Sunday 8 September 2019, 13:30-16:30 B104 SOAS Campus

** The place of this talk will be held in B104, SOAS Campus **

About this talk: Christians have been highly visible in the recent protests of anti-extradition law, whether they were chanting Singing Hallelujah to the Lord or organising prayer meetings in the protest sites. As a considerable number of Christians upholds the principle of separation of church and state and may perceive social or political engagement as inappropriate, this presentation seeks to explore the phenomenon of Protestants’ increasing participation in social movements through the use of public theology in post-1997 Hong Kong.

While the talk will begin with the definitions of the term ‘public theology’ and the concept of separation of church and state, it will also examine why it may be controversial for some of the Protestants when discussing or engaging political activities. The next section will examine the public theologies of three different groups in Hong Kong, namely, Anglican thinkers, scholars in Sino-Christian theology, and evangelical theologians. While I will summarise the background of the extradition law, it is important to know how this may affect the current situations of churches in Hong Kong. Hence, I will discuss some issues regarding China’s religious laws that may enrich our discussions as Hong Kongese or anyone who genuinely concerns the recent events in Hong Kong.

Speaker’s bio: Born and raised in Hong Kong, Calida Chu is now a PhD Candidate in World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh. She received her Master in Sociology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2009 and Master of Divinity from the Fuller Theological Seminary in 2016. Her research interests include public theology, Chinese Christianity, theology and Music, world Christianity, and digital theology. She has published several book reviews and journal articles in Review of Religion and Chinese Society, International Bulletin of Mission Research, Studies in World Christianity etc. She has also presented conference papers investigating social media, social movement, and public theology in Hong Kong.

• The speaker will give this talk in English; do welcome Mandarin and English in the discussion time.

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