History and Mission of the CCGC

On December 5, 2006, the Drew Center for Christianities in Global Contexts (CCGC) was launched at Drew University’s Craig Chapel. Established with a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Center supports research, reflection and engagement of the place and practices of Christianity in its vastly diverse expressions within an increasingly complex world.

Shaping the mission of CCGC is the conviction that there is an urgent need to better understand the forces of both globalization and pluralism that shape Christianity today, as the churches experience tremendous shifts demographically and culturally toward the “south” and the “east” and the local is increasingly difficult to separate from the global. What are the implications of such shifts for theological education, for the graduate study of religion and for the churches? As we engage our own diverse community in exploring, reflecting and modeling Christian thought and praxis in today’s global village, we also reach beyond our borders to engage thinkers and communities around the globe.

Among the specific goals pursued by the Directors and Fellows of CCGC are the following:

• To promote the study of the critical and constructive roles that Christian faith and mission play in promoting ecumenism, religious and ethnic pluralism, and social and ecological justice.
• To contribute to the training of teachers, ministry practitioners and church leaders by reflecting on the varied ways Christianities are actually lived and practiced, especially in the Southern hemisphere where Christianities’ growth is evident.
• To promote graduate studies in World Christianity and solidarity with diasporic faith-based communities while being open to critique the colonial legacies and neocolonial investments of western Christianity.
• To become a community of mutual learning and support in which the contextual life of the church, ministerial formation, academic research and a rich tapestry of cultures, ethnicities, races, genders and worldviews intersect.
• To develop collaborative efforts within the university, networking with other seminaries, churches, local, global and interfaith initiatives in promoting peace with justice for peoples and creation.

The Center continues to be funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, Inc.