âAt the Special Request and Invitation of the Indian â¦ Y.M.C.A.sâ: The YMCA as a Platform of Encounter and Transregional Network of Asian Christian Leaders in the Early Twentieth Century

Klaus Koschorke

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Chapter 3 âAt the Special Request and Invitation of the Indian â¦ Y.M.C.A.sâ

The YMCA as a Platform of Encounter and Transregional Network of Asian Christian Leaders in the Early Twentieth Century

In: Nationalism and Internationalism in the Young Ecumenical Movement, 1895-1920s

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Klaus Koschorke

Klaus Koschorke
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 60â84

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004707597_004

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Abstract

In spite of its Western origin, the YMCA had developed in various Asian countries around 1900 into a platform and âtraining fieldâ for indigenous Christian leadership. In addition, the YMCA became very popular also among the non-Christian urban Western educated elites increasingly being imitated by Buddhist, Hindu and even Muslim associations in Asia (as YMBAâs, YMHAâs etc.). Japanese Christians visited India in 1906, under great public interest, âat the special request and invitation of the Indian â¦Y.M.C.A.s.â This visit led to first direct links between the native Christian communities in India and Japan. In Japan, the YMCA facilitated the indigenization of Christianity, by allowing a local Christian leadership largely independent of the missionary Churches, and placed Christian students of the country in communication with other national YMCA movements in other regions. In Korea, YMCA education helped connect Korean Christian students to both the publics of imperial Japan and global Protestantism. Chinese students in Tokyo, later leaders in Republican China, converted to Christianity under the influence of the âChinese YMCA in Tokyoâ.

At the same time, the YMCA served as a model of transdenominational cooperation. One distinctive mark of the discourses of Asian Christian elites since the 1890s had been the protest against missionary âsectarianismâ and the import of European ecclesial divisions into the Asian âmission fieldsâ. This protest was fueled by the rising tide of Asian nationalism and led to the search for a ânationalâ, non-Western and âindigenous formâ of Christianity. Various Christian associations and organizations under indigenous leadership were formed, such as (in India) the âNational Church of Madrasâ (1886), the âNational Missionary Societyâ of India (1905) or the growing number of âIndian Christian Associationsâ (since 1888). Special importance gained the YMCA as a transregional network of the âleaders of the Asiatic Churchesâ. It also played an enormous role in the Asian pre-history of the Edinburgh Conference 1910 and the subsequent establishment of the pan-Asian networks in connection with the Continuation Committee Conferences 1912/13 and the formation of National Missionary (resp., since 1924, Christian) Councils in Asia.

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Nationalism and Internationalism in the Young Ecumenical Movement, 1895-1920s

Series:Â Theology and Mission in World Christianity, Volume: 34

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004707597

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 01 Mar 2025

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- Theology and World Christianity
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Chapter 3 âAt the Special Request and Invitation of the Indian â¦ Y.M.C.A.sâ

The YMCA as a Platform of Encounter and Transregional Network of Asian Christian Leaders in the Early Twentieth Century

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Nationalism and Internationalism in the Young Ecumenical Movement, 1895-1920s

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Chapter 3 âAt the Special Request and Invitation of the Indian â¦ Y.M.C.A.sâ