Back in Ranchi

I arrived in India two weeks ago and will be here until the beginning of December. I am based in the city of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, where I did my year-long Lutheran ministry internship in 2012-2013. This time I am not explicitly engaged in any pastoral activities (although of course people are asking me to lead prayers and there is always a need for pastoral care); rather, I am doing ethnographic research for my dissertation.

Map of Ranchi

The Christian community in Jharkhand is primarily tribal, or Adivasi (literally: original inhabitants). My dissertation is about contextual theology, specifically Adivasi theology.

Adivasis traditionally wash the feet of their guests

I'm looking at the way discourse about "culture" and "context" can obscure important political and economic aspects within and between communities. A secondary goal of the dissertation is to explore how social scientific methods, especially ethnography, can contribute to constructive theology. I'm happy to share my dissertation proposal if you're interested to learn more.

Alex and Idan's house

I'm staying with some good friends: Idan Topno and Alex Nitschke, their children Leon (7) and Alida (5), and a teenage girl from a poor village named Mariyam who is staying with them so she can attend a better school here in the city.

Chatting around the dining room table

Alex is German, and serves as the liaison between the Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church (GELC) here in India and the Gossner Mission Society in Germany, whose missionaries founded the church here in 1850. Idan is a pastor in the GELC, currently working on her Ph.D. Her dissertation is about the ways that the mixture of oral and print culture in the church enables abuses of authority and administrative power.

Leadership training program for an upcoming revival

My work here consists primarily of interviews, attending various programs, and socializing. So, for example, today I had a two-hour long interview with the Moderator (head bishop of the GELC) and attended a confirmation party. In between, I talked with Idan about the lingering presence of belief in witchcraft among Christians here, did some writing, played with the children, and made plans for some future interviews.

Idan and I after the ordination service of a former student, with a couple of bishops

Please let me know if you would like to receive occasional email updates about my experiences here.

Have a wonderful fall! I look forward to seeing you when I return in December.

Elsa
+91-797-058-7979