{"title":"African Pastors’ Virtual Ministry from South Korea","authors":"David Hirome, Hansung Kim","doi":"10.1177/23969393241236147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393241236147","url":null,"abstract":"The massive shift of ministry from physical to virtual spaces as occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic led to an explosion in virtual ministry. The proliferation of social media within diverse areas of human life continues to present important ramifications for present and future church ministry. This article presents the findings of a qualitative research study into the virtual ministry of thirteen African pastors in Korea to their people back home and in so doing highlights the importance of Christian mission from an African diasporic view. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of African pastors in Korea who conducted virtual ministry to their congregation back home in the time of Covid-19. The grounded theory of this study was that African virtual pastoring from Korea during Covid-19 was driven by a search for community, used the prevalent and yet unreliable or problematic social media platforms, as a means to carry out interactive ministries and often extended beyond their home audiences. It is also revealed that the African pastors forged a mediated space through their virtual ministry even as they negotiated their distance and belonging in South Korean society.","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"77 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141932012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Local Women in the Christian Mission History of the Protestant Church in Southeast Sulawesi (Gepsultra), Indonesia","authors":"Yohanes Krismantyo Susanta","doi":"10.1177/23969393231217189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393231217189","url":null,"abstract":"In the history of Protestant missions, women do not play a significant role in the collective memory. This study endeavors to examine and analyze the involvement of women in the historical records of the Protestant Church mission in Southeast Sulawesi, employing a feminist perspective. The primary thesis of this article posits that the adoption of feminist perspectives is imperative in order to elucidate the interrelated nature of masculine hegemony, Indonesian historiography, and the marginalization of women as individuals who have been excluded from the annals of missionary history and the collective recollection of the Protestant church in Southeast Sulawesi. The article commences with an examination of women and historiography, situated within the framework of feminist discourse. The results indicate that local women deserve to be dubbed missionaries because they serve as missionary heroes, leaders, and cultural bridges.","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"89 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141869888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Migration and Multiple Forms of Asian Indian American Christian Belonging","authors":"Geomon George, Kamalesh Stephen","doi":"10.1177/23969393241242714","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393241242714","url":null,"abstract":"Migration is changing and revitalizing the religious and cultural landscape of the United States. This article explores the theme of migration and belonging within the Asian Indian Christian community. Building upon this theme, the article draws attention to the myth of Asian Indians being a “model community,” and experiences of foreignness of belonging. This article also argues that despite the perception of economic mobility, Asian Indians face discrimination and a sense of foreignness of belonging. It is suggested that autobiographical theology becomes a powerful tool to understand family, church, and community.","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"182 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140930530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Conundrum and Promise of Intercultural Theology in the Western Academy","authors":"Benno van den Toren","doi":"10.1177/23969393231215477","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393231215477","url":null,"abstract":"Intercultural theology has a dual origin. On the one hand it derives from the development of diverse forms of theologizing in Christianity worldwide, while on the other hand it originates in the North Atlantic university where intercultural theology and world Christianity have developed as particular fields of study. With reference to two examples of spiritual possession and biblical interpretation, this article argues that its location within Western academic institutional settings presents obstacles to the ability of intercultural theologians in the West to do justice to the proper nature of various forms of theologizing in other contexts. In particular, attention is drawn to the fragmentation of theological disciplines, the secularization of academic discourse, the use of cultural analysis, and the power of the Western academy. The article concludes with some proposals regarding how an awareness of this dual origin can help intercultural theologians to be a critical presence within the Western academy beyond their discipline.","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140596178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Social Research Methods: For Students and Scholars of Theology and Religious Studies","authors":"James A. Blumenstock","doi":"10.1177/23969393241227140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393241227140","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140596089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: A Postcolonial Relationship: Challenges of Asian Immigrants as the Third Other","authors":"Wing Yin Li","doi":"10.1177/23969393241227570","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393241227570","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140596212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pachamama Christianity: The Pan-Amazonian Synod and Indigenous Religious Identity","authors":"Stephen Bevans","doi":"10.1177/23969393231214480","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393231214480","url":null,"abstract":"In the early hours of the morning of October 21, 2019, two right-wing Catholic men broke into the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, Rome. They stole four carved wooden statues of a naked pregnant woman that had been on display and used in a papal ceremony during the Pan-Amazonian Synod that was nearing its conclusion and threw them into the Tiber River. What was the meaning of these statues and the ceremony in the presence of the pope in which they appeared? Was this an example of syncretism, of dual religious belonging, or an exercise in what Pope Francis called “daring prudence” in terms of inculturation of the gospel? This article, the 2022 Louis J. Luzbetak Lecture at Catholic Theological Union, takes the incident of the theft of the statues and the controversy that followed as an opportunity to propose a more creative and bolder approach to the relationship between mission and culture.","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140595971","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Ongoing Challenge of Christian Mission in Japan","authors":"Thomas John Hastings","doi":"10.1177/23969393241227144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393241227144","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"213 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140595964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mission Rivalries, Conflicts, and the Construction of Protestant Christian Identities in Colonial Malawi","authors":"Dorothy Tembo","doi":"10.1177/23969393231182440","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393231182440","url":null,"abstract":"This article delves into the historical background of mission work in colonial Malawi, specifically focusing on the crucial link between mission boundaries and the development of Christian and ethnic identities. The study examines the collaboration and conflicts that arose among missions due to overlapping spheres of influence and territories. It highlights the extent of cooperation between the Livingstonia Mission, Dutch Reformed Church Missions, and other missions operating under the Federated Board of Nyasaland Mission. In particular, the article will discuss the extent to which missionary boundaries affected the self-understanding of Christians and other ethnic groups and how they were expressed in the communities in which they lived. It is argued that Christian identity in colonial Malawi was a by-product of mission rivalries, which manifested in boundary disputes.","PeriodicalId":43117,"journal":{"name":"International Bulletin of Mission Research","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140595967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}