Research – Jean De Dieu Mampouya, Bursary Recipient 2023-4

I’m delighted to have been awarded the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History’s research bursary in April 2024.

I would first like to thank Prof William Gibson for that marvelous welcome in the research centre. I would be careless and remiss if I failed to thank Drs Peter Forsaith and John Lenton for their precious advice and warm support during this stay. And many thanks to Dr Daniel Reed and Thomas Dobson for their unwavering encouragements.

My research trip was productive, and my thesis has really been boosted positively by this short stay. The first two weeks, I worked on relevant books and documents that I could not find in France, namely, Policy and Politics in British Methodism 1932-1982 by George T. Brake; Conscience and Conflict: Methodism, Peace, and War in the 20th century by Michael Hughes; Drink in Great Britain 1900 to 1979 by Gwylmor P. Williams and George T. Brake; Gambling by Pearson, etc.

Moreover, during my last two weeks I worked on the most valuable documents for my thesis, notably the Minutes of Conference from 1932 to 1999. These documents have widely contributed to the improvement of my thesis. I could not find them out elsewhere than OCMCH. The Minutes of Conferences constitute a matchless asset for following the twentieth-century social, economic, and political events they tackled, knowing that my thesis is based on the Church of England’s and Methodist Church’s commitment to twentieth-century social, political, and economic issues.

So, that is from this perspective that I might confess that my research stay at OCMCH has absolutely been a productive and unforgettable opportunity.

Since launching in 2022, the OCMCH research bursary has supported the work of scholars from around the world