to listen to men and churches to the West. African Christian Presence in the West, a collection of essays by leading scholars in the field, provides an essential introduction. Key sections review theoretical or framing issues around religion and migration, case studies and comparisons from both North America and Europe, and both theological and biblical reflections on migration. The appendixes introduce some of the conversations that churches and leaders are having about African Christianity in the West. Overall, one finds coverage of an ecumenical field of congregational life, attention to particular practices such as singing and preaching, an integration of theory and concrete models, and sociological and theological reflection. Special recognition should be given Transforming to the editors and organizers of the Mission conference on which this book was Paradigm Shifts in based: Frieder Ludwig and J. Kwabena Theology of Mission Asamoah-Gyadu. A vital mission NEW Mission Studies 20th Anniversary Edition challenge or opening to the churches of Mission and Culture the West runs throughout the essays. Yet DAVID J. BOSCH as the contributors indicate, much work Foreword by William R. Burrows The Louis J. Luzbetak Lectures remains to be done, in both research and With a new concluding chapter by STEPHEN B. BEVANS, editor engagement. As a reference point for the Darrel Guder and Martin Reppenhagen American Society of field,African Christian Presence in the West “The indispensable foundation for Missiology Series, Vol. 48 is a benchmark. the teaching of missiology for many Significant issues addressed by —Mark R. Gornik years to come.” —Lesslie Newbigin outstanding experts including noted missiologists José M. de Mark R. Gornik, Director of City Seminary of New 978-1-57075-948-2 660pp $35 pb York, is the author of To Live in Peace: Biblical Mesa, Darrell L. Whiteman, Faith and the Changing Inner City (Eerdmans, Comprehending Mission Aylward Shorter, John Kirby, and 2002) and Word Made Global: Stories of African The Questions, Methods, Themes, Angelyn Dries, anthropologists Christianity in New York City (Eerdmans, 2011). Problems, and Prospects of Missiology Linda E. Thomas, Anthony J. STANLEY H. SKRESLET Gittins, and Philip Gibbs, and American Society of theologians Gemma T. Cruz and Missiology Series, Vol. 49 Robert J. Schreiter. “Will be the standard introduction “Each lecturer has honored Mission: Collision or Dialogical to the field of missiology for the Fr. Luzbetak with their careful Encounter? A Chronicle of St. next decade, and every student Paul’s Parish, Yobai, Papua New scholarship, vast experience, Guinea. ought to begin right here.” and passion for mission.” —Amos Yong —from the Introduction by By Ennio Mantovani, S.V.D. Nettetal, Ger.: 978-1-57075-959-8 256pp $30 pb Stephen B. Bevans Steyler Verlag, 2011. Pp. 475. €30.70. 978-1-57075-965-9 280pp $48 pb

In Mission: Collision or Dialogical Encounter? Ennio Mantovani, S.V.D., for many years From your bookseller or direct ORBIS BOOKS a missionary in the Chimbu Province Follow us Maryknoll, NY 10545 of Papua New Guinea, later head of 1-800-258-5838 www.maryknollmall.org the Melanesian Institute for Social and

July 2012 163 women who are trying to bring into unity exclude Melanesian worldviews. I know book is published, one will understand their traditional axis mundi (i.e., the axis of no book that surveys and analyzes so its background in the life of one of the around which the kosmos turns), centered well the practice of listening, learning, most significant figures in the Catholic on the spirit world, and the Christian and taking seriously a people’s world. missionary world. teaching that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Mantovani is currently working on his —William R. Burrows axis mundi. theological approach to articulating Christ I visited Yobai several times in the as the axis mundi, drawing on Melanesian William R. Burrows, Managing Editor Emeritus mid-1970s and learned to appreciate what proverbs and stories. Mission: Collision of Orbis Books and an IBMR contributing editor, Mantovani and his neighbor James Knight, or Dialogical Encounter? is excellent in is Research Professor in the World Christianity S.V.D., were doing to include rather than its own right, but when his forthcoming Program at New York Theological Seminary.

History from the Underside: The readers do not expect to find much in Untold Stories of Black Catholic them. Make no mistake here; this is not Clergy in South Africa (1898 to an ordinary Festschrift. Its authors form 2008). a “who’s who” of the study of missions, theology, and Christian history today. By George. S. Mukuka. Baltimore: It is a lively account of one of the most PublishAmerica, 2011. Pp. 367. $29.95. revolutionary Christian thinkers of our time, and a vivid demonstration of the This book of biographies by George South Africa. Their challenge, in the words power of his ideas. Mukuka, a research associate at the Uni- of Gobi Mikoka, was to the “hierarchy’s Nothing can substitute for reading versity of the Witwatersrand, lifts the veil predilection to support the settler regime Andrew Walls’s works themselves, so this on the frustrations of South Africa’s early actively at the expense of the indigenous book functions more as a “companion” generations of indigenous priests who, clergy and laity, and the oppressed and reader for someone who has encountered for the first half of the twentieth century, exploited community at large” (p. 277). Walls a bit and wants to learn more about labored within a paternalistic missionary Shocked by these events, the bishops the scholar himself, the influence of his church. His later personalities are selected reopened St. Peters in 1981 and belatedly work, and the ways his ideas are animat- from the decades following the Second integrated all their seminaries. Mukuka’s ing the thinking of others. World War, in the context of South Africa’s final biography is that of Themba The book begins with the story of escalating liberation movement. Mngoma, installed in 1981 as the first Andrew Walls. He has been a missionary The first African priest, Edward African bishop of Mariannhill Diocese. teacher and scholar in West Africa, the Muller Kece Mnganga, returned in 1898 While limited in its contextual United Kingdom, and now roving the to the Mariannhill Diocese, Natal, after analysis, History from the Underside is a world; he challenges Western theological, eight years’ education in Rome. Small perceptive and meticulously researched historical, and missiological conventions; numbers followed in his footsteps until text—a pioneering work that needs to he is an institutional entrepreneur; and he South Africa’s segregated seminaries be followed up with more detailed bio- leads a movement to reinvent the field gathered strength. These pioneers of an graphies, particularly of current church of mission studies and Christian history. autochthonous church ran up against leaders. These lively accounts are written by close white clergy who, with some exceptions, —Peter Walshe colleagues, such as I. Howard Marshall, had absorbed colonialism’s smug sense of the late Kwame Bediako, and Bediako’s racial superiority. The result was cultural Peter Walshe, a native of South Africa, is Professor colleagues who worked with Walls in misunderstandings, humiliation, and Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Ghana, Allison Howell and Maureen suppressed anger. In Fr. Mnganga’s case, Dame, Indiana. His publications include Prophetic Iheanacho. this led to an outburst of violence, followed Christianity and the Liberation Movement in Four accounts follow, measuring by unjust incarceration in an asylum for South Africa (Pietermaritzburg, 1995). the impact that Walls has made on the seventeen years. academy, notably that of Wilbert Shenk A happier experience was that of on Walls’s influence on church history Andreas Mdontswa Ngidi, who returned and theology; Brian Stanley on the from Rome with a doctorate. Recognized as development of Walls’s major institu- a Zulu linguist and a defender of African tional creation, the Centre for the Study traditions, he and Fr. Bernard Huss of of Christianity in the Non-Western World, Mariannhill worked to establish rural Understanding World Christianity: at New College, Edinburgh; Jonathan Christian settlements where communal The Vision and Work of Andrew F. Bonk on how Walls helped reconceive values might flourish. Walls. and reroute mission studies into the study Later biographies reveal how under- of world Christianity; and Moonjang currents of discontent within a rigidly Edited by William R. Burrows, Mark R. Lee on Walls’s revisioning of theological segregated church and the consolidating Gornik, and Janis A. McLean. Maryknoll, education. racism of apartheid erupted in 1976, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2011. Pp. ix, 294. Paperback The great bulk of the book, however, when St. Peters Major Seminary was closed $30. goes to scholars who demonstrate how after its students and Old Boys Associ- Walls’s reorientation of theological, ation confronted their white faculty and Festschrifts are the Rodney Dangerfields of missiological, and historical thinking is the Conference of Catholic Bishops—just academic publishing; they get no respect. leading them in fresh directions. They as the black consciousness movement Publishers do not want them, journals are too many to account for completely was being brutally repressed in the wider resist reviewing them, and scholarly here, but we see a Walls-ian imprint on

164 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 Lamin Sanneh’s work on the Bible’s Missional Preaching: Engage, role in Christian transformations world- Embrace, Transform. wide, William Burrows’s insights on the meaning of conversion, Dana Robert’s By Al Tizon. Valley Forge, Pa.: Judson Press, critical look at the historiography of 2012. Pp. vii, 164. Paperback $16.99. world Christian history, and Mark Noll’s comparisons of American, Asian, and Missional Preaching offers a needed Toward this understanding, Tizon African Christianities. and engaging “theology of mission for calls preachers to read and therefore This mode of thinking suffuses the preachers” (p. 159). This is not to say that proclaim the Bible through the interpre- final section as well, where Jehu Han- Missional Preaching pays no attention to the tive lens of God’s mission. Then, ciles, Kwame and Gillian Bediako, and craft of making sermons, for Tizon offers Tizon utilizes the bulk of the book to Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu all reflect on sample sermons from various persons explore thought-fully seven goals for how much Walls gave to African Chris- to exemplify the missional themes of the preaching that rise out of this missional tianity, how much it became part of him, book. He also offers a sermon evaluation commitment—inculturation, alternative and how much the Christian world stands guide to reinforce those themes. But as community, holistic transformation, jus- to gain from it. Tizon states, Missional Preaching does not tice and reconciliation, whole-life Editors Burrows, Gornik, and McLean offer a “how to manual on preaching” stewardship, life and peace, and the have created a work that far exceeds (p. 159). Rather, the question is “why and scandal of Jesus. what we typically expect from its genre. to whom do we preach?” (p. xvi). Missional Preaching is a welcome If you want to learn more about Andrew These questions arise from a prob- contribution from the pen of a seasoned Walls and his “fortunate subversion” of lem noticeable among U.S. Christians missionary and veteran professor. Even if contemporary Christian thinking, you in a changing global reality—namely, the reader may differ at times with Tizon’s should read this book. that we have lost our missional identity conclusions, his relevant and compelling —Joel Carpenter as those who have been created in the discussions offer real help to preachers image of a missional God. The premise of who want to biblically and credibly Joel Carpenter is Director of the Nagel Institute for the book thus rests on two assumptions: address the actual issues of our changing the Study of World Christianity at Calvin College, “(1) Mission is integral to the church’s iden- cultures in a Christ-Centered way. Grand Rapids, Michigan. His latest book is Walking tity, and (2) Preaching plays a central role —Zack Eswine Together: Christian Thinking and Public Life in in shaping that identity.” Consequently, South Africa (ACU Press, 2012). we have the need “to understand some- Zack Eswine is Lead Pastor of Riverside Church, thing called missional preaching” (p. xx). Webster Groves, Missouri.

July 2012 165 An Unpredictable Gospel: Smith, a revival preacher in the United It seems churlish to complain about American Evangelicals and World States who subsequently went to both a nice book, but using “engage Asian Christianity, 1812–1920. India and Liberia. In addition, Pandita traditions” in the title, yet failing to do that Ramabai, a Hindu who converted to to any depth, other than in the excellent By Jay Riley Case. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Christianity, and her leadership of a revival book-ends, does rather ask for comment. Press, 2012. Pp. xi, 311. £60 / $99; paperback in 1905 at her Mukti Mission in Pune, The content is largely about church £15.99 / $24.95. India, became part of the story of the emer- planting, encouraging for Mennonites gence of Pentecostalism, often dated from and Brethren but frustrating for the non- Jay Riley Case has written an exciting book the Azusa Street revival of 1906. Mennonite interested in the intersection of with an alluring title. His thinking on the The thesis of this book, more com- Mennonite nonviolence with the Hindu, topics of American evangelicalism and plex in its details than can be told fully in Jain, and Buddhist ahimsa (relevant to world Christianity has been informed by the space of this review, is that Christian- all areas except the Philippines) and the perspectives of Nathan Hatch, George ity, regardless of Western and American ignorant of the finer details of splinter Marsden, Andrew Walls, and Lamin perspectives that dominated much of the churches. This outsider would have been Sanneh, an important group of pioneers in past two centuries, has always been a helped by a visual “genealogy” of the their respective fields. He has taken these world religion and that many of the impor- various churches in each region and by new ideas—particularly those he gained tant changes to Protestantism in the West some judicious explaining of ecclesial hot from what he calls his “reorientation” about have come as the result of developments spots. Why does the Bhartiya General the missionary movement from a seminar in Christianity in other, often unexpected Conference Mennonite Church, in India, Sanneh led, “Christianity as a World places in the world. Case is persuasive not ordain women (p. 180) but the Religion”—and has written a history in when he maintains that the Gospel in the Mennonite Brethren accept them (p. 152)? this new perspective about the missionary context of the missionary movement has The answer is surely obvious to those in the programs of selected evangelical groups often been unpredictable. know—but books are not just for insiders! in the nineteenth century. He chose that —John F. Piper, Jr. Quibbles apart, the thirteen writers era because the “cultural and religious of this fourth volume (the most complex patterns” of the expansive movements of John F. Piper, Jr., is Professor of History and yet) of the five-volume history of the world Christianity in the twentieth century Dean Emeritus, Lycoming College, Williamsport, Mennonites and Brethren in Christ have took root then (p. 15). Pennsylvania. done a valiant job in sorting out and This is a study of the missionary efforts setting down important historical and of four American evangelical groups—the contemporary material as a resource for American Baptists, Methodists, AMC all interested in Christianity in Asia. Church, and the Holiness movement/ —Elizabeth Koepping Pentecostals—that sent out missionaries to Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and Elizabeth Koepping is Associate Director, Center how the development of Christianity in Churches Engage Asian Traditions: for the Study of World Christianity, School of these various places in turn influenced A Global Mennonite History. Divinity, University of Edinburgh. the development of Christianity in the missionaries’ American homeland. The Edited by John A. Lapp and C. Arnold Snyder. work of American Baptists in Burma, Intercourse, Pa.: Good Books; Kitchener, Ont.: especially with the Karen people and Pandora Press, 2011. Pp. 376. Paperback the emergence of the native-ministry $11.95. model, became an important influence in Baptist missionary work among African This is a well-presented and carefully The Church and Development in Americans in the U.S. South before documented history of the establishing Africa: Aid and Development from and after the Civil War. Methodists are and growth of Mennonite churches in the Perspective of Catholic Social represented by William Taylor, who, Asia. Primarily covering Indonesia, Ethics. with his vision of a color-blind ministry India, Chinese-speaking communities, and democratized missionary work Philippines, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, By Stan Chu Ilo. Eugene, Ore.: Pickwick based on his experiences in South Africa, it includes an excellent introduction to Publications, 2011. Pp. xxxvi, 304. Paperback had a profound impact on the Holiness the cultural and religious background of $38. movement in America and was important the continent and an equally reflective in the emergence of Pentecostalism. conclusion on the mission of the church and The Church and Development in Africa The third group is the African Methodist its prospects and problems, both of which provides a very helpful summary of the Episcopal Church, which had extensive engage with the context. The substantive Roman Catholic approach to develop- missionary work in South Africa. It was chapters on each region are written by a ment in Africa. Author Stan Ilo, a Nige- deeply affected by the African American local leader, and each in varying ways rian, provides critical insights into Great Awakening after the Civil War, gives the cultural background and then the theory and practice of African beginning with the revival and missionary details which church was set up when development. work of Henry McNeal Turner, which and by whom, who ran each school, and Chapters 1 and 2 summarize the social led to the emergence of evangelicalism what has been achieved. It is copiously teaching of the Catholic Church. Pope as “the central component of African- illustrated with photographs, a number Benedict XVI’s social encyclical Charity in American religious life” (p. 163). Finally, of which show Christians of many Truth (2009) includes Catholic teaching on Case discusses the Holiness movement backgrounds and occupations, rather social principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, and Pentecostals. Several evangelical more showing church plants. The book participation, ecology, human rights, social missionaries, Methodists with holiness is easy to use for information about the ethics, natural law, and gratuitousness. sympathies, helped solidify the Holiness Asian history of this family of churches, Chapter 3 paints the present picture of movement—including Agnes McAllister, adding much to the understanding of Africa’s development needs and assets. who went to Liberia, Lucy Drake Osborne, the Mennonite experience and expansion Noting that “many people outside who went to India, and Amanda Berry in Asia. Africa often wrongly read Africa as a

166 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 single story with common problems and (p. 172), and speaking of the causes and identity” (p. xxxiv), Ilo argues that the effects of climate change (p. 267). unique social and cultural contexts of Ilo surveys on a wide range of Our Gift specific development activities need to be development activities but presents thoroughly understood before any aid is no detailed case studies. The general distributed. Chapters 4 and 5 then provide guidelines and “Ten Commandments” he general theories and principles to help offers are helpful, although those looking guide the church, individual Christians, for in-depth applications for development to You and charities for development activities in Africa will be disappointed. The in Africa. thorough, broad perspective he provides The strength of the book lies in the on development in Africa, particularly author’s breadth and depth of vision from a Catholic perspective, makes for the kingdom of God in Africa, for this book an invaluable resource. It is a which he integrates the disciplines of significant contribution to development theology, philosophy, anthropology, and literature. The author’s outlook is starkly sociology. He tackles a wide range of realistic and refreshingly hopeful for the issues, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, future of Africa. poverty, health, homelessness, education, —W. Jay Moon globalization, debt, ecology, water and food shortage, reconciliation, and cultural W. Jay Moon, Professor of Intercultural Studies at development. At times, though, sweeping Sioux Falls Seminary, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, statements may be somewhat overstated, was an SIM missionary in Ghana focusing on water such as calling capitalism the “mother development and church planting from 1992 to 2005. of corruption in Africa” (p. 159), seeing He previously worked as an engineer in the Virginia globalization as the “structure of sin” State Health Department, Office of Water Programs.

Vietnam’s Christians: A Century of Growth in Adversity. FREE

By Reg Reimer. Pasadena, Calif.: William BOOK Carey Library, 2011. Pp. xviii, 122. Paperback $12.99. Indigenous missions Until now, a substantive chapter on Prot- imprisoned pastors, and confiscated 300 carry on where estant Vietnam has been missing from properties, taking a heavy toll on morale standard histories of Asian continental and internal church life. Americans are no Christianity. No longer, thanks to the During the “Dark Decade” (1975–85) longer allowed to go work of Reg Reimer. Written to celebrate all church communities were forced as missionaries. the hundred-year saga of Vietnam’s evan- into hiding. After the 1986 policy of gelicals, the volume provides a spare but Doi Moi (reform), churches grew, but This FREE book offer from articulate history of Vietnamese Christi- stagnation was pervasive until a Spirit- anity as seen through the eye of a trained powered renewal and revival spawned Christian Aid will challenge missiologist. a nonaffiliated house-based movement, and inspire your mission vision The book’s first half recounts the which grew to 250,000 followers by 2009. beginnings of Vietnam’s evangelical Today the Protestant church as a whole is as never before. Provocative. church in 1911, when Christian and believed to number 1.4 million, a growth Essential. Definitive. Missionary Alliance (CMA) missionary of 900 percent since 1975! It is a must read. Robert Jaffray pioneered out of South The largest growth has been among China. Against background essays Vietnam’s 60 ethnic minorities, especially CALL 800-977-5650 about Catholic missions and indigenous the Hmong of the northwest mountain- religions, Reimer traces the advance and ous provinces. Out of a Hmong popula- Request online trials of the CMA mission and its church tion of 800,000 it is believed there are now during three wars: Japanese occupation upward of 350,000 believers. Starting in www.WorldMissions.info (1941–45), the war of independence from 1987, sparked by Gospel radio broadcasts, the French (1945–54), and the Vietnam/ this phenomenon of religious conversion American war (1964–75). is arguably the world’s most significant Christian The second half of the book is mass movement to Christianity in the last Aid devoted to the adversities and endurance quarter of the twentieth century. . . . because of the churches in the south, whose Gripping and highly readable side- we love the brethren. multidenominational constituency of bar-like personal stories supplement the 160,000 came under Communist rule book and include that of Kim Phuc (“the Christian Aid Mission after 1975. Government policies closed all napalm girl,” subject of a Pulitzer Prize social service agencies, shuttered churches, photo), Mennonite believer Miss Lien, P. O. Box 9037 Charlottesville, VA 22906

July 2012 167 lawyer Dai (converted after defending Readings from the Edges: The a house-church leader), and Mrs. Sung Bible and People on the Move. (intrepid evangelist among Stieng trib- als). The book’s closing chapter addresses By Jean-Pierre Ruiz. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis the crucial issue of religious freedom in Books, 2011. Pp. xi, 185. Paperback $28. Vietnam, the world’s thirteenth most populous country. Readings from the Edges considers the means to read and apply Scripture to life —James F. Lewis ethics of liberation, draws attention to and liberation. the perspective of diaspora peoples, and To avoid a “narrowly framed liber- James. F. Lewis, Professor of World Religions, Bethel looks at the reading and interpretation of ationist hermeneutics,” Ruiz turns to University, St. Paul, Minnesota, served in Vietnam Scripture. Here, ethical emphasis upon lived experience as a source of diverse and India with the Christian and Missionary the “preferential option for the poor” cri- and relevant theological reflection and Alliance. tiques academic understanding of what it to communities defined as “people of the Word,” not merely a “people of the Book.” Emphasis upon the Word allows for the theological, pragmatic, and practical interpretations of “people on the move.” They bring a hermeneutical nternatIonal ulletIn of edge to the preferential option for the poor I B as the excluded, the alienated, and the marginalized read and interpret, embrace MIssIonary research and apply the Word in an alternative voice. Ruiz wishes to displace academic In-depth Analysis of Mission History and Trends “private reading” with the older practice of “reading with” the community gathered in worship. This should be a public Search act and subject to public comment and accountability. The International Bulletin of Mis- The second half of Ruiz’s book looks sionary Research offers an easily at actual texts and their interpretation. searchable online gateway to all Each in its own way exemplifies how past feature articles, book reviews, context shapes the reading and interpreta- news items, and conference notices. tion of texts, ranging from comparison of Go to www.internationalbulletin interpretations of Nehemiah in modern .org/search to search or scroll Brooklyn, to Christopher Columbus’s through the index of more than interpretation of Revelation in light of the expanding empire of Spain. 1,600 articles and 2,200 book Ruiz’s work serves as a good text reviews in the e-journal archives. for those interested in alternative ways to read and interpret Scripture that takes the perspective of the reader and the poor Read as primary to diverse and alternative interpretations of Scripture. It resonates When you locate an article or deeply with Fernando Segovia’s claim review that captures your interest, that “all exegesis is ultimately eisegesis.” For click on the PDF link and down- many this will be deeply disturbing, but load the article. (The most recent for Ruiz it represents “the new normal.” articles are also online in HTML —Thomas A. Harvey format.) If you are not already a subscriber to the IBMR e-journal, simply register at www. internationalbulletin .org/register. It’s FREE. If you prefer the print edition, join the thou- Thomas A. Harvey is Academic Dean of the Oxford sands of mission-minded scholars and practitioners who subscribe for $23 a year including Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, England. postage worldwide—at www.internationalbulletin.org/subscribe. Share Whether in print or online, you will receive 4 issues per year—January, April, July, and Robinson Crusoe Tries Again: Missiology and European October—of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, an Associated Church Constructions of “Self” and Press award-winning publication of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. Feel free to “Other” in a Global World, e-mail articles to others and introduce them to the benefits of theIBMR . Thank you for 1789–2010. helping us spread the word about the IBMR—your reliable source for Christian mission history and analysis. By Werner Ustorf, edited by Roland Löffler. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2010. Pp. 271. €69.95 / $100.

This book is a posthumously published www.internationalbulletin.org collection of articles by German missiolo- gist Werner Ustorf, focused on the time of

168 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 his decade-long work at the University of From Mao to Market: China Birmingham in the area of mission studies. Reconfigured. Ustorf’s thinking focused on the critical study of mission, especially on “how, By Robin Porter. New York: Columbia Univ. when, and where and in which way one Press, 2011. Pp. xviii, 288. $35. can speak with responsibility of God and the Gospel,” and was deeply influenced From Mao to Market explores the evolu- under Mao to a thorough analysis of the by the thinkers of the Frankfurt School, tion of China’s state socialism and the economic reforms. Porter argues that especially Walter Benjamin (p. 10). For profound changes and continuities from China’s quest for modernization was Ustorf, missiology manifests itself as a the Maoist era (1949–76) to the Reform uniquely painful because of the com- form of historical analysis and intercultural period (1976–present). Comprising twelve pressed timescale and the intense internal theology. The collection of essays is intro- lucid chapters, this book guides readers and external pressures for change. duced by Roland Löffler, a former student, through the socialist transformation The conceptualization of this work as a “tour d’horizon” (p. 14) of Ustorf’s life and work. The Robinson Crusoe of the title is a trope familiar from Ustorf’s writing and a metaphor for the encounter between North and South (p. 14). The volume is organized in four parts, covering the different aspects of Witness to World Ustorf’s work spanning historical studies and contemporary debates. It collects his work over the last decades of his life and makes it accessible to readers of English. Christianity Some chapters have been published be-fore, but not all in English. Part 1 fea- The International Association for tures historical studies that discuss the locations (Bremen, London, Weimar) Mission Studies, 1972–2012 and persons (Rudolph Dulon, Olaudah Equiano, Johann Gottfried Herder) inter- acting in these places with questions of belief, cultural and racial identities, and Gerald H. Anderson Gospel. Part 2 focuses on the multidis- ciplinary aspects of colonial mission, with exploring the “missionary self” ambiva- John Roxborogh lently perched between enlightenment John M. Prior, S.V.D. and empire, between teacher and scholar, Christoffer H. Grundmann and produced by the missionary history of Protestantism. Part 3 adds a fascinating angle to missionary history: nationalist US $15 plus shipping and totalitarian attempts to discredit and discard Christian heritage in favor of $10 for IAMS members nationalist, or “muscular,” ethnocentric rearticulations. Part 4 then brings us into the present with essays that consider Forty years after its founding Philip Jenkins’s work and how to view in 1972, the International Asso- “reverse mission” of Africans in Europe, Christianity in a post-Christian Britain, ciation for Mission Studies has European discoveries of primal religion, become an international and inter- and the landscapes of an increasingly denominational network of indi- multireligious Europe. Ustorf’s keen insights are powered viduals, organizations, and centers by his multidisciplinary approach, his engaged in the scholarly study of grounded historical work, and the sharp the Christian world mission. IAMS provides mutual encouragement, questions he asks about the past, present, and future of Christianity in societies both fellowship, and dissemination of information for the advancement of European and beyond. His critical vision scholarship about world mission and the encounter of the Gospel with of missionary history does not obscure what he assumes will continue to be an cultures and religions worldwide. It is not a sending or promotional unfolding, fragmented, and continually agency, but an association for the study of mission. transforming presence of Christianity in Europe and elsewhere. Gerald H. Anderson is director emeritus of the Overseas —Marion S. Grau Ministries Study Center, and was editor of the IBMR. Marion S. Grau, Associate Professor of Theology, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, a member of the For details or to order a copy, go to Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, is the author of Of Divine Economy: Refinanc- www.omsc.org/iamshistory ing Redemption (T. & T. Clark, 2004).

July 2012 169 is intriguing at two levels. First, Porter his successors. From the 1980s onward, itsits authoritarian authoritarian system, system, a a rising rising China China that that discusses the transformation of state economic growth has become the people’s deniesdenies its its citizens citizens what what they they desire—such desire—such socialism from 1949 to the present. Neither hope and desire, and thus the road to the asas job job security, security, health health care, care, gender gender equal- equal- a reproduction of the Soviet Union model Communist Party’s legitimacy. ity,ity, and and freedom—pushes freedom—pushes discontented discontented nor an incarnation of the Confucian empire, Second, Porter highlights the grow- sectorssectors to to mobilize mobilize themselves themselves for for col- col- the Communist state distinguished itself ing tension between state and society in lectivelective action action to to find find security,security, solace,solace, andand in its extensive use of power to remodel Reform China. Combining the transforma- justice.justice. Such Such a a shaky shaky political political foundation foundation society, economy, and culture. The tive power of market economy and the suggestssuggests that that unprecedented unprecedented growth growth gave gave state created numerous institutional enforced stability of authoritarian rule, ChinaChina only only a a temporary temporary reprieve, reprieve, for for the the mechanisms to enforce policies at all levels the Communist leadership adapts certain statestate is is still still trapped trapped in in a a perpetual perpetual cycle cycle and dominate political, socioeconomic, tenets of capitalism such as opening up to ofof discontent. discontent. and cultural domains. But the Cultural foreign investment, deregulating its labor Overall,Overall, thisthis bookbook criticallycritically reviewsreviews Revolution (1966–76), which set out to market, and building infrastructure, while China’sChina’s latest latest development, development, giving giving those those activate popular radicalism in support maintaining firm control over government, unfamiliarunfamiliar with with the the country country a a sense sense of of of Mao, almost brought down the state. military, public security, and information. itsits dynamics dynamics and and change. change. It It should should be be of of The state survived only by suppressing But accompanying the economic miracle interestinterest to to a a wide wide range range of of readers. readers. the popular outpourings that Mao had are authoritarianism and domestic conflict. —Joseph—Joseph Tse-Hei Tse-Hei Lee Lee encouraged. Since then, Communism as Because of explosive grievances exacer- a belief system collapsed and pragmatism bated by the state’s aggressive develop- JosephJoseph Tse-Hei Tse-Hei Lee Lee is is Professor Professor of of History History at at Pace Pace prevailed under Deng Xiaoping and ment strategies and reluctance to liberalize UniversityUniversity in in Lower Lower Manhattan, Manhattan, New New York. York.

CityCity of of Tranquil Tranquil Light: Light: A A Novel. Novel. Reverse Mission: Transnational Religious Communities and the ByBy Bo Bo Caldwell. Caldwell. New New York: York: Henry Henry Holt, Holt, 2010. 2010. Making of U.S. Foreign Policy. Pp.Pp. 287. 287. $25. $25. By Timothy A. Byrnes. Washington, D.C.: NovelsNovels and and biographies biographies based based on on mis- mis- Katherine for medical services, early Georgetown Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. xvii, 196. sionariessionaries have have been been a a mixed mixed lot. lot. The The death of their only child, maneuvering $44.95; paperback $26.95. hagiographieshagiographies that that dominated dominated the the field field through official red tape, coping with inin the the nineteenth nineteenth and and early early twentieth twentieth flood and famine, and the ever-present Scholars rarely give missionaries the cen-turiescen-turies have have long long been been discredited. discredited. corruption. In all seasons, their love and attention they deserve, but they give even SomersetSomerset Maugham Maugham entertained entertained his his loyalty to the Chinese remain steadfast, less attention to the role of missionaries in readersreaders with with caricatures caricatures of of missionary missionary and the Chinese reciprocate. The Friesens’ their home countries. In Reverse Mission foibles.foibles. More More recently, recently, novelists novelists have have spirituality is unostentatious but integral Timothy Byrnes helps to rectify this depicteddepicted thethe missionarymissionary asas aa misguidedmisguided to their identities. situation by examining the influence zealot.zealot. Caldwell mined the archives of her of three American Catholic religious CityCity of of Tranquil Tranquil Light Light is is set set in in the the China China maternal grandparents, long-serving communities on U.S. foreign policy from ofof the the first first three three decadesdecades ofof the the twentieth twentieth missionaries to China, to create her the 1970s to the 1990s. He concludes that century.century. TheThe Boxer Boxer Uprising Uprising ushered ushered in in main characters, Will and Katherine. their influence was significant and that thethe new new century. century. In In 1911 1911 the the Qing Qing Dynasty Dynasty She maintains fine artistic control over it directly reflected the transnational waswas overthrown. overthrown. A A few few years years later later famine famine her materials, allowing her characters to identities and distinctive vocations of each struckstruck the the land. land. The The 1920s 1920s were were roiled roiled by by speak authentically. The result is a memor- community. thethe emergence emergence of of new new revolutionary revolutionary forces forces able portrait. American Jesuits, for example, andand civil civil war. war. Social Social and and political political instability instability —Wilbert R. Shenk reacted swiftly and decisively when the werewere never never far far away. away. Salvadoran army, which was heavily WillWill Kiehn Kiehn and and Katherine Katherine Friesen Friesen Wilbert R. Shenk, an IBMR contributing editor, financed by the United States, murdered meetmeet forfor thethe firstfirst time time whenwhen they they boardboard is Senior Professor of Mission History and six members of the Society of Jesus and two aa ship ship in in Seattle Seattle bound bound for for China China in in Contemporary Culture, Fuller Graduate School of women at Central American University in 1906.1906. Both Both are are products products of of tight-knit tight-knit Intercultural Studies, Pasadena, California. He lives 1989. Almost immediately the presidents communitiescommunities inin thethe AmericanAmerican Midwest.Midwest. in Elkhart, Indiana. of Jesuit universities around the United BothBoth have have been been recruited recruited for for mission- mission- States began protesting the murders and aryary service service in in China China while while still still in in their their the U.S. policies that funneled money to twenties.twenties. Will Will has has a a high high school school education; education; such unscrupulous killers. Some of these KatherineKatherine is is trained trained as as a a nurse nurse and and expects expects Please beware of bogus renewal presidents then traveled to El Salvador toto put put that that training training to to good good use. use. notices. A genuine IBMR renewal to meet with President Cristiani, other TheirTheir first first assignment assignment is is to to learn learn notice will have a return address Salvadoran officials, and the American Mandarin.Mandarin. Will Will gains gains a a fair fair mastery, mastery, but but of Denville, NJ 07834 on the outer ambassador. When the one witness to the forfor Katherine Katherine language language remains remains a a daily daily envelope, and the address on the murders was threatened by Salvadoran struggle.struggle. Eventually, Eventually, they they fall fall in in love love and and reply envelope will go to PO Box officers while supposedly being protected areare married. married. After After marriage, marriage, Will Will and and 3000, Denville, NJ 07834-3000. by the U.S. State Department, it was Paul KatherineKatherine move move to to a a town town where where they they are are Please e-mail [email protected] Tipton, president of the Association of toto establishestablish aa church.church. TheirTheir strongstrong bondbond or call (203) 624-6672, ext. 309, with Jesuit Colleges and Universities, who both sustainssustains them them through through ever-present, ever-present, often often any questions. Thank you. sheltered the witness in a hidden location heart-breaking,heart-breaking, struggles—the struggles—the constant constant and began a public relations campaign lacklack of of finances, finances, relentless relentless demandsdemands on on against U.S. policy in El Salvador. In the

170 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 end, Byrnes concludes, the Jesuits played a His analysis is carried forward by his possibilities toward developing pneuma- major role in obtaining a grant of $10 mil- insight that God’s actions in the life tological approaches in theological lion for Central American University and and resurrection of Jesus anticipate the conversations with scientific data about in pushing the Salvadoran government final redemption and point toward the the nature of the universe and its ongoing toward the negotiations that resulted in communion that all things will experi- creation. Yong’s work moves toward a the peace agreements of 1992. ence with the triune God. The church, new way of seeing into the mystery of The other two communities, the as it develops as a community, can be God’s Trinitarian action in the process of Maryknoll sisters and Benedictine monks understood as an emergent entity through creation. of the Weston Priory, were not as single- which God’s redemptive work in Christ —Mary Motte minded or as obviously successful as and in the multifaceted event of Pentecost the Jesuits in lobbying, respectively, for increasingly becomes known. Mary Motte, F.M.M., a contributing editor, is the end to military aid to Nicaraguan This careful study, grounded in Director of the Mission Resource Center of the U.S. contras or for new economic policies gracious openness, presents challenging Province of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. toward Mexico. Nevertheless, Byrnes does a strong job of demonstrating that these religious communities, because of their simultaneous ties to Latin America and to the United States and because of their specific religious charisms, were surprisingly effective in their attempts Saving the World? to sway public opinion and government policy. The Changing Terrain of American Protestant —Todd Hartch Missions from 1910 to the Present

Todd Hartch teaches Latin American history at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky. In 1910 over a thousand Protestant missionaries, theologians and church The Spirit of Creation: Modern leaders from around Science and Divine Action in the Pentecostal-Charismatic the world gathered in Imagination. Edinburgh, Scotland for By Amos Yong. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011. Pp. xiv, 237. Paperback $32. an unprecedented World

Recognized Pentecostal scholar Amos Missionary Conference. Yong, the J. Rodman Williams Professor This 32-minute DVD of Theology at Regent University School of Divinity, Virginia Beach, from Wheaton College’s Virginia, thoughtfully explores the intersections between theology—in Institute for the Study of particular, Pentecostal theology—and science. He examines possible Pentecostal American Evangelicals contributions to current conversations between theology and science, mentioning (ISAE) chronicles the glossolalia, the gift of tongues, a significant assumptions and ex- charism in Pentecostal theology, as a kind of leitmotiv for the diversity that could pectations that Protestants carried into the 20th century and genuinely inform theological dialogues rooted in pneumatology. highlights some of the major -- and unexpected -- develop- Yong argues convincingly that Pentecostalism, which has emerged in the ments in the hundred years since that meeting in Scotland. context of the modern world, can offer a distinctive response to that world through Saving the World? offers an informative analysis of the effect of the more vigorous Pentecostal scholarship. seminal Edinburgh event. Recommended. –Video Librarian Factual data from the scientific study of the universe pose questions to theology, suggesting deeper insights into the On sale now for a special price of $11.99 mystery of God, especially the incarnation and the resurrection. Yong develops a pneumatic theology Order online at Visionvideo.com, or contact the ISAE at of emergence, beginning with primordial [email protected] or call 630-752-5437. creation, the emergence of life, election of and covenant with Israel, and the incarnational and Pentecostal events.

July 2012 171 Protestant Missions and Local Brouwer explores the rapid transformation Encounters in the Nineteenth and of Canada’s historic mission programs into Twentieth Centuries: Unto the faith-based NGOs in the 1960s. In this part Ends of the World. of that larger story, the United Church of Canada is shown transitioning to a middle Edited by Hilde Nielssen, Inger Marie ground in mission theology and practice Okkenhaug, and Karina Hestad Skeie. Leiden: that stood sharply apart from traditional Brill, 2011. Pp. viii, 337. €110 / $151. evangelistic methods and aims but still stopped short of a completely secular Volume 40 in Brill’s series “Studies century about the same local population outlook and agenda. Michael Marten in Christian Mission” is a wide- and culture but in quite different ways. provides an imaginative conclusion for the ranging collection of writings roughly According to Nielssen, powerful national book. His contention, inspired by Michel grouped together under the rubric of ideals and aspirations subtly shaped Foucault’s notion of “heterotopias,” is that transnationalism. Several local venues are these two scientific texts by inclining the hybrid character of mission stations, featured in these essays, with particular their British and Norwegian missionary often small re-creations of home situated attention paid to Norwegian mission authors to look for contrasting qualities on foreign soil, ought to disturb at least efforts in Madagascar, but the overall in Malagasy society. Similarly insightful some postcolonial ideas about mission emphasis here is on large-scale issues of is a pair of articles that examine the rise peripheries and faraway, fixed centers. globalization, empire, secularization, inter- of humanitarian NGOs in the twentieth No authors outside of the North cultural encounter, and organizational century and their missionary roots. Atlantic region are included in this dynamics. With half of the contributors Thus, Deborah Gaitskell focuses on volume, regrettable especially in a set engaged as academics in either Denmark the interesting life of Dora Earthy, who of studies gathered around the theme of or Norway, the volume sheds light on a extended her missionary career in the transnationalism. Also unfortunate is the number of research trends now evident in 1930s by joining the research staff of Save price of the book, which is way beyond Scandinavian missiology. the Children Fund, an international charity the reach of all but the most specialized A few essays may be highlighted organization. A still strong commitment to library collections in the West. as a way to invite consideration of the a life-giving Gospel is part of what Earthy —Stanley H. Skreslet whole. Methodologically intriguing, for brought to her philanthropic work on example, is Hilde Nielssen’s analysis of behalf of women and children in Africa, Stanley H. Skreslet is Academic Dean and F. S. two scholarly ethnographies, written alongside her expertise in the field of Royster Professor of Christian Missions at Union contemporaneously in the late nineteenth anthropology. For her part, Ruth Compton Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Virginia.

Christian Themes in Indian Art: refined miniatures with Muslim, Hindu, From the Mogul Times till Today. and Christian content. With the decline of the Mogul Empire, Christian themes also By Anand Amaladass and Gudrun Löwner. diminished in Indian art for about 250 New Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 2012. Pp. years. The British with their “company 428, with ca. 1,100 full-color illustrations. art” and even the famous Danish-Halle Rs 4,000. Mission produced very few works of Christian art. With the rise of the Bengal Anand Amaladass, S.J., and Gudrun respect are the Good Shepherd Rockeries, Renaissance (1895–1905), Rabindranath Löwner are to be commended for assem- which are influenced by the Hindu Tagore (1861–1941) founded an art school bling this encyclopedic volume on Chris- iconography of Krishna, who also appears in Shantiniketan on the property of his tian themes in Indian art. The project is as a shepherd (pp. 29–33). In contrast, family. His nephew Abanindranath Tagore both interconfessional and interreligious, the earliest known material evidence of (1871–1951), who taught at a British art covering artists from all confessional Christian art in India, the Thomas Cross in school in Calcutta that was founded around backgrounds, as well as non-Christian Chennai (7th/8th century), receives only the same time, developed the “wash artists who incorporate Christian themes. brief mention (pp. 17, 373). This unique technique” that became characteristic There is nothing comparable for any other combination of a Syrian cross under a for this group of mainly Hindu artists country or region of Asia. The only book Hindu makara gate standing on a lotus depicting Christian themes. Adequate on Christian art from the Global South or overflowing vessel is a classic piece of space is given to Jamini Roy, who, similar that comes close is Christliche Kunst in accommodation art. With its rich cosmic to the European expressionists, took a Afrika (Berlin, 1984), by Josef Franz Thiel symbolism it demonstrates the interactions strong interest in the local folk art instead and Heinz Helf. between Christians who consider the of the religious and court art preferred by Amaladass and Löwner succeed with apostle Thomas their founding father and his colleagues. a balance between interpretation and their Hindu context. The book has a chapter on non- high-quality, full-color illustrations. This The next two chapters deal with Christian artists who utilize Christian is far beyond the usual coffee-table book interreligious encounters between Chris- themes. The separate chapter on South on such subjects. The first chapter contains tian faith and the two major religions Indian artists covers both Christian and a rich sample of Christian art produced represented in India today, Hinduism and non-Christian artists, who do not always under Portuguese influence in Goa. It Islam. When the Mogul emperors took identify their religious affiliation. Chapters is predominantly an imperial baroque over India, Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) on popular Christian art, including folk art that spread from the motherland to in particular, as well as his son Jahangir art, and church architecture conclude this Latin America, Africa, and Asia with very (1605–27), showed interest in interreligious rich volume. little accommodation. Remarkable in this conversation. Their court artists produced Some will question the decision of

172 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 Amaladass and Löwner to omit Dalit art Taiwanese material. James Rohrer’s essay Diaspora Missiology: Theory, (p. 7), given the heated discussion about argues this point at length. We know Methodology, and Practice. their ongoing discrimination. The authors something about what Mackay said, could well have included a separate but not much about what the Taiwanese Edited by Enoch Wan. Portland, Ore.: Western chapter on Dalit and tribal art (see pp. heard. The second point is crucial to Seminary, Institute of Diaspora Studies, 2011. 334–37), as well as one on women’s art understanding the beginnings of the Pp. 364. Paperback $14. (see pp. 277–81), which could be seen North Taiwanese church. We hope this as a form of liberational expressionism gap will be filled at the next conference, Enoch Wan, professor of intercultural open to Christian interpretation. The planned for 2012 in Taiwan. studies at Western Seminary, Portland, hybrid or glocal art of Vivek Vilasini, —Geoff Johnston Oregon, makes a contribution to the Pushpamala, and Alexis Kersey (pp. growing missiological literature on 188–89) shows where the journey might Geoff Johnston is a retired Presbyterian minister issues of migration, transnationality, go after inculturation. with experience in Nigeria and the West Indies. globalization, and mission in this rapidly —Volker Küster

Volker Küster, Professor of Cross-Cultural Theol- ogy at Protestant Theological University, Kampen, the Netherlands, is author of A Protestant The- Study at OMSC with these ology of Passion: Korean Minjung Theology Revisted (2010). Senior MiSSion ScholarS Each semester the Overseas Ministries Study Center welcomes senior mission scholars who provide leadership in OMSC’s study program and are available to residents for counsel regarding their own mission research interests. Seasoned scholarship, The Life and Legacy of internationally renowned instructors, cutting edge seminars, and an ecclesiastically George Leslie Mackay: An diverse resident community make OMSC the place to be for renewal of mission Interdisciplinary Study of Canada’s skills and vision. First Presbyterian Missionary to Northern Taiwan (1872–1901). Dr. Michael J. McClymond Fall 2012 Edited by Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr. Newcastle, Eng.: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012. Dr. McClymond is professor of modern Christian- Pp. 165. £34.99 / $52.99. ity, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, and president of the Institute for World Christi- This book is a collection of papers pre- anity. During the last twenty-two years at four sented in 2010 at a conference at Aletheia institutions, he has taught a range of courses in University, Taipei. As the subtitle suggests, the fields of theological and religious studies, the the contributors are a mixed bag; two have history of Christianity, and comparative religions. a background in English, one in history, Dr. McClymond's book Encounters with God: An three in some combination of history and Approach to the Theology of Jonathan Edwards theology, and one in anthropology. None (1998) received the 1999 Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize from the Ameri- are Taiwanese, but three are teaching there, can Society of Church History as the best first book on the history of Christianity. and one used to be a missionary in Taiwan. Their subject, George Leslie Mackay, was an extraordinary figure. He was born in southern Ontario, the son of Scottish Dr. Tite Tiénou immigrants. He went to Taiwan when it Spring 2013 was part of the Chinese Empire and died, prematurely, of throat cancer shortly after Dr. Tiénou is senior vice president of education, the island became a Japanese colony. dean, and professor of theology of mission at His eccentricity was obvious, for he Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, wore an enormous black beard. He was a Illinois. Prior to coming to Trinity in 1997, he was prodigious worker, mastering the rudiments president and dean of the Faculté de Théologie of Taiwanese in short order and touring Évangélique de l’Alliance Chrétienne in Abidjan, incessantly on foot once he could speak Côte d’Ivoire, and taught for nine years at Alliance the language with some confidence. Unlike Theological Seminary, Nyack, New York. Earlier, most evangelistic missionaries, he took he was founding director and professor of the science seriously, especially medicine. Of Maranatha Institute in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Dr. Tiénou’s areas of exper- greater significance, he married a Taiwanese woman, and their three children became tise include mission, theology, and the church in Africa. leading figures in the Taiwanese church. The essays are at one level disap- pointing, partly because Mackay was a very private person. He did not like writing letters, and his journal is often oVerSeaS MiniSTrieS STUDY cenTer exasperatingly cryptic. But the volume’s For details, go online to www.omsc.org/scholars most serious shortcoming, again through [email protected] (203) 624-6672, ext. 315 no fault of the contributors, is the lack of

July 2012 173 emerging field. A substantial volume missiology might be better understood with short and accessible chapters, it aims as a large subset of a wider migration- to be a handbook for missionary action missiology paradigm. A focus on exile, by making theory and methodology group consciousness, regretful memory accessible to students and practitioners, of homeland, and social solidarity is and by providing case studies of com- important, but it closes down inquiry munities from China, Ghana, and Vietnam regarding migrations that have different and from Jewish, Muslim, and Hispanic patterns and suggests a tie to land communities in the United States. It sets and ethnicity that is questioned in the a framework, provides biblical explora- New Testament and in some historical tion, and gives thorough bibliographies trajectories of mission. and tabular explanations. The chapter on The shifts in world Christianity interdisciplinary research methodology impact missiology. This book is to be gives guidelines for scoping the field to welcomed because it connects practice aid those embarking on their own study. with theory, and social observation with Wan, who writes about half the chapters, mission theology. In an area of study and and most other contributors speak from practice that moves as rapidly as those diaspora experience. with whom it engages, it is unlikely to be For this reviewer, some of the most the last word. interesting chapters on Old Testament —Emma Wild-Wood and modern Jewish Diaspora are also the most tendentious, precisely because they, Emma Wild-Wood, Director of the Henry Martyn and related chapters, attempt to frame Centre, Cambridge, was sponsored by the CMS in the wider subject. Missiology must take teaching at Institut Superieur, Théologique Angli- account of the Jewish experience, and the can, Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Jewish Diaspora has set terms of inquiry at Bishop Tucker College and Namugongo Martyrs Online and in for diaspora studies. However, diaspora Seminary, Uganda (1993–2000). Print Give your Advertising the Mission Research Advantage of IBMR

Consider placing your Dissertation Notices next ad in the IBMR Doeka, Fredrik Yosep Apeles. Klinken, A. S. van. “The Enduring Mission of Moses: “‘The need for circumsized men’: The Choose from several print Indonesian Muslim and Christian Quest for Transformed Masculinities edition and e-journal options. Representations of a Jewish Prophet.” in African Christianity in the Context Ph.D. Utrecht: Utrecht Univ., 2011. of the HIV Epidemic.” “IBMR is indispensable for promot- Ph.D. Utrecht, Netherlands: Utrecht Univ., ing books in mission studies and world 2011. Christianity. Advertising there is a The IBMR can list only a small sample of recent dissertations. For OMSC’s free Latzko, James R. direct and economical way to reach online database of over 6,200 dissertations “Training Filipinos for Cross- key scholars and practitioners.” in English, compiled in cooperation with Cultural Ministry: Towards a Filipino —Bernadette Price Yale Divinity School Library, go to www Perspective.” Associate Publisher .internationalbulletin.org/resources. D.Miss. Portland, Ore.: Western Seminary, Orbis Books 2011.

A 300 px X 250 px online color ad is Easter, John Leonard. Lee, Yeon-seung. very affordable for your budget—just “The Spirit, Context, and Mission: “Between Nationalism and $100 per month or $250 for three The Contextualization Practice of Internationalism: Yun Ch’i-Ho and the months. A smaller size is available for the Malawi Assemblies of God, YMCA in Colonial Korea.” classified box ads such as notices of with Implications for Pentecostal Th.D. Boston: Boston Univ. School of Missiology.” Theology, 2011. faculty position openings. Your ad will Ph.D. Springfield, Mo.: Assemblies of God be linked online. Theological Seminary, 2011. Swann, Peter Lamar. “The Development and Contact: Charles A. Roth, Jr. Huh, Jinphil. Implementation of a Contextualized Spire Advertising “An Evaluation of a Pre-field Southern Sudanese Model of Church.” Missionary Training Arm of Global D.Miss. Pasadena, Calif.: Fuller Theological (516) 729-3509 Mission Society (GMS).” Seminary, 2011. [email protected] Ph.D. Pasadena, Calif.: Fuller Theological Seminary, 2011. www.internationalbulletin.org/advertise

174 International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 36, No. 3 “Astonished by God’s Love, Renewed foR God’s Mission” Seminars for International Church Leaders, Missionaries, Mission Executives, Pastors, Educators, Students, and Lay Leaders

October 8–11 Dr. Timothy Kiho Park, Fuller and West. Cosponsored by FALL 2012 Nurturing and Educat- Theological Seminary, Pasa- Christian Reformed World ing Transcultural Kids. dena, California, draws on Missions. September 6–7 Ms. Janet Blomberg, Interac- Scripture and years of expe- U.S. Churches Today. tion International, and Ms. rience to teach cross-cultural November 26–29 Rev. Geoffrey A. Little, All Elizabeth Stephens, of Libby church planting. Cosponsored Iranian Shi’ite Muslims Nations Christian Church Stephens: Humanizing the by Missio Nexus. and Christianity. (New Haven), provides an Transition Experience, help Dr. Sasan Tavassoli, Evan- overview with a guided tour you help your children meet November 5–9 gelical Church of Iran, intro- of New Haven and area the challenges they face as Critical Developments duces Shi’ite Islam and some churches. $95. third culture persons. in African and Asian of the ways that contempo- Christianity, 1800–1950. rary Iranians interact with the September 17–20 October 16 Dr. Andrew F. Walls, honor- Christian faith. Cosponsored How to Develop Mission Mission in Acts 16. ary professor, University of by Greenfield Hill Congrega- and Church Archives. Ms. Barbara Hüfner-Kemper, Edinburgh, tional Church (Fairfield, Con- Ms. Martha Lund Smalley, psychotherapist and United and former necticut) and Trinity Baptist Yale Divinity School Library, Methodist missionary, White director of Church (New Haven). helps missionaries and church Plains, New York, creatively the Centre for leaders identify, organize, and studies the mission encoun- the Study of December 3–6 preserve essential records. ters recorded in Acts 16 to Christianity The Gospel of Peace in help participants consider in the Non- Dynamic Engagement September 24–27 their own understandings of Western World, starting from with the Peace of Islam. Doing Oral History: Christian mission in this spe- a Methodist focus, explores Dr. David W. Shenk, Eastern Helping Christians Tell cial one-day seminar. Cospon- developments common to Mennonite Missions, ex- Their Own Story. sored by United Methodist the missions of the period— plores the church’s calling to Dr. Jean-Paul Wiest, Jesuit General Board of Global Min- OMSC’s seventh Distinguished bear witness to the Gospel of Beijing Center, Beijing, Chi- istries. $50. Mission Lectureship series— peace in its engagement with na, and Ms. Michèle Sigg, five lectures with discussions. Muslims, whether in contexts Dictionary of African Chris- October 22–25 Cosponsored by Southwestern of militancy or in settings of tian Biography, share skills Themes in Worldwide Baptist Theological Seminary. moderation. Cosponsored by and techniques for document- Christianity: Bible, Mennonite Central Committee. ing mission and church history. Theology, Renewal, November 12–15 and Other Religions. Church and Mission in December 10–13 October 1–5 Dr. Michael McClymond, Europe—East and West. Leadership, Fund Rais- The Internet and Mis- Saint Louis University and an Dr. Peter Kuzmič, Gordon- ing, and Donor Develop- sion: Getting Started. OMSC senior mission scholar, Conwell Theological Semi- ment for Missions. Mr. Wilson Thomas, Wilson explores concrete examples of nary, South Hamilton, Mas- Mr. Rob Martin, First Fruit Thomas Systems, Bedford, how Bible commentaries, the- sachusetts, and Evangelical Institute, Newport Beach, New Hampshire, and Dr. ologies, renewal movements, Theological Seminary, Osijek, California, outlines steps for Dwight P. Baker, Overseas and interreligious relations Croatia, examines the new building the support base, in- Ministries Study Center, in take shape on a worldwide context and new roles for cluding foundation funding, a hands-on workshop show scale. Cosponsored by Evan- churches and missions in a for mission. Cosponsored by how to get the most out of the gelical Covenant Church changed Europe, both East Latin America Mission. World Wide Web for mission World Mission Department research. Cosponsored by and Park Street Church (Bos- Friday Mornings, September–December Africa Inland Mission. ton, Massachusetts). Special Friday “Hot Topics” Series. On select Friday mornings, OMSC residents and other interest- For a FREE subscription to the International Bulletin of October 29–November 1 ed participants will attend and later review open panel discus- Missionary Research A Biblical Theology of sions led by Yale World Fellows, mid-career leaders in various e-journal, go to Mission and Practical fields from all over the world. On other select Friday mornings, www.internationalbulletin Lessons in Church OMSC residents will lead seminars on topics about which they .org/register. Planting. have special concern, experience, and expertise.

This semester, study with Seminars cost $175 unless otherwise noted. Full information— Dr. Michael J. McClymond including content descriptions, directions, schedules, and links to Senior Mission Scholar in Residence register online—may be found online. Professor of Modern Christianity, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, and president Overseas Ministries Study Center of the Institute for World Christianity. 490 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511 Details: www.omsc.org/scholars [email protected] www.omsc.org/seminars Book Notes In Coming

Breton, Raymond. Different Gods: Integrating Non-Christian Minorities into a Primarily Issues Christian Society. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s Univ. Press, 2012. Pp. ix, 222. CA$85 / Da‘wa: On the Nature of Mission in US$85; paperback CA$27.95 / US$27.95. Islam Albrecht Hauser Coleman, Doug. A Theological Analysis of the Insider Movement Paradigm from Four Can Christianity Authentically Take Perspectives: Theology of Religions, Revelation, Soteriology, and Ecclesiology. Root in China? Some Lessons from Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey International Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. xxiii, 336. Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Paperback $24.99. Missions Andrew F. Walls Constantino, Josefina D. The Asian Religious Sensibility and Christian (Carmelite) Spirituality: Obtaining Informed Consent in The Folly Is the Glory of the Cross. Vol. 2, 3rd ed. Missiologically Sensitive Contexts Quezon City: Univ. of the Philippines Press, 2010; since 2011 distributed by Univ. of Johan Mostert and Marvin Gilbert Hawai‘i Press. Pp. viii, 539. Paperback $49. Ivan Illich and Leo Mahon: Folk Davies, Evan. Religion and Catechesis in Latin Whatever Happened to C. T. Studd’s Mission? Lessons from the History America of WEC International. Todd Hartch Gerrard’s Cross, Bucks, Eng.: WEC Publications, 2012. Pp. xii, 207. Paperback £7.99. The Use of Data in the Missiology of Jenkins, Philip. Europe: Methodological Issues The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. 3rd ed. Stefan Paas New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. xvii, 346. Paperback $15.95 / £9.99. Karsen, Wendell Paul. Said’s Orientalism and Pentecostal The Church Under the Cross: Mission in Asia in Times of Turmoil; Views of Islam in Palestine A Missionary Memoir. Vol. 2. Eric N. Newberg Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012. Pp. xxiii, 778. Paperback $49. Christian Mission on the East Keating, John Craig William. of Europe A Protestant Church in Communist China: Moore Memorial Church Shanghai, Valentin Kozhuharov 1949–1989. Bethlehem, Pa.: Lehigh Univ. Press, 2012. Pp. xii, 305. $85. Cultural Past, Symbols, and Images in the Bemba Hymnal, United Leddy, Mary Jo. Church of Zambia The Other Face of God: When the Stranger Calls Us Home. Kuzipa Nalwamba Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2011. Pp. ix, 150. Paperback $20. Lingel, Joshua, Jeff Morton, and Bill Nikides, eds. In our Series on the Legacy of Chrislam: How Missionaries Are Promoting an Islamized Gospel. Outstanding Missionary Figures Garden Grove, Calif.: i2Ministries Publishing, 2011. Pp. vi, 344. Paperback $25. of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, articles about Mallampalli, Chandra. Thomas Barclay Race, Religion, and Law in Colonial India: Trials of an Interracial Family. George Bowen Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011. Pp. xvii, 268. £60 / $95. Carl Fredrik Hallencreutz Melvin, Karen. J. Philip Hogan Building Colonial Cities of God: Mendicant Orders and Urban Culture Arthur Walter Hughes in New Spain. Thomas Patrick Hughes Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press, 2012. Pp. xii, 365. $65. Hannah Kilham Lesslie Newbigin Meyerink, Dorothy Dickens. Constance Padwick Ministry Among the Maya: A Missionary Memoir. Peter Parker Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011. Pp. xxiv, 410. Paperback $32. John Coleridge Patteson James Howell Pyke Miyake, Noriyuki. Pandita Ramabai Belong, Experience, Believe: Pentecostal Mission Strategies for Japan. George Augustus Selwyn Gloucester, Eng.: Wide Margin, 2011. Pp. viii, 94. Paperback £6.99 / $9.99. Bakht Singh Zink, Jesse A. James M. Thoburn Grace at the Garbage Dump: Making Sense of Mission in the Twenty-First M. M. Thomas Century. Harold W. Turner Eugene, Ore.: Cascade Books, 2012. Pp. 174. Paperback $21. Johannes Verkuyl