T. Jack Thompson
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T. Jack Thompson (16 February 1943 – 10 August 2017) was an Irish mission historian and scholar of African Christianity.
Biography
After studying history at Queen's University Belfast, Thompson taught history and religious education at Regent House School in Newtownards.{{Cite journal|last=Stanley|first=Brian|author-link=Brian Stanley (historian)|date=April 2018|title=In memoriam: Dr T. Jack Thompson (1943–2017)|url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/swc.2018.0206|journal=Studies in World Christianity|language=en|volume=24|issue=1|pages=82–84|doi=10.3366/swc.2018.0206|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Wild-Wood|first=Emma|date=March 2018|title=Obituary: Thomas Jack Thompson (1943–2017)|url=http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/15733831-12341544|journal=Mission Studies|volume=35|issue=1|pages=4–6|doi=10.1163/15733831-12341544|url-access=subscription}} Thompson and his wife Phyllis first travelled to Malawi as missionaries of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland in 1970. He later developed an academic interest in the study of missions history and Christianity in Africa.
Thompson returned to the United Kingdom and completed his PhD studies at the University of Edinburgh in 1980, on the subject of Free Church of Scotland missionary Donald Fraser. He taught mission studies in the Selly Oak Colleges in Birmingham, before taking up a post in the 1993 in mission studies at New College, University of Edinburgh. It was in the latter institution that, from 2005 to 2008, he served as the director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World and edited the journal Studies in World Christianity.{{cite book|title=Understanding World Christianity: The Vision and Work of Andrew F. Walls|last=Stanley|first=Brian|date=2011|publisher=Orbis Books|isbn=9781608330218|editor-last1=Burrows|editor-first1=William R.|pages=55|chapter=Founding the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World|author-link=Brian Stanley (historian)|editor-last2=Gornik|editor-first2=Mark R.|editor-last3=McLean|editor-first3=Janice A.}} During his time in Scotland, he became a leading figure in relations between Scotland and Malawi, including through the Scotland Malawi Partnership.{{Cite web|url=http://scotland-malawipartnership.org/news-events/all-news/dr-jack-thompson/|title=Dr Jack Thompson|last=Ross|first=Ken|date=14 August 2017|website=Scotland Malawi Partnership|access-date=17 August 2017}} Ahead of his retirement from the University of Edinburgh, Thompson travelled back to Malawi and was bestowed the Ngoni name Jabulani Jere.{{Cite magazine|year=2008|title=Honours Galore|url=http://www.docs.hss.ed.ac.uk/divinity/Alumni/Bulletin%202008.pdf| magazine=New College Bulletin|page=10}} He was an elder in St Andrew's and St George's West Church, Edinburgh.
After retiring from Edinburgh in 2008,{{Cite magazine|year=2008|title=The Head of School’s Message|url=http://www.docs.hss.ed.ac.uk/divinity/Alumni/Bulletin%202008.pdf| magazine=New College Bulletin|page=3}} he served a year as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Livingstonia and was later an Honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh.{{Cite news|url=http://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-jack-thompson|title=Dr Jack Thompson|date=17 October 2016|publisher=The University of Edinburgh|access-date=28 August 2017|archive-url=https://perma.cc/7X8C-L7SN|archive-date=28 August 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cbignore}}
Thompson died of cancer on 10 August 2017 in the Marie Curie Hospice, Edinburgh, and services were held on 31 August 2017.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cswc.div.ed.ac.uk/2017/08/in-memory-of-dr-t-jack-thompson/|title=In Memory of Dr T. Jack Thompson|last=Stanley|first=Brian|date=11 August 2017|work=Centre for the Study of World Christianity|access-date=11 August 2017|author-link=Brian Stanley (historian)}}{{Cite web|url=http://announcements.johnstonpress.co.uk/obituaries/scotsman-uk/obituary.aspx?n=thomas-john-thompson-jack&pid=186467614|title=Thomas John (Jack) Thompson's Obituary|date=24 August 2017|website=The Scotsman|access-date=31 August 2017}}[https://www.stagw.org.uk/jack-thompson/ Tribute to Jack Thomson, 31 August 2017, St Andrew's & St George's West Church.] His remains were buried in full Ngoni warrior regalia at Njuyu CCAP mission in Ekwendeni, Mzimba on 16 January 2018.{{Cite web |title=Jack Thompson Memorial in Malawi |url=https://www.scotland-malawipartnership.org/news/jack-thompson-memorial-in-malawi |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=www.scotland-malawipartnership.org |language=en-GB}}
Works
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbI-tGg54hAC|title=Christianity in Northern Malaŵi: Donald Fraser's Missionary Methods and Ngoni Culture|last=Thompson|first=T. Jack|publisher=Brill|year=1995|isbn=90-04-10208-6|location=Leiden}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XQlH97KJhsC|title=Touching the Heart: Xhosa Missionaries to Malawi, 1876-1888|last=Thompson|first=T. Jack|publisher=University of South Africa|year=2000|isbn=978-1-86888-140-6|location=Pretoria}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLtgYVwLqQgC|title=Ngoni, Xhosa and Scot: Religious and Cultural Interaction in Malawi|last=Thompson|first=T. Jack|publisher=Kachere Series|year=2007|isbn=978-99908-87-17-4|location=Zomba, Malawi}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=go0uzm4zqPwC|title=Light on Darkness? Missionary Photography of Africa in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries|author=Thompson|first=T. Jack|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|year=2012|isbn=978-0-8028-6524-3|location=Grand Rapids, MI}}
References
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External links
- [http://www.cswc.div.ed.ac.uk Centre for the Study of World Christianity], New College, Edinburgh
{{New College, Edinburgh}}
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Category:Christian missions in Africa
Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Category:World Christianity scholars
Category:History of Christianity in Africa
Category:Place of birth missing
Category:Presbyterian missionaries in Malawi
Category:20th-century Irish historians
Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh School of Divinity