{"product_id":"pioneers-to-partners-gordon-d-laman-9781950572212","title":"Pioneers to Partners: The Reformed Church in America and Christian Mission with the Japanese","description":"Beginning with Japan's early exposure to Christianity by the very successful Roman Catholic mission to Japan in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the resultant persecution and prohibition of Christianity, Laman lays the groundwork for understanding the experience of nineteenth-century Protestant missionaries, among whom those of the Reformed Church in America were in the forefront. The early efforts of the Browns, Verbecks, Ballaghs, and Stouts, their failures and successes, are recounted within the cultural and political context of the anti-Western, anti-Christian Japan of the time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVerbeck's service to the government helped bring about gradual change. The first Protestant church was organized with a vision for ecumenical mission, and during several promising years, churches and mission schools were organized. Reformed Church missionaries encouraged and trained Japanese leaders from the beginning, the first Japanese ministers were ordained in 1877, and the Japanese church soon exhibited a spirit of independence, ushering in an era of growing missionary\/Japanese partnership.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe rise of the Japanese empire, a reinvigorated nationalism, and its progression to militarist ultranationalism brought on a renewed anti-Western, anti-Christian reaction and new challenges to both mission and church. With the outbreak of World War II, the Japanese government consolidated all Protestant churches into the Kyodan to facilitate control.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLaman continues the account of Reformed Church partners in mission in Japan in the midst of post-war devastation and subsequent social and political tensions. The ecumenical involvement and continued clarification of mutual mission finds the Reformed Church a full participant with a mature Japanese church.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gordon D. Laman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1950572218\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781950572212\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Historical Series of the Reformed Church in A\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/13\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 712\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.06lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.42d","brand":"Gordon D. Laman","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48519700742399,"sku":"9781950572212","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0609edea-136a-4053-bbce-f24052d40e4c.jpg?v=1778738284","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/pioneers-to-partners-gordon-d-laman-9781950572212","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}