The Centre is the home of the Ph.D. programme in Theology and Religion at VID and is part of the Faculty of Theology and Social Sciences (FTS).

– We are moving away from a centre-versus-peripheries way of looking at Christianity and rather understand it as polycentric. The change of name also points to the importance of studying Christianity in relation to other world religions, she says.

The expression ‘World Christianity’ has indicated a field of research since the 1920s. Academic texts on the topic of World Christianity were published at the end of the 1930s.

– From the beginning ‘World Christianity’ referred to multiple expressions of the Christian faith around the world as the result of missionary work. In the last decades, the discipline of World Christianity has focused on minority perspectives, indigenous issues, gender issues and postcolonial perspectives on the missionary enterprise, she adds.

– VID’s history is closely related to the Norwegian missionary movement and our research interests have over a long period focused on the African and Asian continents. Because of the networks the Ph.D. programme in Theology ad Religion at VID is part of, the expression ‘World Christianity’ aptly describes who we are and what we do, continues Rapisarda.

Reviewing established ideas

Rapisarda refers to Retief Müller who was recently promoted to full professorship at the Faculty of Theology and Social Sciences.

– In his professorial lecture, Müller referred to the relation between mission studies and World Christianity. The field of World Christianity studies was developed first by historians and subsequently by theologians of mission. The modern missionary movement with its emphasis on the inculturation of the Christian message has provided ground for the development of World Christianity in its current plurality. Müller highlighted how one characteristics of the World Christianity frame is that it tends to decentre issues and forces scholars to reconsider established ideas, explains Rapisarda.

Mission and World Christianity are not just interrelated areas of study: World Christianity helps mission studies in keeping their relevance in Western academic contexts at a time when mission studies are coming to terms with their colonial associations.

Part of a network

At VID several doctoral research projects focus on indigenous issues, epistemic justice, migration, climate change, education, value-based leadership and gender-based violence.

– Having at VID doctoral students from the African and Asian continent helps us to define a postcolonial/decolonial lens on disciplines and methodologies. The change of name also highlights the importance that we give to intercultural and interdisciplinary approaches to doctoral education and research, she says.

Rapisarda says that historical centres of World Christianity can be found at Yale, Edinburgh, Princeton, Cambridge, SOAS London, Nairobi and Seul, to mention some.

The change of name or ‘rebranding’ places the Ph.D. programme in theology and religion at VID on this map and in a network of important centres of education and research, underlines Rapisarda.

Incrementing quality

– Being a centre for the Study of World Christianity and Religion means not only being part of a network of prestigious institutions, but also keeping our attention high on the realities and research activities that are conducted in the South. More than an issue of solidarity, this highlights that paying attention to what happens beyond our context and therefore also in the South, heightens the quality of education that we offer at VID and the quality of the research we conduct, concludes the Centre director.