World Christianity

Catch the recording of Professor Jean Kidula's 2026 Alexander Duff Lecture, entitled: “This time, I must sing: African Missionizing and Christian Song.” #WorldChristianity #DuffLecture #YaleEdin2026 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISMA...

The caption to this image reads: 'Grace - a very good worker - Aro Chuku church 1943.' The photograph was included in an album created by Emily Godfrey, of the Ama Achara Methodist Hospital, in Abia State, Nigeria. (CSWC20/1/5/95) #PhotoFriday

The latest issue of Studies in World Christianity has landed! The theme of this special issue is "Christianity, Democracy, and Nationalism," based on #YaleEdin2025 and edited by Dr Pedro Feitoza. Check it out 👉🏼 www.cswc.div.ed.ac.uk/2026/10/stud...

Operating room in the London Missionary Society's hospital in Hankow, China, circa 1905-1912. Out of the 95 LMS missionaries in China in 1900, 26 were fully qualified doctors. (CSWC47/LS1/38) #PhotoFriday

Indian patients at the Chanpatia dispensary gather for a 'quiet talk' with missionary Peter Wynd (seated in the wicker chair) about 1906. (CSWC33/OS14) #PhotoFriday

It’s been wonderful to have Centre alumnus, Rev Dr Jooseop Keum deliver the 2026 Cunningham Lectures!

These two men, identified as 'Alfred' and 'Enoch', assisted in the dispensary run by the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society in Ama Achara, Nigeria. They were photographed around July 1929. (CSWC20/1/7/2/1) #PhotoFriday

#YaleEdin2027 will be held in Kenya on the theme “Economies, Power, and Mission in World Christianity.” We are grateful for colleagues in Nairobi who have begun preparing for the conference and look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. www.cswc.div.ed.ac.uk/2026/09/fort...

This hand-tinted slide shows Chinese pilgrims outside the entrance arch to a Chinese temple or holy site sometime around 1905 to 1914. (CSWC47/LS1/8) #PhotoFriday

These girls from a mission school in Jammu, India, demonstrate their embroidery skills. (CSWC47/LS10/50) #photofriday

Jamaican boys learning to make string from sisal fibre. The image comes from a series of Church of Scotland Foreign Missions Committee lantern slides relating to Jamaica. (CSWC47/LS11/48) #PhotoFriday

This woman is grinding corn using a stone wheel, China, ca. 1905-1914. The courtyard appears to be decorated for the spring festival. (CSWC47/LS1/5) #PhotoFriday

Congratulations to Centre alumnus @aganaagana.bsky.social for his upcoming post at Harvard Divinity School looking at AI and religion!

Missionaries from the Regions Beyond Missionary Union identified this child as a 'boy priest' in Siwan, India, around 1906. (CSWC33/OS14/29) #PhotoFriday

Hezekiya Tweya and Walter Elmslie photographed after Tweya's ordination at Bandawe in present-day Malawi, 18 May 1914. (CSWC47/LS3/1/54) #PhotoFriday

These missionary nurses and toddler pose in Peru about 1947. The woman in the foreground may be Jessie L Norton. In the background is Annie G Soper, who founded the Peruvian Indian Mission in 1930. (CSWC33/OS13) #PhotoFriday

Four men and a sedan chair, China, ca. 1905-1914. This slide comes from a collection held by the Church of Scotland and was created by Charles Somerville, a medical missionary who worked for the London Missionary Society in Hankou from 1904 to 1914. (CSWC47/LS1/52) #PhotoFriday

These boys are gathered in front of a school in Chanpatia, Bihar, India in 1914. The Regions Beyond Missionary Union opened Chanpatia as a mission district in 1905. (CSWC33/OS14/62) #PhotoFriday

'You are the salt of the earth' (Matt. 5:13). This woman is preparing salt near Okposi, Calabar, Nigeria, ca. 1930-1940. Okposi is the site of a saltwater lake, where salt production has been an important activity since the area was first inhabited. (CSWC47/LS9/43) #PhotoFriday

This church in Mukden (present-day Shenyang) exhibits the indigenisation of Christianity in its use of both Western and Chinese architectural elements. (CSWC47/LS8/31) #PhotoFriday

Men and women at a fair (or 'mela') in the village of Thawe, in Gopalganj, Bihar, India. The Durga Temple there is a major Hindu pilgrimage site. The photograph was taken in 1905 by Alexander Banks of the Regions Beyond Missionary Union. (CSCNWW33/OS14/47) #PhotoFriday

This map shows the Church of Scotland's missions in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula circa 1880 and includes an insert of Scotland drawn to the same scale. The slide was meant to show audiences the enormity of the Kirk's undertaking and garner support. (CSWC47/LS2/1) #PhotoFriday

Wrote this a couple of years ago now during a winterlude and it set up much of the pathway for the project I'm working on at Durham. Pleased to see it finally out in CSWC by @edinburghup.bsky.social : doi.org/10.3366/swc.... @durhamtheology.bsky.social

Have a read of reflections on Yale-Edinburgh 2026 written by Centre PhD student Kpanie Addy, SJ. ☺️ #YaleEdin2026 www.cswc.div.ed.ac.uk/2026/06/refl...

📢 Just out! Special issue of Studies in World Christianity on “Indigenous Theologies: Relationality and Lived Cosmologies on Land and Sea.” #WorldChristianity #IndigenousTheology www.cswc.div.ed.ac.uk/2026/06/stud...

A very colourful start of our hybrid meeting on Chinese Christian posters and its engagement with Muslims by Emily Leigh-Pemberton. #YaleEdin2026

Group photo from #YaleEdin2026, on “Popular, Folk, Grassroots and Pop Culture in World Christianity and the History of Mission.”

The final Day 3 of #YaleEdin2026 began with a Nairobi panel, then paper panels, and a concluding session reflecting on the conference and planning for #YaleEdin2027!

This street scene juxtaposing traditional Chinese buildings and clothing with automobiles and telephone lines in Beijing was captured around 1905 to 1914. The slide is part of a collection generated by the medical missionary Charles Somerville. (CSWC47/LS1/13) #PhotoFriday

Our team always enjoys attending the Yale-Edinburgh conference at the Centre for the Study of World Christianity! If you're around this week, we have a range of books on missiology, diasporas, and some of our latest publications so make sure to stop by. Hope to see you there! #yaleedin2026

Another very engaging presentation with Sigamoney Shakespeare about Dalit music #YaleEdin2026

We had a full Day 2 of #YaleEdin2026, which started with a CUHK plenary panel, parallel paper panels, a “Meet the Publishers” panel, and a sing-a-long led by Professor Jean Kidula and Professor Kyama Mugambi! 🎶🎵

It has been wonderful welcoming delegates to Day 1 of #YaleEdin2026 . We were also pleased to end the night with a #DuffLecture from the ethnomusicologist Professor Jean Kidula.

Much enjoyed this presentation by Cedric Mouzou on rhythm as meaning making in the Togolese Christian community and worship. 🎵🎶 #YaleEdin2026

Congratulations to Christina Li for passing her viva on Hong Kong Christianity!! Thanks to Drs Marina Wang and Felicity Loughlin for examining her work!

Looking forward to welcoming delegates to #YaleEdin2026 later this week! www.cswc.div.ed.ac.uk/events/yale-...

This large effigy made of paper was built to be burnt during the Indian festival of Dussehra. The image comes from a series of slides relating to Jammu City, where a Scottish mission station was founded in the late 19th/early 20th century. (CSWC47/LS10/41) #PhotoFriday

We look forward to welcoming Prof Jean Kidula (University of Georgia) to deliver the #DuffLecture2026 on June 10th on the topic “‘This time, I must sing’: African Missionizing and Christian Song.” edin.ac/4a62OFw #WorldChristianity #Mission #Ethnomusicology

Ngoni Warrior, Nyasaland (now Malawi). This image is part of a series of Church of Scotland Foreign Missions Committee lantern slides relating to David Livingstone. (CSWC47/LS16/48) #PhotoFriday

This undated and hand-tinted lantern slide of men carrying a traditional sedan chair was included in a set relating to the Scottish medical missionary Dugald Christie, who worked in China between 1882 and 1923. (CSWC47/LS8/23) #PhotoFriday

Congratulations Zihao He! Another @cswcedinburgh.bsky.social student has successfully passing their PhD exam. Thanks to Dr Lars Laaman (SOAS) and Luke Li for serving as examiners.

Another fascinating #Gifford2026 lecture; the next lecture’s title is ‘From Jesus to Christ.’ Also, great to have Prof Emma Wild-Wood from @cswcedinburgh.bsky.social introducing the event. #GiffordLectures ed.ac.uk/events/lectu...

This young boy was photographed around 1906 by missionaries of the Regions Beyond Missionary Union, an interdenominational Protestant evangelical mission working in northeast India (Bihar and Orissa) and Nepal. (CSWC33/OS14/12) #PhotoFriday

Our Keynote #DuffLecture will be delivered by Prof Jean Kidula (University of Georgia) on the topic “‘This time, I must sing’: African Missionizing and Christian Song”? 💒🪘 Don’t forget to register! Deadline if you need University accommodations is May 11, and final deadline is May 27. #YaleEdin2026

This Kikuyu woman was photographed in Kenya sometime between 1905 and 1940. Church of Scotland missionaries established hospitals in Kikuyu in 1908, Tumutumu in 1909, and Chogoria in 1922. (CSWC47/LS7/11) #PhotoFriday

Dr Alexander Chow recently delivered the Dr Timothy Lin Memorial Lecture at China Evangelical Seminary 🧑‍🏫 You can watch all nine lectures from his series alongside the roundtable discussion and Q&A session on their YouTube channel now 🎥👇 edin.ac/4w2YAIr

Northeast corner of the city wall and moat surrounding Mukden, Manchuria. (CSWC47/LS8/5) #PhotoFriday

Books by two of our own—Professors Brian Stanley and Andrew Walls—are recognised as among the ten most outstanding books in the field! Congratulations!! #WorldChristianity #missionstudies doi.org/10.1177/2396...

This class of Igbo women was photographed on a Church of Scotland mission station in Nigeria, ca. 1930-1940. (CSWC47/LS9/27) #PhotoFriday

Final @cswcedinburgh.bsky.social reading group discussion over the “excluded middle” over pints. 🍻 #WorldChristianity