Missions and World Christianity Commons^™

Seeing Witchcraft, Bernhard Udelhoven

Journal of Global Catholicism

When Christians in Zambia struggle with witchcraft, they also struggle with African cultural and religious concepts that deal with life’s ambiguities and that require discernment. It is not by working against the cultural and religious heritage, but by working with it, as far as possible, that the pastor can identify the broken relationships towards which many witchcraft discourses point. However, before we place the concepts of witchcraft into the realm of superstition (as are the trends of mission Christianity) or the demonic (as are the trends of charismatic Christianity), the Church has the duty to look at the concepts, stay …

The Devil Of The Missionary Church: The White Fathers And Catholic Evangelization In Zambia, Bernhard Udelhoven

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines how Western Catholic missionaries in Zambia dealt with claims of witchcraft and Satanism. Within an analytic frame that draws upon cultural history, theology, and anthropology the article also considers how African Christians appropriated missionary notions of the devil.

The Ecclesiology Of Pope Francis And The Future Of The Church In Africa, Bradford E. Hinze

Journal of Global Catholicism

A consideration of the future of African Catholicism in light of the ecclesiology of Pope Francis. The article explores how themes in Francis's ecclesiology work together to challenge centralization, clericalism, and triumphalism in the church by promoting practices of synodality and how these elements support the church’s mission to work against forms of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and the most fundamental matrix of colonial power by advancing radical democracy in society

Editor's Introduction, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

An overview of African Catholicism. Part Two: Retrospect and Prospect, third issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism. A summary of the work of Bradford Hinze, Mary Gloria Njoku, Matthias Scharer, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu, and Bernhard Udelhoven. Among the topics considered: African ecclesiology, African wellness and quality of life in Africa, interreligious dialogue in Africa, African Biblical scholarship, witchcraft and the Catholic Church.

Southern Veils : The Sisters Of Loretto In Early National Kentucky., Hannah O'Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the experiences of Roman Catholic women who joined the Sisters of Loretto, a community of women religious in rural Washington and Nelson Counties, Kentucky, between the 1790s and 1826. It argues that the Sisters of Loretto used faith to interpret and respond to unfolding events in the early nation. The women sought to combat moral slippage and restore providential favor in the face of local Catholic institutional instability, global Protestant evangelical movements, war and economic crisis, and a tuberculosis outbreak. The Lorettines faced financial, social, and cultural pressures—including an economic depression, a culture that celebrated family formation …

Sebastian Râle (1652-1724) : In Commemoration Of His Martyrdom, Vincent Lapomarda S.J.

Holy Cross Bookshelf

Biography of Sabastien Râle, S.J., who served as a missionary to the Abenaki in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Stewards Of God’S Mercy: Vocation And Priestly Ministry In Africa, Jordan Nyenyembe

Journal of Global Catholicism

A reflection on the tasks of priestly ministry in Africa with specific reference to the example and exhortation of Pope Francis. Among the issues addressed and critiqued are Western “cultic” understandings of the priest and the, the “Igwe Syndrome" which likens the priest to a chief.

Contested Moral Issues In Contemporary African Catholicism: Theological Proposals For A Hermeneutics Of Multiplicity And Inclusion, Stan Chu Ilo

Journal of Global Catholicism

Drawing upon the broad work of Vatican II and Pope Francis’ Evangelicum Gaudium the article proposes how a hermeneutic of multiplicity and inclusion could help hold in balance the tension between tradition and innovation, universal principles and specific contextual application for Catholicism in Africa. Among the issues addressed are cultural relativism, natural law theory, and polygamy.

Communicating The Justice And Peace Of God In Africa Today, Walter Ihejirika

Journal of Global Catholicism

Engaging with the work and theories of Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner, the article charts out a spirituality of communication within Nigerian Catholicism. Discussing the intersection between various forms of media and community, the article argues for the utilization of media in the pursuit of social justice and the dismantling of inequalities.

Inculturation Of Liturgical Music In The Roman Catholic Church Of Igbo Land: A Compositional Study, Benedict Nwabugwu Agbo

Journal of Global Catholicism

A study of inculturation, composition and music among Catholics in Igboland, Nigeria. The article insects with contemporary discussions of inculturation/enculturation after Vatican II and the recommendation of St. John Paul II in his Ecclesia in Africa.

Editor's Introduction, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

Introduction to African Catholicism: Contemporary Issues: Volume: 1, Issue 2 of the Journal of Global Catholicism

Dvd Study Guide For "God’S Glory, Neighbor’S Good: The Story Of Pietism", Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This study guide was written by Mark Safstrom and Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom to accompany the documentary film, "God’s Glory, Neighbor’s Good: The Story of Pietism" (2017). Pietisten Inc. is the publisher and Vision Video is the distributor for this DVD. This study guide is intended as a resource for teachers and pastors to facilitate post-viewing discussion of a 75-minute overview of the history of Pietism. This episode is divided into three main chapters, which have brief summaries. The questions for these chapters have been further divided into smaller sections, to allow flexibility for viewing in shorter installments and allow greater time …

The Challenge Of Being In The Minority: Palestinian Christian Theology In Light Of Christian Zionism Post-1948, Medhat S. Yoakiem

Master of Theology Theses

No abstract provided.

The Amoy China Mission Of The Reformed Church In America, 1937-1951, Jame E. Bell

Grand Valley Journal of History

This article analyzes how successful the Reformed missionaries operating in Amoy and the surrounding region were in accomplishing their objectives of evangelism and the establishment of an indigenous Chinese Church from 1937 to 1951. Through a combination of evangelism, education, and medical work the missionaries sought to spread their faith to the lay population of Fujian province. The missionaries’ work became much more difficult in the late 1930s with the Japanese invasion, World War II, and the eventual Communist takeover. In spite of this, their efforts, in conjunction with other missions, built a dedicated Chinese Christian community that proved hardy …

The Russian Mission: Seventh-Day Adventism, Bolshevism, And The Imminent Apocalypse, 1881 - 1946, Garett B. Tree

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The first Adventist missionaries made their way into Russia in the late 1880’s, where they experienced imprisonment, exile, and sometimes both. The scope of my thesis concerns the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and how Adventist missionaries and leaders endeavored on the Russian Mission. Using the writings, letters, and correspondence of these missionaries, as well as the myriad Adventist periodicals, I explain and analyze the evolution of the Mission from its inception to the end of the Second World War. In what ways did Adventist missionaries or Adventist media outlets abroad understand, explain, or justify the Russian Mission and its hardships? What …

Contributors To Indian Catholicism: Interventions And Imaginings, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

Contributors to Indian Catholicism: Interventions and Imaginings, the inaugural issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism.

Authority, Representation, And Offense: Dalit Catholics, Foot Washing, And The Study Of Global Catholicism, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

In reflecting on a sharp scholarly exchange at a conference, this article explores issues of authority, representation, and offense in global Catholic and South Asian Studies. Focusing on the act of foot washing by Dalit Catholics, the article examines how scholarly offense is linked to particular claims of representational authority. The article also puts this discussion within the context of contemporary debates about Western portrayals of Indian culture and society.

The Tying Of The Ceremonial Wedding Thread: A Feminist Analysis Of “Ritual” And “Tradition” Among Syro-Malabar Catholics In India, Sonja Thomas

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article presents a feminist analysis of patriarchy persisting in Catholicism of the Syro-Malabar rite in Kerala. The article specifically considers the impact of charismatic Catholicism on women of the Syro-Malabar rite and argues that it is important to interrogate this new face of religiosity in order to fully understand how certain rituals are allowed to change and be fluid, while others, especially concerning female sexuality, are enshrined as “tradition” which often restricts the parameters for women’s empowerment and may reinforce caste and patriarchal hegemonies preventing feminist solidarity across different religious- and caste-based groups.

Dalit Catholic Home Shrines In A North Indian Village, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines three Catholic home shrines in a Dalit community in North Indian and argues that it is misleading to think that home shrines and other collections of material objects are somehow static conveyors of meaning. “Meaning” can mean many things or nothing at all, depending upon the terms we are using and the scholarly methods we deploy. The crucial aspect of Dalit Catholic home shrines is that they are literally open to interpretation and reinterpretation, to touching and being touched. Their significance—their meaning—depends not on decoding their structure or symbolic logic, but interacting with them as part of …

The Grace Of God And The Travails Of Contemporary Indian Catholicism, Kerry P. C. San Chirico

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay discusses the challenges faced by Indian Catholicism, particularly as it seeks to adapt to and in contemporary, post-colonial India through the process or program of what is called inculturation, a self-conscious program of adaptation to Indian religion and culture. Since Indian Catholicism is constituted by so many irreducible persons-in-relation, the article focuses on the life of the Catholic priest, Swami Ishwar Prasad in whose life we may chart something of the inculturation movement and the Catholic tradition as it is found in North India region, in one rather long and rich lifetime connecting two centuries. The article seeks …

In Continuity With The Past: Indigenous Environmentalism And Indian Christian Visions Of Flora, James Ponniah

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article considers whether Indian Christianity can be said to have a distinctive ecological vision. The first two parts of the article examine Christian environmentalism in two native forms of Indian Christianity: Tamil Christianity and Tribal Christianity. Continuing with the theme of conformity to the local culture—though of the elite—the third part of the article investigates how Christian Ashrams function as dynamic centers for ecological praxis. The last part of the article considers how contemporary Indian Christian communities can respond to the ecological challenges confronting them.

Antoniyar Kōvil: Hindu-Catholic Identity At The St. Anthony Shrine In St. Mary’S Co-Cathedral, Chennai, Pj Johnston

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article combines ethnographic description of the practices of Hindu and Christian visitors of the St. Antony Shrine in Chennai with the observation that this material cannot be understood using the standard world religions paradigm that essentializes Christianity as exclusivistic. Drawing upon the visual and material culture of the shrine in light of premodern and Vatican II templates for inculturation and the negotiation of religious difference, the article highlights overlap between Tamil Hinduism and the Tamil Popular Catholicism of the site to argue that the beliefs and practices documented should inform descriptive and normative accounts of Catholic Christianity. Because Tamil …

Attitudes About Work And Time In Los Angeles, 1769-1880, Tyler D. Lachman Mr.

Theses

This thesis argues that the industrious Californio people continued to prosper in Los Angeles after statehood in 1850. Certain historians have emphasized the hardworking Californio culture at various points in Los Angeles history. But no one has defended their overall work ethic. Thus, this thesis goes farther than other historians in discrediting the notion that Californio Angelinos died out quickly because they could not sustain success under American leadership.

Stephens, Silas Emmett, 1874-1926 (Sc 3041), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3041. Two 1924 letters (1 partial) of Baptist missionary Silas Emmet Stephens to Pearl Holman, Bowling Green, Kentucky. Writing from China, he thanks her for a monetary gift, comments on her care of her aging mother, and briefly describes his work and some of his colleagues. Includes Stephens’ obituary.

Mary Sue Meuth, 1927-2014 (Sc 3040), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 3040. Letter of missionary Sue Meuth in Indonesia to friends, particularly First Baptist Church, Bowling Green, Kentucky. She describes the work there, expresses concern that the visas of local personnel will not be renewed, and includes a list of prayer requests for the mission. A personal note on the reverse reports news of her family.

World Churches Vertical File, Mcgarvey Ice

Center for Restoration Studies Vertical Files Finding Aids

This set of files is especially useful to scholars of the history missions, particularly among Churches of Christ in the twentieth century. Students and researchers interested in applied missiology among Restorationist traditions, Stone-Campbell movements, and Churches of Christ will also find them helpful. For assistance with specific files or items, contact Mac Ice - [email protected], or 325.674.2144.

What The Trc Reveals About The Churches, Mark Mcdonald

Consensus

No abstract provided.

Becoming All Things To All Men: The Role Of Jesuit Missions In Early Modern Globalization, Ann Louise Cole

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From its founding, the Society of Jesus was globally minded, and Iberian imperial and mercantile expansion during the early modern period granted Jesuit missionaries unprecedented access to the globe through navigation. With its unique emphasis on both global missions and pedagogy, the Society of Jesus was in an ideal position to both generate and disseminate knowledge about the world. As missionaries scattered across the globe constructed the identity of the ethnic and cultural Other encountered on mission in the East and in Latin America, Jesuit missionaries and scholars, both at home and abroad, likewise attempted to construct a global Catholic …

Apostle To Burma: A Case Study Of Ecumenical Evangelicalism In The Life Of Adoniram Judson, Jacob Manning

Library Research Prize Student Works

Adoniram (1788-1850) and Ann Judson (1789-1826) boarded the Caravan along with Samuel and Harriet Newell in Salem, Massachusetts on February 19, 1812 with a directive from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to preach the Gospel in the Far East. Four months later, the missionaries arrived in India, but the Judsons sailed once more before they began a life of missionary labor in the kingdom of Burma. Amidst the joys of successful Bible translation and establishment of a Baptist congregation in Burma, Ann and Adoniram suffered tremendous loss: none of their three children survived infancy, and Ann died …

Adventist Medical Mission In Botswana: Toward An Effective And Appropriate Model, Olaotse Obed Gabasiane

Dissertations

Since holistic health is central to Africans, they will seek it from all possible health-care systems that include (1) African traditional medicine, (2) Western-oriented medicine, (3) Christian medical mission, as well as (4) African Independent Churches (AICs) with emphasis on spiritual healing. However, at times this comes with negative consequences.

This research sought to understand why medicalpluralism exists in Botswana and the rest of southern Africa, and why it finds concurrent use by Africans; solutions can help Christian medical missions develop more effective and holistic ways to serve Africans. The research can also help Christian medical missionsunderstand how they can …