Henry Martyn House: our Centre for World Christianity
A house next to the college (right, in main photo) has been set aside for church leaders and theologians from around the world who, as World Church Fellows or shorter-term visitors, will be invited to come to join in our life at Trinity and share with us their vision, their experiences of the church, their research and any specialist academic expertise that they have. At the same time their stay with us will give them the opportunity for rest and reflection.
We have finished the first phase of refurbishment, so that we can provide three study bedrooms with their own bathrooms as well as a communal kitchen and conference room. Revd Dr John Corrie, our Tutor in Mission, led the college community in prayers to dedicate the use of the building to God (fourth photo from top).
Henry Martyn House takes its name from the pioneer missionary and translator (see below). It was purchased in 2009 with the help of donations. It was officially named in June 2009, during our summer celebration for alumni and friends, in the presence of Lord Carey (Principal of Trinity College 1982-87) and Mrs Mary Bateman-Wang (both in the photo, top right, with George Kovoor), whose father, former Clifton Theological College student Revd Canon Martyn Bateman, who died in October 2011, was one of those who helped us to buy the house.
If you are interested in coming to stay in Henry Martyn House, please see further details.
Round-table discussions on mission
From time to time we hold round-table discussions between those staying at Henry Martyn House as World Church Fellows (see below) or as short-term visitors. Topics so far covered are Islam and the West, Contextual Theology and Inter-cultural Mission.
Summaries of round-table discussions held at Henry Martyn House.
World Church Fellows and other residents
Our first two World Church Fellows were the Ven. Eddie Ong, Archdeacon of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia, and the Ven. Geoffrey Molokwu, Principal of Trinity Theological College, Umuahia, Nigeria. (They are both in the top small photo.)
We have had two residents from north-east India, Kiyeho Sema who spent a few months with us while working for a PhD in Old Testament at SAIACS (South Asia Insitute for Advanced Christian Studies), and Dr Lalsangkima Pachuau from Mizoram, Associate Professor of the History and Theology of Mission at Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky, who came for a few days, speaking at various college events including a round-table discussion on inter-cultural mission, Gospel in Action and our evening course on mission. Jim Harries from Kenya and J. Andrew Kirk were also with us for a short time.
Revd Monodeep Daniel (three from bottom) stayed in Henry Martyn House to complete some writing projects. He is a Presbyter of the Delhi Diocese of the Church of North India and a member of the the Delhi Brotherhood, a religious order which is devoted to serving the poor and underprivileged. He is a leading theologian on the Dalits (once known as untouchables or outcasts), and he is currently completing his doctoral research on the Indian thinker B. R. Ambedkar.
In summer 2011 our World Church Fellow was Revd Dr Chris Barrigar (one from bottom) from Canada. In February 2012 we welcomed another Canadian, Revd Dr Brett Cane (bottom photo), who will be with us for 18 months and is acting as Context Supervisor for the J18 context as Eeva John has moved on to new work.
Henry Martyn: mission and scholarship
Henry Martyn has left an outstanding example of missionary zeal and scholarship which makes him a fitting model for us at Trinity. During his short life he witnessed boldly to his faith in India and Persia (Iran) and gave himself selflessly to translating Christian writings.He was born in 1781 and studied at Cambridge University where he excelled at mathematics and was elected a Fellow of St John's College. After becoming a Christian in Cambridge in 1800, he was inspired to go to India as a missionary after hearing Revd Charles Simeon of Holy Trinity Church speaking of the huge influence of one missionary to that country, William Carey. The following year Martyn was ordained and became Charles Simeon's curate.
He arrived in India in 1806 as a chaplain to the East India Company and used his linguistic skills to translate a number of Christian writings into Urdu, Hindi and Arabic. These included the New Testament in Hindi and Persian, the psalter in Persian, the Book of Common Prayer in Hindi, and a revision of the Arabic New Testament. On a visit to Persia, where he hoped to be involved in further translation work, he fell ill and died in October 1812, aged only 31.
