Reflections from the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable at Oxford

One of my struggles as a Ph.D. student is finding spaces where I can gather with other students and professors to have long-format discussions about my ideas, work and hunches.

Many times, the pressure of the hustle and bustle of academic conferences, with an overabundance of sessions, papers and events, has made it a challenging place for me to process my ideas and have earnest conversations. Other times, I presented a paper to a group of tired conference-goers who had yet to read the paper and whose feedback was often cursory or an excuse to plug their own ideas. Yet this summer, I had the privilege to participate in a meeting that modeled dialogue, academic excellence and the context to think creatively about our ongoing research.

In early August, a group of scholars met for the Baptist Scholars International Roundtable in the ancient halls of Christ Church College in Oxford, England, to think and discuss in a detailed fashion their papers related to “Baptists and Global Mission.” Organized deftly by co-directors T. Laine Scales and João B. Chaves from Baylor University, we were led to an assortment of spaces for conversation, from our daily meetings in the Christ Church beautifully renovated Thatched Barn to our inaugural dinner at the famous “High Table” in the college surrounded by portraits of Henry XVIII and illustrious faculty and alumni of the college.

Besides the discussions and responses, the conference program provided ample time for casual conversation and developing friendships. In those times, I found connections between my work and that of others across the globe. These scholars challenged me to think sometimes broadly and other times about how my research needed to be honed in.

The distinguished fellow for 2024, Loida Martell,  American Baptist minister and vice president for academic affairs at Lexington Theological Seminary, opened the meeting with a lecture that launched the Roundtable and served as a touchstone throughout our time together.  She challenged us to rethink and recast the notions of “missions” and “ministry” theologically and ethically. In addition, we were lucky to have Professor Paul Fiddes give us an enlightening overview of Oxford’s Christian history. He toured us around Regents Park College, first organized to prepare Baptist ministers, and its Angus Library and Archive, a superb collection of Baptist history and heritage.

The nine scholars selected for 2024 were a diverse group coming from Brazil, Argentina, South Korea, India and the United States — bringing a rich and transnational breadth to the discussions. The unique format of the conference required us to read all the papers and engage in a thorough discussion of each paper where we received insightful and meaningful feedback on our research from BSIR Fellows who served as respondents. Fellows included deans, department chairs, professors and university and seminary presidents studying Baptists throughout their careers.

One of the most memorable papers for me was from Ramon Oliveira, who highlighted cases of how Baptist missionaries and locals sought to enforce church discipline in Rio de Janeiro from 1900 to 1930. He explained why the church strictly banned practices such as attending carnivals, playing soccer and other customs. I also enjoyed the paper of Chakali Chandra Sekhar, who completed a careful analysis of missionary and local publications, showing how The Telugu Baptist played a central role in shaping Dalit Christianity during the colonial period in India. Thinking broadly about how we approach missions, Edward English incorporated notions of hospitality as an imperative for Baptist outreach.

My paper centered on the experiences of Argentine Baptist Santiago Canclini’s resistance to an era of growing anti-Protestantism and Catholic nationalism in the 1930s and 1940s. After gathering feedback on our papers, we now have a chance to revise and submit the papers for publication in a volume featuring work from the scholars of 2023 and 2024.

In the setting of the beautiful Christ Church chapter house, a magnificent 13th-century structure, Martell had the charge to end our time together with closing remarks reflecting on the papers and the linkages between each presentation and response. Yet the last moment of these intentional meetings ended with a worship service with the participation of all present, in which hymns were sung in many languages, testimonies were given on the power of our experiences from the week, and prayers of thanks were raised for being brought together from the many corners of the globe. The BSIR concluded with deep feelings of gratefulness for what had just transpired.

One of my key takeaways was the importance of creating spaces for earnest dialogue. In sharing our research, we were encouraged to think of both current and historic Baptist mission work as not only a North-South conversation but as an exploration of South-South connections and the lasting effects of global missions in the sending nations — a charge that needs to be perennially explored and researched.

The Baptist Scholars International Roundtable is an exemplary meeting that fosters a place for an open and critical dialogue that seeks to listen and reflect alongside the global church.

 

Stephen Di Trolio is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History and Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary, specializing in “religion in the Americas.” He was born in Costa Rica and grew up in Argentina, where he returned after graduating from university in the United States. He is researching Latin American political history, religious-social movements and Pentecostalism in Argentina. He is the recipient of the Doctoral Louisville Fellowship. He is an active translator, having translated various books, essays and chapters in edited volumes. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in theological studies from the University of Valley Forge and a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.