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Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide

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The Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide (CCCW) is a study, teaching and research centre in Cambridge, England and an Associate Institute of the Cambridge Theological Federation.

History

The centre was established in 1881 by a trust created in memory of Henry Martyn (1781-1812) a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge who had been a missionary in India and Persia with the British East India Company.[1] The trust was created for the purpose of constructing the Henry Martyn Memorial Hall which was built in 1886-7 on Market Street next to Holy Trinity Church. The hall was to serve as a place for lectures on Christian missions for members of the university and the general public. It also served as a gathering place for mission societies and student groups like the Cambridge Missionary Church Union (CMCU), the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU), the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA).[2] Faculty members and students of the university had direct ties to these bodies, as well as the Church Missionary Society (1799), the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (1860), the China Inland Mission (1865), the Cambridge Seven (1884) and the Student Volunteer Movement (1886). During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries several hundred graduates from the University of Cambridge served in overseas mission as educators, physicians, linguists, and clergymen.[3]

During the 1990s the Henry Martyn Memorial Hall transitioned from a lecture hall with a library to a formal academic centre for research and study in history and World Christianity at the University of Cambridge. In 1995 the name was changed to the Henry Martyn Centre (HMC) and in 1998 the centre became formally affiliated with the Cambridge Theological Federation and the Cambridge University Faculty of Divinity.[4] In 2014 the HMC became the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide to reflect academic trends in the study of Christianity as a worldwide phenomenon.[5] The CCCW library, now on the site of Westminster College, contains more than 10,000 books and over 100 journals related to the study of history and World Christianity. The library is associated with the Cambridge University Library (referred to as the University Library, or simply the UL). The holdings of the CCCW are registered with the National Archives of the United Kingdom[6] and comprise materials related to the history of missions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The collection includes the papers of John Edward Church (1899-1989), a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and a leader in the East African Revival.[7][8][9]

The British historian Brian Stanley, served as the centre's director from 2000 to 2008 before becoming the Professor of World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh.[10]

Research

CCCW has facilitated inter-university scholarship from Western and non-Western academics, linking together the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and London with the University of Wisconsin, Boston College and Fuller Theological Seminary.[11] Scholars affiliated with the centre produce work on interfaith dialogue, social justice, missions history, the history of Evangelicalism, and World Christianity.

References

  1. ^ Benett, Clinton (1998). "Henry Martyn". In Anderson, Gerald (ed.). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. New York: Macmillan. p. 438–439.
  2. ^ Brooke, Christopher N. L. (2004). A History of the University of Cambridge, Vol. IV, 1870-1990. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 132.
  3. ^ Barclay, Oliver (2002). From Cambridge to the World: 125 Years of Student Witness. Leicester, UK: Inter-Varsity Press.
  4. ^ Cameron, J. E. M. (2019). Charles Simeon of Cambridge: Silhouettes and Skeletons. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. p. 44.
  5. ^ Cabrita, Joel; Maxwell, David (2017). Relocating World Christianity. Leiden: Brill. p. 14.
  6. ^ "Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide". The National Archives. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  7. ^ "Henry Martyn Papers". Mundus Gateway to mission archives in the United Kingdom. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  8. ^ "Archive Catalogue". Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  9. ^ Ward, Kevin; Wild-wood, Emma (2012). The East African Revival: Histories and Legacies. Farnham, Surrey, UK: Ashgate.
  10. ^ "Noteworthy". International Bulletin of Missionary Research. 32 (3): 145. July 2008.
  11. ^ Kings, Graham. "An Indispensable Account of the Global History of Christianity". Fulcrum. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
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