The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: Translatability and future of Christianity: Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
It was fitting that our last guest lecturer for Global Christianity, Dr. Jay Gary of Regent University, tried to encourage the class to think about the ‘future scenarios’ for Christianity in the next century. Dr. Gary looked at 15 scenarios that are projected into the next century, such as the rich-poor gap, ecological crisis, technology, many of them dilemmas of difference, and encouraged us to think about which might be more relevant to the future of Christianity.
Dr. Gary encouraged us to use our intuition to envision the factor we thought would be determinants of Christianity growth and transformation. A few of us thought that technology was important for Christianity. Hee Jin discussed how churches in Korea were already trying to close the technological generation gap by engaging in smart networking and creating applications about church activities and spirituality for smart-phones. We discussed, however, the fine line churches must walk between becoming too commercialized and thus loosing the mystery and tradition that goes beyond refashioning spirituality to the mundane and popular vernaculars of the day.
Many of the future scenarios that emerged predict a much darker future of conflict and competition for Christianity. Many settings envisioned were resonant with worldwide clashes of differences and how Christian communities might deal with conflict and rise above it. One of many concerns was for an East Asia in conflict with the West. But such generalizations are hard to pin down. Some of the situations projected intra-religiously cultural conflict – through Christianity of the North clashing with the rising Christianity of the South (Phillip Jenkins, The Next Christendom). Perhaps this would play out less in terms of North-South, but more along the lines of a more Charismatic, personal faith in contrast to a more traditional-historical and corporate faith. To some, the common prediction of an inter-religious clash between Islam and Christianity resounds as more likely. As The Atlas of Global Christianity aptly states, the history of Christianity indicates that growth is fragmentary and punctuated. Christianity has risen to prominence and fallen from many regions, only to rise in others (decline in North Africa, and the fast growth in sub-Saharan Africa are just one set of examples). By contrast, Islamic growth tends to be steady and territorial. As Brad pointed out, scholars like Lamin Sanneh and Andrew Walls argue that the translatability of Christianity is part of the reason for this fragmentation and punctuated growth.
Perhaps it is migration patterns that will be most likely to decide the future of Christianity. Christianity has defied predictions of decline due to secularization and the privatization of religion. The translatability of Christianity could very well create more fragmentation, yet with it seeds of renewal to forge future adaptations.
The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: "Boundaries" for mission today: Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
Boston University historian Dr. Dana L. Robert was the most recent guest lecturer for our Global Christianity course. Dr. Robert’s fascinating talk traced the shifting use over the last century of the concept of the mission field as ‘frontier.’ Earlier uses of the term, influenced by American Western expansion, saw mission as a territorial frontier. But the strictly territorial use of the idea of mission as frontier shifted to accommodate political and social realities. Drawing ‘Social Gospel’ movement, some missionaries envisioned mission frontiers in terms of social justice. Others likened mission frontier to that of crossing the boundary between ‘belief’ and ‘unbelief.’ A more recent transformation of the idea of frontier comes from work of Donald McGavran and Ralph Winter, who made popular the idea that “Unreached People” who do not have access to the Gospel are the primary frontier for modern missions. Dr. Robert suggested this view a is narrowing of the meaning of frontier. Mission is commonly understood as a crossing over some kind of boundary, and ‘frontier’ language has proved resilient, and may see another transformation in the coming years.
As our group discussed the lecture, we could agree that mission is most recognizable as a crossing of a boundary. Yet given the thorny history of Christian expansion which is sometimes linked with imperialism, several important questions emerged in discussion. Is the term ‘frontier’ for mission useful today? And if so, what is the most helpful way to understand the main ‘frontier’ for contemporary mission? If one abandons the specific use of the word ‘frontier’, what is the boundary that is most important to cross in order to engage responsibly in mission?
One suggestion in the discussion was to see the incarnation event itself as crossing a frontier, and an incarnational model of mission, being Christ in a holistic sense to our neighbors and seeing Christ in them, might be helpful. In this sense each person, each heart, could be considered a mission frontier. Although it has some evangelical overtones (‘every person is a missionary, every heart is a mission field’), it might be more helpful a word than the word ‘frontier’ that to some smacks of territorial takeover. But would this be saying that everyone can or should be a missionary, thereby diluting the meaning of mission? Perhaps there is a distinction between saying everyone is a missionary and saying Christian should strive to be missional. There is a movement in the West identifying itself as “missional church” that engages in theology and local outreach which is intentionally incarnational. Through the discussion many of us still sought to grapple with mission as a boundary crossing. We further asked ourselves what were the main ‘boundaries’ for mission today?
The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: Dynamics of mission and money: Editor’s note:The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
This past week in Global Christianity, Dr. Jonathan Bonk from the Overseas Ministry Study Center at Yale University gave the lecture on Christian mission and finance. Instead of elaborating on his article from The Atlas of Global Christianity, which discusses the concentration of Christian wealth in the ‘global north’ despite the demographic shift of Christianity to the ‘global south,’ he took a narrative approach. Dr. Bonk started by looking at the large amounts of money pumped into mission in the global north, particularly mission approached from the impulse of economic and social development and contrasted this with extraordinary stories of successful evangelizing missions done by communities on limited economic resources, such as the Mizoram in northeast India, and the Kachin Baptist churches in Myanmar (Burma).
Through mission the good news of the gospel has an important impact on culture. However, as Dr. Bonk pointed out, the Christian message may necessitate a shift in culture but not necessarily a change towards western consumerism. This we thought was an important insight when considering finance and mission. We discussed the case of Korea, where during the post civil war era the country was in financial crisis. The infusion of money from missions allowed missionaries to build structures such as schools and hospitals. Two Korean students in our discussion suggested this may have forged a path for some to come to the church, as a first step of evangelism in the Korean church. At the same time, we discussed how accepting financial help has complex affects. It can create a one-sided influence from the providers, and perhaps create a dependency relationship. While educational and healthcare institutions might be a positive, the missionaries also westernized Korea and pushed aside many cultural practices considered unchristian. As a result there was some lose of cultural identity. Our discussion came to a consensus that relationship building is an important way of doing mission that is incarnational. Such a holistic, incarnational approach to mission ensures that missionaries retain a sensitivity to local culture and avoid, to some extent, the political pitfalls associated with social issues.
The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: Quality of Roman Catholic mission: Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
This past week in our Global Christianity course we had the opportunity to hear from guest lecturer Father Vincent Machozi of Boston University on significant changes in Roman Catholicism over the last one hundred years. Father Machozi brought up some important points that stimulated our discussion. Among his points was expansion of the church in the global South, and with it a changing understanding of ‘catholicity’ as fullness of life. Father Machozi also brought attention to changes in the Roman Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council, particularly with the attention given to the church and social action.
We found Father Machozi’s point that catholicity understood as fullness of life has a profound impact on mission very interesting. Such an approach no longer sees mission as converting the whole world, and instead focuses on mission as quality of life. It shifts the evaluation of mission success away from quantitative convert head counts, to whether Christianity is qualitatively relevant and potent to deal with problems people face daily, such as poverty and injustice. We noted that the question of quantity vs. quality in Roman Catholic missions is very important in Latin America, where Catholics are a majority in most countries. If quality is not emphasized, then people might become Catholics in name or identity only, without Christianity having a significant influence on important activities and decisions.
The Roman Catholic Church’s emphasis on social action was an aspect that we found very interesting, especially since all of us came from Protestant traditions we thought failed to take global action seriously as church bodies. We discussed whether the centralized hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church allows Catholics to speak with tremendous power with a unified voice on important issues and stand up to such things as the debt of developing nations, poverty, and nuclear proliferation. We were left engaging with ideas on how Protestant churches might be inspired to take similar positions with resolve.
Hello from Boston everyone! It has now been a few months since I've moved from Thailand to Boston, MA in the US to continue my studies. The cultural shift into Boston has not been easy. I continue to deeply miss the people and places in the Land of Smiles. This is my first semester in the PhD program in religious studies through Boston University's Division of Religious and Theological Studies. B.U. is one of the best places to study World Christianity and Mission, especially Christianity as a global phenomenon outside the West, as well as inter-religious dialogue and comparative religion; B.U. is also quite interdisciplinary across history and the social sciences, and has all the resources of the 10 schools that make up the Boston Theological Institute. All that said, that's why I'm here. I'm an associate at the Center for Global Christianity and Mission. You can find my profile there along with other students studying Global Christianity and Mission. There is also a picture of me and colleague in the slideshow at the opening reception for the Division on the current student page. Photo above.
Recent and upcoming events:
Cross Cultural Partnerships at B.U.: "Cross-Cultural Partnerships is a program that brings together International and American students and professors in a small group setting for weekly
fellowship and exchanges of perspectives on various aspects of culture. The aims of this program are to help build relationships between persons from different cultural backgrounds, and to further understanding about the richness of culture and the complexity of reaching across cultural lines. This program also assists students in optimizing their academic performance during their time at Boston University School of Theology by deepening their understanding of the standards and expectations they will encounter at this institution." The photo above is from a luncheon ... we are quite multi-cultural! from the Caribbean, China, South Korea, USA, and Indonesia.
2010Boston: The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity. 2010Boston is one of the many conferences going on worldwide this year to commemorate 100 years since the Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference. Celebrations are being held all over the Boston area, including Park St Church, B.U., Boston College and Harvard Divinity School.
Please check out the ongoing 2010Boston Blog. These blog's are written by doctoral students in Todd Johnson's Comparative Christianity: Global Christianity course. The blog posts are reflections from student groups on the rise of global Christianity and the significant changes within Christianity from 1910-2010. I am putting the discussions I summarize for the blog on The Red Connection each week, so look for previous and upcoming posts all fall.
The conference has a high degree of participation from students and there will be many student papers and workshops. On the 5th I will be presenting a paper for the "Mission in Context" panel on the rise of faith-based organizations and the transformation of mission and salvation. At the moment this work-in-progress is entitled "Salvation Now: Mission as Human Care and Development, the Case of Thailand."
In another surprising development (for me as much as for those who know I'm challenged with dyslexia and spelling!), aj.Daeng will be the official 'tweeter' for the conference. You can follow tweets @ 2010Boston_Conf.
The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: Struggles in the Anglican Communion: Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
In our Global Christianity course on October 27th, we had the opportunity to hear from Reverend Ian Douglas, now the Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut within the Episcopal Church USA. Reverend Douglas is also a former faculty member at the Episcopal Divinity School right across the river from us at Boston University. He brought his academic and ministerial experience to the discussion of global Anglicanism.
The 38 episcopate structured churches and several extra provincial churches that share a common history are loosely connected as the Anglican Communion, which together is the 3rd largest Christian group after Orthodox churches and Roman Catholics. In Reverend Douglas’ discussion of the last 100 years of Anglicanism to the present, a common thread of tension arose: the struggle to maintain the integral unity of the Communion within the diversity of independently administered episcopate churches—between the particular and the universal, the local and the global.
Our discussion centered on some of the issues that cause tension within the Anglican Communion. Some of most divisive concerns center on gender and sexuality: the ordination of women, and the inclusion of gay and lesbian into the church, including the ordination of openly gay and lesbian men and women. We quickly noted that churches within the Anglican Communion, even within episcopates, sometimes move in completely opposite directions on these important issues: for example the ordination of Reverend Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire enflamed controversy both in the Episcopal Church USA, as well as in churches across the globe, particularly in Nigeria, home to a sizable proportion of the world’s Anglicans.
One of the participants in our discussion had regularly attended an Episcopal church in New England. He shared that his church was extremely conservative on the issues of the ordination of women and did not condone gay and lesbian partnerships. However, this church belongs to a diocese that is open and inclusive. When Reverend Gene Robinson was ordained, some in that church left the Communion altogether. They left not because of what was happening locally but because there was no way to enforce uniformity on the issue globally. The church that remained made a compromised to with the diocese to maintain a different theological perspective on gender and inclusion.
We discussants asked ourselves if the structure of Anglican administration allows for pragmatism and patience with regard to theological differences. Brad noted that pragmatism or compromise may not be able to stop large schisms, since defections over the issue of women and gay and lesbians are disproportionately large in the ‘global south.’
Despite bitter disagreement on the full inclusion of persons in the church because of varying views on gender, we discussed how Anglicans have come together to work against racism and Apartheid in South Africa, for example. The Reverend Desmond Tutu has said he had the whole of the Anglican Communion behind him in his struggle. We wondered if in our lifetimes we would see Anglicans rally so unanimously against sexism, or homophobia. We left reflecting on how the tension of diversity and unity play out along the important questions of who can be fully included in the body of Christ, not only for the Anglican Communion, but also for our own churches.
The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: The appeal and growth of "Marginal" churches: Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
Our topic of discussion in Global Christianity for October 20 was ‘Marginal’ Christianity. Our main textbook for the course, The Atlas of Global Christianity, uses the term ‘marginal’ to describe Christian groups who are distinct from Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant groups because of divergent views on commonly accepted confessions such as the Trinity and the person of Jesus Christ, or if the authority of a leader or another scripture supersedes these confessions.
Our guest speaker Matthew Bowman provided a compelling history over the last 100 years on the second largest marginal Christian group, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS, is the largest faction of the group commonly referred to as Mormons). Mr. Bowman focused our attention on the changing policies of the LDS church that made global expansion possible. He emphasized a shift from a policy of ‘the gathering’ - where the Kingdom of God was envisioned as a new Zion and followers gathered together in Utah - to reforms that encouraged expansion, such as building new temples, a lifting of the ban on priesthood from males of African descent, the policy of ‘correlation’ extending connections to churches outside Utah headquarters, and a call to engage in missions abroad for young men. These changes allowed the LDS church to expand globally.
Demographically speaking, marginal Christians, although small in number, have experienced extraordinary growth rates worldwide. Among the groups we discussed were Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Unification church led by Reverend Moon (sometimes called the Moonies), and The Family International (or Children of God) initiated by David Berg.
Although none in our group had any interpersonal contact with marginal Christians, many of us expressed an interest in learning more about these groups and what attracts followers to them. “When I first learned about them as a young Christian,” Sam said, “their odd beliefs made me take a step back from investigating these movements. When I entered academia, their oddness instead drew me to them and to studying the circumstances of their historical and social development.”
The main questions for us trying to understand why some marginal Christians are growing at such a rapid pace: what might be some of the factors that account for growth? What would make conversion so appealing? One postulation is each group makes an unequivocal truth claim about what it means to be the truly Christian. This confidence and conviction might be an important attraction for many people. Sam observed that within a world of globalization and post-modernity, where identity and belief are so fractured and unstable, the conviction of marginal groups may offer stability in the midst of change and volatility.
Another factor we discussed was the communal solidary joining a marginal church or movement provides. Precisely because of belief in a unique truth claim, adherents may feel particularly special. Members may have a deep sense belonging and commonality with other members. The community looks out for each other more than other Christian groups might, just from being, for example, Presbyterian, or Roman Catholic. This does impose a certain moral rigor and limitation on people who belong to the community. Further, in some cases, there is more emphasis on common life, or belonging, than in believing the same things—which might be characterized in Mormonism. Mr. Bowman pointed this out as an ‘orthopraxy.’ Further, Sam proposed that this might be because of the intellectual freedom provided within Mormonism. It is uniquely postmodern in this way, and lends itself to absorbing others and allowing for a more communal existence without the rigors of extremely enforced intellectual tethers.
Globalization and post-modern strains on firm identities related to family and sexuality, such as the changing ideas of family, the emancipation of women, the sexual revolution and the decline of traditional marriage, also made for interesting discussion. Isaac pointed out the importance of family in the Unification Church, which is a major religious movement where he’s from in South Korea. For both the LDS and the Unification Church, a proper and blessed marriage and children in very ‘traditional’ bent are very important and made sacred and essential to salvation. A harking back to more ‘traditional’ values and making the hetero-sexual marriage union sacred could be a factor in their growth. At the same time young women are leaving Mormonism in North America in alarming numbers (some estimate a defection rate of 75%). Where Mormons and the Unification church went in one direction on family and sexuality, the Family International shows a different orientation completely. The Family, in quite opposite fashion, has embraced the sexual revolution. This church has also made sexuality sacred, but sees sexual relations with many (heterosexual) partners as a way to enhance one’s relationship with Christ, and even to minister to others.
We left our discussion thinking further about not only the appeal and growth of marginal Christians but also how these groups are adapting to new challenges. We pushed ourselves to better understand their unique claims to truth and their struggle within competing Christian assertions of authenticity.
The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: Learning from the Orthodox tradition: Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
On the week of October 13th in the class on Global Christianity, Father Luke Veronis from Holy Cross Seminary gave a guest lecture on the Orthodox Church history and the impact on Orthodox missions, especially in the past century.
If we paint the history of Christianity in terms of broad strokes, one of the dominant colors would be the demographic shift of Christianity to the ‘global South’ in the last 100 years, a shift that has brought Christian growth in areas of the world where the gospel had no foothold a century ago. But the story of the Orthodox churches would be a counter stroke of a different color. Historically, the Orthodox churches are the oldest Christian traditions. They have a rich spiritual history that shaped early Christianity and the monastic traditions, and as far as missions go, they also have had many missionary champions. However, persecution, repression, and immigration have threatened many Orthodox traditions. This past century has witnessed the multiplying of such treats, through communist oppression in the former Soviet Union and other communist states, the repression and immigration across the Middle East, and the genocide committed against the Armenian people. But it is also a story of survival and resurgence, and hope for the future in other places that have opened up to newfound religious freedoms.
This counter story is all the more disheartening given the widespread lack of knowledge about Orthodoxy among many Christians. Indeed, several participants in our discussion group had not known of the Orthodox churches until this course. The learning experience has been a pleasant surprise. Some of the students expressed an appreciation for the mystical tradition of theosis and the profound encounter with God as mystery within the Orthodox traditions. In our discussion, Teasoeb contrasts this sense aptly: “I think the Orthodox have different, even alluringly mysterious liturgical styles, and although they seem to accept anyone who comes, they definitely do not expose their interior liturgical life like Western bodies do.”
Many in our discussion group were also intrigued by the Orthodox approaches to missions. Father Luke’s lecture stressed that at their best Orthodox models for missions were very respectful of local culture; the pace of missions was slow as to adapt to local culture and language, as well as built a strong base for local leadership … all this in a missionary tradition that flourished long before fervent Catholic and Protestant missions began. It seems that one of the Orthodox models for spreading the gospel was one of patience. Persecution, repression and the minority status of many churches (we can see this at the fall of the Byzantine empire, and more recently of communism), did cause many churches to retreat into a kind of survival mode. Father Luke proposed this may be a reason why many Orthodox churches lost touch with their missionary traditions.
One student, Myung Eun, remarked on their very different style of evangelism: “the Orthodox tend to evangelize people in a different way than Westerners. They do not go forward to evangelize people in the same strong or forceful manner. In Korea many Christian churches have grown in the last hundred years, but there is only one Orthodox church. The Orthodox churches don't use any “marketing” as other churches do to bring people in."
Some in our group were more cautious than others about the Orthodox version of history with regards to missions. Bruce and Jeff pointed out that the Orthodox may see themselves as the ‘underdogs’ of history compared to the Western churches. From this perspective they can differentiate themselves from the more extreme forms of Christian imperialism and cultural insensitivity.
Nevertheless, we could agree that Protestants and Catholics alike can learn much from the patience, the strong sense of continuity with ancient Christian tradition, the rich mystical theology, and the perseverance of the Orthodox churches.
The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: Salvation in the African context: Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Led by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
The guest lecture for Global Christianity this week was Dr. NimiWariboko, who gave a general overview of African cultural and religious framework, and went on to discuss independent church movements in Africa and how they positively contextualize the gospel – resulting in high church growth. Two broad movements among independents are Pentecostal – Charismatic churches, and African Initiated Churches or African Independent Churches (AICs). In their own ways, both preach a message of concrete blessing, transformation and salvation for people in this lifetime. The focus on material blessing is sometimes called ‘prosperity gospel,’ a phrase almost exclusively used by those who find it in some way suspect. Our discussions centered on how to understand and evaluate a concept of salvation that emphasizes the present in African context.
We found Dr. Wariboko’s lecture very helpful since he put the preaching of so-called ‘prosperity gospel’ within the preview of an African framework. On one level, religion pervades all of life. Meaning, religion in Africa is neither isolated nor compartmentalized chronologically – postponing salvation into the future or afterlife. Neither can it be put in a separate ‘private’ sphere or emotion. Religion in general and Christianity by extension permeates the whole life of the believer, very much inclusive of physical and material existence. In this way, the Koreans in our discussion noted, a view of religion as integrated into all parts of life might not be so different than some Korean churches, particularly Full Gospel churches that are within the global family of the Pentecostal - Charismatic movement.
On another level, a ‘prosperity gospel’ represents hope that God can transform lives and liberate people in the here-and-now. This hope is an important message for people in deep economic, social, and even physical turmoil, as many people might struggle with poverty, disease, and the reality and consequences of war. We found an understanding of salvation that is holistic often rings true. It is especially attractive as African Christians also may focus on transformation of all the earth, humanity, animal life, and the restoration of all of nature.
The Changing Contours of World Mission and Christianity: Protestant-led ecumenical movements: Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Lead by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
Our discussion this week centered on Protestantism over the last hundred years within the broader context of Global Christianity. The term ‘Protestant’ includes churches within what are often referred to as ‘mainline’ denominations. These churches have roots in the Reformation (including Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregationalist). Within Protestantism two important tensions surfaced: denominational division (both between mainline traditions and internal break-offs within a tradition), and the ecumenical movements of the past century initiated between Protestant churches. It became evident in our discussion that these tensions can be viewed as challenges or opportunities for renewal.
Historically the ecumenical movement began with Protestant churches as much for practical reasons as for theological commitment to Christian unity. The extensive complexity denominational divisions present head-scratching challenges for missions when several denominations ‘compete’ to present the gospel. It also threatens the long-term sustainability of small congregations of Protestant Christians coexisting in proximity but administered under different denominations. Ecumenical cooperation has the advantage of presenting a united front of Christian unity. It worked well in regions with small Christians populations where no one denomination dominates, such as North India and Thailand, where various churches pooled resources and united.
In our discussion group, however, few knew about Protestant led ecumenical movements, and few experienced an ecumenical spirit within their churches. Dong Gyun expressed that in his Korean Presbyterian heritage there are many internal struggles and many break-offs. Maintaining a distinct identity overshadows the desire for unity. Jin, who is also Korean but a Methodist, pointed out that his tradition remained united in Korea, and much emphasis is placed on staying together within that church, and not so much on communion with other Protestant denominations. The ecumenical spirit was so far removed from Jeff’s local congregation that he questioned whether Protestantism should be distinguished as a group for their ecumenical efforts.
The gulf between the lack of ecumenical awareness and engagement on a local level, and the reality of the ecumenical councils within Protestant churches may be explained by the fact that ecumenical movements seem to have taken place among higher levels of church leadership, far away from the pews. In the book Boundless Faith, Robert Wuthnow draws attention to the centrality of the local congregation rather than the commitment to denomination administration in the lives of American churchgoers. Dong Gyun felt that was right in many ways for it seemed to him that local pastors have a huge influence on whether or not a given congregation will engage in ecumenism. We were left with the important question of whether ecumenism could be more powerful if engaged from the ‘ground-up’ – from the local worshippers to the denominational leadership – and what consequences that might have for Protestants.
Editor’s note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Lead by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
Our discussion in Global Christianity this week was launched from Dr. Todd Johnson’s presentation centered on the resurgence of Christianity in the global South. As Christians become more represented in the Global South – a trend that moves to better represent the distribution of the world’s population – two high growth areas of Christianity caught our attention. One is the growth of what The Atlas of Global Christianity terms “Marginal” Christians, a category that includes such organizations as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Jin and Jeff questioned whether they be called Christian at all, even if the term ‘marginal’ serves as a qualifier. Although it is not an ideal term, it does capture the viewpoint that many more ‘traditional’ Christians hold. Jeff added to this standpoint: “It seems to me that Mormons are about as Christian as Muslims are Christian. Both have respect for Christ, but both insist that further prophetic revelation was necessary.”
The second area of Christian growth that caught our attention was Africa. Africa is the continent that has experienced the most significant growth in the Global South, particularly within the independent African Initiated Churches (AIC’s). Jin was quick to ask us what we think of the character of the African churches. To Jin, it seems that many African churches, especially AIC’s are a little different; aside from dealing with social concerns such as HIV/AIDS, they seem more interested in spiritual power and healing, and prefer more charismatic liturgy than in any other region of the world. It does seem that although they may have their own flavor, the message they preach, for example in spiritual healing, is inspired by accounts of such healings and exorcisms found in the New Testament. “I don't see a problem with the way they are exercising societal Christian practice,” Jeff suggested. “It seems in keeping with Christian history and tradition.” If the language African churches use follows the Bible and is Christ centered, what is it about some African Churches that might sound illegitimate? Can we identify what is behind our discomfort?
It does seem that the African context is rich in animistic traditions, and when Christianity moves in, it has to adapt to local cosmology. One question to ask is whether we can accept that some Christians believe in demons and spirits? Or should all Christians adopt a “western” cosmology? As Dong Gyun commented: “compared to the West, which is more rational and fond of systemization, Africans may have a cosmology that is more attuned to spirits and demons that others may see as unchristian.” He went on to draw from his experience: “Once you become a Christian in Korea, you cannot invoke spirits or pay heed to those practices of the past … There isn't any mixing of folk religion.”
I asked everyone what they would do if a woman came up to them convinced they were plagued by harmful spirits. Interestingly, despite all our reservations, not one of us thought that asking her to stop believing in her experiences would help her achieve spiritual wholeness. Jin shared that a similar episode happened to him. “It's a bit hard for me to discuss it, because when I share it, many people think I am weird. But as it is mentioned in the Bible, there are demons. I would like to do what Jesus did, and help her get rid of what is plaguing her.” I also shared that if I had been presented with this scene three years ago, I would have reacted by wanting to reconstruct the woman’s worldview. However, today I would be more open to meeting her somewhere closer to her own belief system.
Is that not, then, a strength of Christianity, and of the African churches that emphasize healing, to meet Africans where they are? Perhaps that is why in the last few decades Africans have been so successful at presenting the good news to other Africans because they can meet them where they are and bring about a sense of spiritual wholeness.
Editor's note: The following post arises from small group reflections from The Rise of Global Christianity, 1910–2010, taught by Dr. Todd Johnson
at Boston University in the Fall of 2010. Lead by doctoral students, the small groups discussed lectures given by Christian scholars in various disciplines, including significant changes that have occurred in global Christianity over the past 100 years.
In our Global Christianity course this week we were fortunate to have a guest lecturer, Dr. Brian Grim, who spoke on the measurement of religious freedom in countries across the globe. Dr. Grim showed rankings in terms of social attitudes and government restrictions that pertain to religious freedom, broadly understood. Some of the countries that ranked in both extremes, high and low, were surprising to some of us. There are two South Korean master’s students in our discussion group. One student, Jin, was both interested and shocked that South Korea did not get a more severe rating. Although South Korea constitutionally guarantees freedom of religion, some of the Christians he knows experience some social pressures. Furthermore, Jin said that it was difficult to negotiate his pacifist beliefs with mandatory military service. Another South Korean, Dong Gyun, noted that there are many subtleties to religious freedom to consider. In our discussion we noted that although minorities may experience significant degrees of social pressurefrom family or friends, such as in South Korea where Christians are steadily increasing in number, the pressure is not strictly speaking restrictive or violent. There were also countries that ranked worse than we had expected, such as Indonesia. Most of us took for granted the common perception that Indonesia is a prime example of a moderate Islamic country – in fact it did not rank as low as we had anticipated.
The second major topic of discussion was about African Christianity. Africa is the continent that has experienced the most sizable Christian growth in the last 100 years. It was interesting to ask if people were aware of the growing Christian churches in Africa. Dong and Jin said that reading about African in regard to its religious diversity, as well as statistics, was new to them. Dong Gyun also made an interesting observation: “It seems to me that African churches are largely charismatic that are geared toward the religious experience.” I made the point that is it easy for us to categorize new churches in Africa as charismatic. Yet many of these churches that we regard as charismatic may actually be under the umbrella of ‘independent’ African Initiated Churches (AICs). Although AICs emphasize spiritual healing, lively music and liturgy, they may not be denominationally Pentecostal. One of the issues we kept returning to in our discussion of Africa was our presuppositions about these churches. Do we see the African churches as being more socially conservative than in America, for example? Jeff, who is from a Methodist congregation, says this is the standing assumption among many in his circles and a cause for concern, especially regarding the ordination and role of women. How, we asked, should we engage these different African Christians? As Jeff suggested, “I believe it is better that we engage African churches; so long as they strive to maintain a connection to the scriptures and the early church, we can still have a common ground from which to start discussions. That should serve as a decent basis for dialogue.”
Every year on the eve of VisakhaBucha Day, thousands of monks and lay Buddhist in the Chiang Mai province make a 13 kilometer walk uphill to DoiSuthepTemple. VisakhaBucha (sometimes transliterated as VisakaPuja) is the most revered day in Thai Buddhism. It celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha. This merit making pilgrimage has become increasingly popular. It seems to have morphed into an initiation rite for first year university students. Especially noticeable is the fraternity among young men who sing manly songs, grunt, and encourage each other along the way. At a leisurely pace it can take anywhere between 4-6 hours to get to the top. Of course there are food and drink stalls, foot massage, and tents where one can receive blessings from monks and make donations to temples all along the way. The full moon and candles light the path. This year, my walking partner Jonas kept me motivated the whole way up. By the time we got to the top the procession was just making its final round. This short video gives a little taste of the celebration.
A few weeks ago I made a short stopover in Taipei, Taiwan on my way back to Thailand for a quick visit and to say hi to a couple I know who work on the island. Besides a few of the temples, public spaces and parks, the aesthetic of the city - crowded, with functional architecture and drab, if any, decor - is not too exciting. So on a Sunday when most people take a day off their hectic and packed East Asian schedules, the spaces around museums and parks make for some absorbing people-watching. It seems that everyone who can be out, is out. Around several of the places we visited, packs of teenagers practiced their dance moves and competed for space with the yellow shirt Falun Gong (or Dafa) followers meditating. The photo above shows teenage girls staking out there spot next to Falun Gong followers, who were making their cause known especially to Chinese mainlanders visiting tourist hotpots. Today, May 13, is the "World FalunDafa Day" set aside for the religious movement to commemorate the spreading of the message to the public. Below are a few more photos from the trip.
The Venerable Dhammananda is charismatic, warm, well-spoken and leaves a strong impression on those who've met her - and has the distinction of being the first Theravada bhikkhuni(female monk) in Thailand. A few weeks ago I went down to Nakhon Patom to spend time at her center at Wat Songdhammakalyani. As it was a slightly more stressful time than usual, this weekend retreat was perfect timing. I went with Brooke Schedneck, a friend from Harvard Divinity School days who is in Thailand doing field research for her dissertation (both of us pupils of our beloved Don Swearer). Brooke is interested in Ven. Dhammananda as a meditation teacher to foreigners. I am interested in Ven. Dhammananda's thoughts on on gender and inter-religious dialogue. I probably would not have made it a weekend-long venture, but Brooke has done so many meditation retreats she made it easier for me to deal with the simple monastic life of hard beds and waking up before dawn.
I first met and interviewed Ven. Dhammananda in 2007 at the International Conference on Religion and Culture in Chiang Mai where I presented a paper on Buddhist art and gender. In our first conversation we discussed gender in the writings of Dr. Chatsumarn Kabilsingh for several minutes before I (finally! gasp ...) realized Dhammananda was Dr. Kabilsingh before her monastic metamorphosis! Same person, different name. This slightly embarrassing episode served our discussion well. As we both noted, my momentary non-recognition reinforced a point we were making: ordination visually removes the easy markers of gender - a face without make-up, shaved hair, robes concealing sexed contours. Dr. Kabilsingh was for over 30 years a professor of philosophy and religion at Thammasat University, where she wrote the bulk of her many works on, among other things, Buddhist texts, commentary, and gender. But her commitment to monastic life can be seen anchored even further back than academia, to her extraordinary childhood as daughter of Ven. Voramai Kabilsingh, the first Thai bhikkhuni, ordained in the Taiwanese Mahayana line. Her life was saturated with chanting and meditation. Her mother converted their home into Wat Songdhammakalyani (literally, the temple of women who uphold the dhamma). As a young girl she says she could recite whole chants by rote memory "like a parrot." Life as an academic allowed her to explore the meaning of what she memorized as a child. She told us she waited until her youngest child passed 25 years of age before she followed her mother's footsteps and ordained. But going further than her groundbreaking mother, she sought a Theravada ordination through the newly revived bhikkhuni tradition in Sri Lanka. A proper Theravada ordination would give her a greater chance of recognition in the Thai Sangha (the official ruling hierarchy of Thai Buddhism), and would better situate her to pass on the bhikkhuni lineage at home.
Brooke and I arrived and quickly got into the rhythm of the weekend events. We were plopped in the middle of a training session for the center's core volunteers. On the whole they were nice and helpful - presumably that is part of the training! as they prepared to take some of the workload off Ven. Dhammananda and the other samaneri (female novices). We skipped the sessions on temple rules, taking care of guests, and how to give tours of the grounds - I for one needed rest and was desperate for a shower (the first of three that day) after an overnight bus and the inferno-like heat of Nakhon Patom at noon in the height of hot season. One interesting session was on Visualization. Put in simple terms: how you 'visualize' an object or problem can determine your response and approach to it. A bit of experiential learning helped to demonstrate the point. Four of us were asked to visualize a volunteer sitting in a chair as a heavy stone. When it came time to lift the woman from the chair with our fingers, we couldn't make it happen. But when we closed ours eyes and visualized the woman as a feather, we lifted her up easily. It worked! The use of Visualization meditation and mental training exemplifies the many ways Ven. Dhammananda draws from Tibetan Buddhism. More importantly she draws from the Tibetan tradition her own understanding of the Medicine Buddha. Ven. Dhammananda has a local reputation as a healer and had a distinctive vision of the Medicine Buddha fleshed in blue (top photo).
We were encouraged to join the morning alms rounds. I wasn't sure what to expect, or if that many people would give food to female monks, but they are known and taken care of by the nearby villagers. They also know she is a strict vegetarian, thank goodness, because I didn't want to feel obliged to eat seafood or something worse at 7am. The samaneri giving the blessing is adorable (top-right), she loves to touch and talk to the alms-givers. Of course in good Thai-time some lay people rushed up on motorbikes moments before we entered the gates. That seems also routine. Bottled water, blessed by Ven. Dhammananda, with the blue Medicine Buddha logo (left), are distributed to alms-givers in need of healing.
We were joined later by a documentary film maker from The Buddhist Channel in France. The three of us went everywhere Dhammananda went, which was great. She received an invitation to the chanting / fund-raising event by the abbot of Wat Luang Por Sot, an unfinished but huge Dhammakaya temple nearby. The abbot supports Dhammananda and the revival of the bhikkhuni line in Thailand, but he is limited by the constraints placed on him by the Thai Sangha. He showed his support by inviting her to present gifts to the male monks at the ceremony. Of course it wouldn't be a Dhammakaya event without attracting the rich and famous, so there were a few Thai movie stars giving gifts as well! Ven. Dhammananda sits in a special place (left). We were behind her with the mae chii (nuns who dress in white, shave their hair and follow 8 precepts) and other female laity dressed in white, and we were escorted to the 'VIP' section for lunch.
Ven. Dhammananda interprets the Thai Sangha's refusal to recognize the new bhikkhuni lineage as mixed. The lack of legitimation by the national hierarchy leaves a great deal of room for intellectual freedom as a public figure and autonomy to make decisions without having to answer to the Thai leadership. Last year, 30 women joined in a 9 day temporary ordination. They expect at least 50 this year, while busy figuring out how to house them all and constructing a new building for future growth.
It is no wonder that Ven. Dhammananda has become an important Buddhist voice. Her belief in her gender equality, dialogue with Buddhist and other faith traditions, inviting presence, command of English, and reputation as a healer, attract seekers and scholars alike. It was a much needed retreat for me, and to paraphrase a popular saying from one of her books, a calming of my monkey mind.
Hello everyone, and welcome to The Red Connection, a blog on travel, culture, religion & spirituality. The Red Connection also gives visitors and friends a chance to see some of my interests and what I’m up to, ask questions or make comments. Enjoy! - Eva Pascal (a.k.a. aj.Daeng)
.jpg)
Posts
