World Christianity

Black and white lantern slide showing a road from the town of Motihari in Bihar, northeast India, to the Regions Beyond Missionary Union's mission station opened in 1900. (CSWC33/OS14/2) #PhotoFriday

Our final seminar of the term will include two visiting scholars who have been researching Scottish #MissionHistory to India and China, John Carter (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, USA) and Liza Qiu (Trinity Theological College, Singapore). #WorldChristianity

Four children, identified as Janie, Alice, Maggie, and Mary, photographed with Scottish missionary Mary Slessor, circa 1880. Slessor was known for her work in present-day Nigeria, adopting abandoned children, notably twins and the children of slaves. (CSWC47/LS2/36) #PhotoFriday

We look forward to welcoming Dr Diego Malara (University of Glasgow) to speak on the efficacy and ubiquity of holy water in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. We are pleased to co-host this seminar with Religious Studies. #WorldChristianity #AnthropologyofChristianity

Chao Ersun was the Han Chinese governor-general of Manchuria. He is pictured here in a collection of slides relating to Dugald Christie, a Scottish medical missionary in China. (CSWC47/LS8/40) #photofriday

The latest issue of Studies in World Christianity has dropped! These are case studies from the history of Chinese Christian theologizing and social engagement to Christian women's contributions in Hong Kong and Zambia, and African Pentecostals in Belgium. cswc.div.ed.ac.uk/2026/03/studie…

We are looking forward to welcoming Dr Kate Tilson (Cambridge University) to speak to us from her research on British Evangelical missions in the Pacific Islands. #WorldChristianity #MissionHistory

Boot mender, India, ca. 1930. Leather work is a low-caste occupation in the Hindu caste system, so this man may be a member of a lower caste or possibly outside of Hindu caste system altogether. (CSWC33/OS15) #PhotoFriday

Lake Nyasa (or Lake Malawi) is located between present-day Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique. This image is from a collection on the Scottish missionary Robert Laws, who helped found the Livingstonia mission on the shores of Lake Nyasa in 1875. (CSWC47/LS5/1/5) #PhotoFriday

Wonderful to celebrate 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 (@degruyter_brill 2025) with editor Professor Brian Stanley and all the contributors, online and in person. May it contribute to ongoing discussions on this important topic. #WorldChristianity

Temple of the Three Righteous Ones and Tea Booth, Manchuria, China, ca. 1882-1936. From a series of Church of Scotland lantern slides relating to Dugald Christie, who went to Manchuria with his wife, Elizabeth, in 1882 to work as a medical missionary. (CSWC47/LS8/35) #PhotoFriday

This Indian woman claps her hands in welcome or prayer. The circa 1920 tinted lantern slide comes from a collection created by missionaries from the Regions Beyond Missionary Union working in northeast India. (CSWC33/OS16/69) #PhotoFriday

Looking forward to next week’s celebration and panel discussion with Professor Brian Stanley and the contributors to the book: 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 (Brill 2025). #WorldChristianity brill.com/display/title/…

The boy in this tinted lantern slide from around 1930 is collecting water at a mela (a gathering or festival) from the Ganges or a tributary. The slide comes from a collection created by missionaries from the Regions Beyond Missionary Union. (CSWC33/OS15/15)

Congratulations to David Lewis for successfully passing his World Christianity PhD viva! Thanks also to Professor Victor Ezigbo (Wycliffe College, Toronto) and Dr David Grummet for serving as examiners. #WorldChristianity

Lovely to have Revd Dr @RajPatta speaking to us about a liturgical turn in subaltern public theology. #WorldChristianity #PublicTheology

Tomorrow, we welcome Revd Dr Raj Bharath Patta @rajpatta (United Stockport Methodist Circuit) to deliver our next research seminar on “Subaltern Public Theology: Dalits and the Indian Public Sphere.” #WorldChristianity #PublicTheology

The Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, or Boxers, was a secret Chinese society opposed to Western imperialism and Christianity. This is from a United Presbyterian Church of Scotland collection, sometime during the Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901. (CSWC47/LS8/29) #PhotoFriday

A week and a half more to go before our February 1st deadline! Submit a paper proposal on topics related to “Popular, Folk, Grassroots and Pop Culture in World Christianity and the History of Mission.” #YaleEdin2026 #WorldChristianity #MissionStudies @YaleDivSchool

Wonderful to have Dr MiJa Wi of Nazarene Theological College presenting at our first research seminar of the semester on a Korean dialogical reading of John 7:53-8:11.