“For the Relief of Human Suffering”: The Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief in the Context of Cold War Initiatives in Development, 1940–1968

The Methodist Committee for Overseas Relief (MCOR) was one of the first and largest denominational relief and development agencies in the nation from 1940 to 1968. Its ecumenical engagement was robust from the start; it was one of the largest donors to United China Relief, Church World Service, and other ecumenical overseas relief organizations during this time. This article provides a decade by decade assessment of MCOR’s work with particular attention to (1) its ecumenical engagement in relief and development efforts; (2) the relationship of MCOR’s work to the wider context of overseas relief and development efforts by nongovernmental, bilateral, and multilateral agencies; (3) the stated theological justification of MCOR’s work as it related to the wider mission of the church and specifically the Methodist Board of Missions and Church Extension. The article concludes with reflections on the implications of this study for the future work of the United Methodist Committee on Relief

Mission: Agnes C. L. Donohugh, early apostle for ethnography

In the spring of 1915, the Kennedy School of Missions at Hartford Theological Seminary, the leading graduate school for missionary training in the United States at this time, offered the first graduate-level course on ethnology ever to be taught in America to missionary candidates.1 The seminary\u27s leadership had identified the need for teaching ethnology to missionariesin- training as early as 1913 - when the school of missions was just two years old. 2 This American curricular innovation followed a practice begun a decade earlier in Britain of teaching ethnology to missionary candidates (Kuklick 1991).3 Hartford Seminary President W. Douglas Mackenzie was also inspired to make this curricular change because he had chaired Commission V on The Training of Teachers at the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910. That Commission sounded a sobering call for more cross-cultural sensitivity in missionary training: Christian missionaries do not always show consummate wisdom in their methods. Christianity is under no inherent compulsion to impose any special form of civilization on its adherents, else we should all be Judaised. It is certainly strange that we should take an Eastern religion, adapt it to Western needs, and then impose those Western adaptations on Eastern races. I can conceive no better way of swamping and stamping out all true individuality in our converts.4 In light of Edinburgh 1910\u27s call for change, it only made sense that Mackenzie would want his own institution to take the lead in improving mission ary training. And so it did

An Empirical Look at the Ecumenical Diaconate in the United States

The growth of interest in the escalating phenomenon of the diaconate in a number of denominations- predominantly in the North Atlantic region - has been well-documented in ecumenical dialogues, denominational reports, and scholarly publications. A number of articles have placed the diaconate in the larger context of ecclesiological reflection, but an accurate picture of the practical reality of individual deacons and their perceptions about their ministry has rarely been examined beyond anecdotal evidence? A better picture of the views and experiences of deacons is vital for at least two reasons. First, it is necessary to support ecumenical cooperation in the development of the diaconate as a movement for the renewal of the church\u27s mission and liturgy. Without an honest appraisal of the similarities and differences of deacons\u27 ministries, it is difficult to propose areas for ecumenical cooperation. Second, social scientific analysis of the modern diaconate can contribute valuable insights for ecclesiological reflection. Reflecting on his experience after Vatican II, Joseph A. Komonchak contends that social analysis must accompany theological reflection on the nature of the church

Periodization for Massive Strength Gains

In order to create the perfect resistance training program for their athletes, coaches must master the ability to control all variables of training over time in order to maximize physiological responses - this is a concept known as periodization (3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 21, 24, 25, 26). Periodization was first established in Russia, after the conclusion of the 1956 Olympic games (7, 21). Though simple in its principle and aim, periodization is frequently misunderstood due to the hyper-specific research that surrounds it (3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 15, 21, 23, 25). Over the last five decades, researchers have produced a multitude of studies that look at specific variables of periodization, which this paper will later examine, but many of them prove to be inconclusive due to uncontrollable factors outside of training (3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 19, 21). These uncontrollable factors make it difficult to be absolute in any conclusions surrounding the topic of periodization, though there are a number of considerations that make periodization very valuable (25). Periodization is of paramount importance when creating resistance training plans due to its role in the manipulation and subsequent control of variables over time (3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 21, 24, 25, 26). Without control of variables, resistance training becomes an aimless and non goal-oriented task (25, 43). In comparison with non-periodized resistance programs, periodized plans prove to be significantly more effective in strength gained, lean mass gained, and percent body fat lost (1, 5, 6, 11, 15, 25). Periodization will likely remain a topic of controversy for a long time to come, as coaches continue to seek the most effective combination and manipulation of training variables at their disposal (23)

Observables for possible QGP signatures in central pp collisions

Proton-proton (pp) data show collective effects, such as long-range azimuthal correlations and strangeness enhancement, which are similar to phenomenology observed in heavy ion collisions. Using simulations with and without explicit existing models of collective effects, we explore new ways to probe pp collisions at high multiplicity, in order to suggest measurements that could help identify the similarities and differences between large- and small-scale collective effects. In particular, we focus on the properties of jets produced in ultra-central pp collisions in association with a Z boson. We consider observables such as jet energy loss and jet shapes, which could point to the possible existence of an underlying quark-gluon plasma, or other new dynamical effects related to the presence of large hadronic densities.Comment: 32 pages, 20 figure