News of the extended network of faculty, alumni, students, visiting researchers, and mission partners is regularly updated, and some of the big ideas or major events in Global Christianity are covered in the CGCM News.
Alex Mayfield
Alex Mayfield is an Assistant Professor of History at Asbury University. His research utilizes digital methodologies that enable the reconstruction of historical networks and movements within global Christianity. His research and teaching interests include global history, pentecostal and charismatic movements, mission history in East Asia, and the history of colonial Latin America. His current scholarly focus is on the China Historical Christian Database, an international collaborative project that seeks to identify every Christian person, event, and institution in China between 1550 and 1950. With his help, the project has become the largest collection of data on Christian actors in China’s past, and it continues to grow. His most recent book, The Kaleidoscopic City(Baylor University Press, 2023), explores the historical development of the Pentecostal movement in Hong Kong. Beyond his own research, Dr. Mayfield also serves as a technical advisor to the Chinese Christian Posters projects and the Dictionary of African Christian Biography.
Yannick Essertel
Yannick Essertel is Professeur des Universités, Docteur-HDR. He was a researcher at CREDO (Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie) Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, EHESS, CREDO UMR 7308; he is a member of various university research groups in the history of religion and the spread of Christianity. His work has focused on the pedagogies of evangelization, and on the phases of encounters between missionaries and the missioned. He also examines the concept of inculturation and the relationship between evangelization and cultures. In this respect, he brings in cultural anthropology and even museology through missionary collections. It also explores the constraints encountered during evangelization: colonization, rivalries, material and climatic conditions, etc.
The study of contacts and encounters inevitably led me to integrate cultural anthropology to gain an in-depth understanding of the relationships involved in conversions to Christianity. The reactions of missionary/missioned actors are dictated by their cultural categories. Often, missionaries are welcomed as superior beings, gods, or prophets. Missionaries, on the other hand, believe that the natives are predisposed to Christianity. This creates a double misunderstanding, which can be productive for missionaries if they understand it and use it as a lever for evangelization. Conversely, if the misunderstanding is unproductive and therefore impossible to understand, the missionaries' next step will be more complex and may even fail. In short, these misunderstandings show that the cultural environment is appropriate or inappropriate for the arrival of missionaries.
The essential point of this “first time” is the different perceptions of the local people towards the missionaries and their discourse, which will trigger conversions. In other words, what are the various factors behind conversions? Through the archives, we see that every missionary, every culture, was attracted or converted by one or more points of the new religion: missionary dress, skin color, Catholic liturgy, preaching, sacraments, the notion of equality, charity, the missionary's dedication, the “fulfillment” of a prophecy, a cure, the destruction of an idol, and many other aspects, were all triggers. In New Zealand, Mgr Jean-Baptiste Pompallier was perceived as a great chief, descended from a “God”, with powerful mana and tapou (sacred) character. In New Caledonia, Mgr Guillaume Douarre and his missionaries are identified as the “Ancestors” of the Kanaks, who come back and act on the elements and whose baptismal cult cures and protects against illness. In Siam, Mgr Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix established courteous relations with the future Prince Rama IV, who spoke Latin and mixed Christianity and Buddhism to the point of reforming his religion by turning to Christianity. Let's not forget the young lama who converted by translating Catholic doctrine for Father Joseph Gabet. All these “triggers” for inculturation should be listed, many of which owe little to an adapted missionary pedagogy. We must insist on the pioneering phases of evangelization, which are key to understanding the history of the missions.
Finally, this approach should not be confined to missionary history. Indeed, history is made up of various types of encounters: colonization, migrations, invasions, and explorers. Here, too, there are “first-time” situations that must be analyzed as such, because through all the reactions and reciprocal perceptions it becomes possible to understand better how the history of human relations has been constructed. Let's not forget that history is, first and foremost, about understanding people in their contexts, and in particular, the context of contacts and shocks. We therefore call for developing a spécifié approach to contacts in human history, integrating anthropology and psychology.
Grace Eun-Sun Lee
Grace Eun-Sun Lee is a PhD student in World Christianity and Mission Studies at Boston University School of Theology. Grace grew up in an Asian diaspora between the Philippines and South Korea, which sparked her interest in pursuing related topics dealing with cross-cultural narratives and interactions. In light of the demographic shift of Christianity in the past 100 years, Grace desires to participate in conversations within Global Christianity to bridge and strengthen the partnership between the Global North and the Global South to equip and empower missional endeavors. Her research interests include Diaspora and Transnationals, Ecumenism, Asian Christianity, and Ethnodoxology. Before coming to BU, Grace received a Master of Divinity with a concentration on world missions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary based in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. She also has a Bachelor of Science in Life Science and Biotechnology from Underwood International College, within Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea.Jimin Lim
Jimin Lim is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Boston University, under the mentorship of Dr. Eugenio Menegon. His research focuses on Sino-Western cultural exchanges and their impact on Korea, with particular emphasis on the cultural translation of Western texts in China and the travelogues of Korean envoys to Beijing during the Ming-Qing dynasties. Prior to joining Boston University, Lim received a BA in Theology from Yonsei University; and Master of Divinity from Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary. He further pursued a Master of Theology in historical studies at Vanderbilt University. An ordained Presbyterian pastor in Korea, he served as a military chaplain in the South Korean army for three years. His experience in military service has sparked a strong interest in the history of military chaplaincy.
Guillermo Flores Borda
Guillermo entered the Political Science Ph.D. program at Boston University (BU) in the spring of 2025. During his time at BU, he plans to study “Latino Christian Nationalism,” focusing on (i) the ways in which Latin American and US Latino evangelicals are engaging with Christian Nationalism (CN) rhetoric on the ground, (ii) any distinctions in how they engage with CN rhetoric that may be connected to race/skin color, socio-economic class, country of origin, city of residence, and/or Protestant denomination, and (iii) the similarities and differences in CN rhetoric’s engagement among Latin American evangelicals, US Latino evangelicals, and US white evangelicals, as the latter group has been the primary focus of existing US scholarship. Prior to joining BU, he completed a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Divinity from The University of Chicago Divinity School (2022-2024), a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from The University of Chicago Law School (2012-2013), and a J.D. from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (2001-2007).
The Cambridge Center for Christianity Worldwide Events Calendar 2024-2025
Here is the Cambridge Center for Christianity Worldwide Events Calendar 2024-2025 to explore.
[Yale-Edinburgh Group] CCCW Day 2025 Lecture by Prof Kirsteen Kim: ‘What Does World Christianity Mean for Mission Studies?’
You are very warmly invited to this Lecture. Please register your interest to join online or in person at centre@cccw.cam.ac.uk
Samaila Ayuba
Samaila Wada Ayuba is a World Christianity and Mission Studies doctoral student at Boston University School of Theology. His research focuses on Christianity in Nigeria, particularly the growth and resilience of the Church of the Brethren in response to the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria. Ayuba holds a Bachelor of Theology degree from ECWA Theological Seminary in Kagoro, Nigeria, and a Master of Theological Studies degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. Prior to his graduate studies at Princeton, he served as a volunteer youth missionary with Word of Life Nigeria Fellowship.
Stephen Warui
Stephen Apollo Warui is a PhD student in World Christianity and Mission at the Boston University School of Theology. Apollo’s research interest is Christianity in Kenya, and he is interested in examining the shifts and trends of Kenyan Christianity from independence (1963) to 2023, with a special focus on ecumenism and mission. Apollo holds a Bachelor of Divinity from St. Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya; a Master of Theology Degree in Missiology from the University of South Africa; and a Master of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago. Apollo has worked as Youth Director with the Presbyterian Church of East Africa for almost a decade, and he is on the ordination track with the Presbyterian Church of USA (PCUSA).
Exciting Opportunity for Scholars from the Global South
The Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge is pleased to announce a call for applications for funded Visiting Fellowships.
Themed Call: Science, Politics, and Justice
Application Deadline: 12:00 (midday) UTC, 24 February 2025
This prestigious program offers a unique opportunity for scholars to engage in interdisciplinary research and collaboration at one of the world's leading academic institutions.
For more information and application details, click here