Christian Institute for Theological Engagement presents research grant to academicians

Jan 06, 2023

KUALA LUMPUR: The Christian Institute for Theological Engagement (CHRISTE)’s Cornelius Cardinal Sim Professorial Chair of Theology and Dialogue presented funding for a research project entitled Are Malaysian and Singaporean Christians flocking back to church or flying away? A comparative study on Christian Churches in Malaysia and Singapore in the COVID-19 recovery phase at Sunway University on December 9, 2022.

Representing CHRISTE, permanent deacon of the Catholic Church, Professor Dr Sherman Kuek OFS presented the research grant to Sunway University Associate Professor Dr Pauline Leong, Monash University Malaysia Senior Lecturer Dr Tan Meng Yoe, and Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur Academic Development and Quality Assurance Director Dr Lim Hock Ann, who will be jointly embarking on the project.

Also present at the simple ceremony were Sunway University’s School of Arts Dean, Professor Dr Matthew Marshall, and their Department of Communication’s Head, Dr Padma Pillai.

This study is in light of social-scientific scholars’ observation that post-COVID-19, despite Christian communities around the region opening their churches for the faithful to return to worship and pray, significant portions of the Christian population have yet to return to their churches; perhaps some never will.

Dr Sherman is the Cornelius Cardinal Sim Professor of Theology and Dialogue for CHRISTE, an ecumenical and cross-disciplinary research institute chartered under a United Nations treaty. It is also affiliated with the School of Theology and Interfaith Studies of Polê Universitaire Euclide which specialises in postgraduate education for diplomats, government officials from various continents, and staff members of the United Nations.

In his brief speech, Dr Sherman emphatically noted that Christian Theology must be in collaborative dialogue with the social-scientific disciplines if pastors and theologians desire to understand the lived realities of Christians in society. Otherwise, he explained, Christian leaders would merely be reflecting upon misperceived and falsely constructed realities that do not accurately reflect people’s lives.

The deacon said that, as a minister in the Catholic Church, he found the Pope’s call for synodality implied the importance of listening to the lived experiences of society by way of social-scientific discoveries, interpretation, and analyses, so the Church could respond intelligently to challenges faced by human society.

This gathering of scholars was small but significant in that it represented collaborative dialogue between Christian Theology and the Social Sciences in a formal and secular academic setting, hopefully, one of many other such occasions to come.

The proposed research project will last for one year before it is expected to yield concrete findings that will be published in various forms by the scholars concerned.