Spirits of Nationalism, Power and Prophecy
The four articles published in this issue cover a wide range of geographical contexts – Manchuria and Korea, the colonial Gold Coast (modern Ghana) and London, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda. They also embrace a variety of themes that occur with some frequency in the story of world Christianity over the last century or more – the disruptive or catalytic impact on Western missions and indigenous churches of nationalism and communism, the historical origins and contested influence within the public sphere of Pentecostal styles of Christianity, the significance of migrant churches, and the ambiguous role of the Church in promoting reconciliation following the disaster of ethnic conflict in which too many Christians remained silent. If there is a common thread linking all four articles together, it is the dynamic power for good or ill wielded by new movements that previous generations of Christians would have struggled to recognise or incorporate within their worlds of understanding.
- Frederick J. Glover, Friends, Foes and Partners: The Relationship between the Canadian Missionaries and Korean Christians in North-eastern Korea and Manchuria from 1898 until 1927
- David Killingray, Transatlantic Networks of Early African Pentecostalism: The Role of Thomas Brem Wilson, 1901–1929
- Joseph Bosco Bangura, Charismatic Movements, State Relations and Public Governance in Sierra Leone
- Victor Thasiah, Prophetic Pedagogy: Critically Engaging Public Officials in Rwanda
As this issue of the journal was going to press, we received the sad news of the death on 10 August 2017 of Dr T. Jack Thompson, formerly Director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World (now the Centre for the Study of World Christianity). We were proud to publish one of Jack’s last publications, ‘Religion and Mythology in the Chilembwe Rising of 1915 in Nyasaland and the Easter Rising of 1916 in Ireland: Preparing for the End Times?’ in issue 23:1 (April 2017) of this journal. A full tribute to Jack will appear in our next issue.