Circle Thinking: African Women Theologians in Dialogue With the West (Studies of Religion in Africa) (Studies of Religion in Africa)

236 Pages·2003·0.92 MB·English

by  Carrie Pemberton

CIRCLE THINKING
STUDIES OF RELIGION
IN AFRICA
SUPPLEMENTS TO THE JOURNAL OF RELIGION IN AFRICA
edited by
Paul Gifford (School of Oriental and African Studies, London)
Marc R. Spindler (University of Leiden)
deputy editor
Ingrid Lawrie (University of Leeds)
XXV
CIRCLE THINKING
African Woman Theologians in Dialogue with the West
BY
CARRIE PEMBERTON
BRILL
LEIDEN •BOSTON
2003
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie ; detailed bibliographic data are
available in the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is also available
ISSN 0169-9814
ISBN 90 04 12441 1
© Copyright 2003 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands
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printed in the netherlands
pemberton/f1/prelims 10/24/02 11:07 AM Page v
v
To
Archbishop Janani Luwum
Martyred 16th February 1977
His widow, children and children’s children
and
Phebe Cave-Brown-Cave
CMS Missionary and Educator
(Uganda 1929–1967)
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................... ix
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................. 1
Chapter 2 THE ECUMENICAL AND
CONTEMPORARY LOCATION OF THE CIRCLE OF
CONCERNED AFRICAN WOMEN THEOLOGIANS
Introduction ................................................................................ 28
EATWOT: The Rise of the Third World Theologian in
Conference .............................................................................. 41
The Emergence of Black and African Theologies ............................ 43
Cutting the Ties .......................................................................... 47
Womanism and African Theology ................................................ 53
The Role of Catholic Women ...................................................... 55
Conclusion .................................................................................. 57
Chapter 3 REMAKING AFRICAN THEOLOGY:
MERCY AMBA ODUYOYE’S THEOLOGY OF
RESISTANCE AND RE-IMAGINATION
Introduction ................................................................................ 60
The Literature ............................................................................ 63
The Sources of Alienation ............................................................ 66
African Traditional Religion: The African Old Testament? ............ 70
African Theology and Gender Concerns ........................................ 72
Abusua and Inter-Faith Relations ................................................ 79
Christ the Compassionate One ...................................................... 81
Mothering Africa ........................................................................ 87
Conclusion .................................................................................. 90
Chapter 4 SISTERS AND MOTHERS: CATHOLIC
SISTERS IN THE CIRCLE
Introduction ................................................................................ 92
Religious Sisters and Theoretical Perspectives on Women and
Motherhood ............................................................................ 95
Sister Bernadette Mbuy-Beya and the Cry of Life .......................... 99
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Sister Teresa Okure .................................................................... 107
Sister Rosemary Edet .................................................................. 114
Sister Anne Nasimiyu-Wasike ...................................................... 115
Sisters and Priests ...................................................................... 119
Conclusion .................................................................................. 122
Chapter 5 VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN:
CIRCLE WOMEN RESPOND
Introduction ................................................................................ 126
Breaking Alliances ...................................................................... 128
Domestic Violence: The Silence is Broken ...................................... 134
Freedom and Violence .................................................................. 139
Speaking from Outside ................................................................ 141
The Regulation of Sex ................................................................ 142
Polygyny, Marriage and Male Control .......................................... 144
The Quest for Immortality .......................................................... 147
Circumcision: Reproducing Women ................................................ 149
Breasts and Perspiration .............................................................. 152
Concluding Reflections .................................................................. 156
Chapter 6 MULTIPLE IDENTITIES IN-DEPENDENCY:
THE CHALLENGE AND CONTEXT OF THE CIRCLE
OF CONCERNED AFRICAN WOMEN THEOLOGIANS
Introduction ................................................................................ 159
Truth from Below ...................................................................... 165
The ‘Voiced’ Elite and the Mute Majority .................................... 166
Pluralism, Christ and Culture ...................................................... 168
The Imperative of Christ .............................................................. 170
The Dignity of Women .............................................................. 172
Denominational Differences in the Multiple Identities of the
Circle Project .......................................................................... 175
Maternal Thinking ...................................................................... 177
The Church Universal and Local ................................................ 180
Generalisable Interests: The Well-being of the African Woman and
the Well-being of the World .................................................... 183
Bibliographies .............................................................................. 187
Index ............................................................................................ 213
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Any substantial undertaking in life is dependent on more than the
principal actor. So it is with this book, conceived out of my friend-
ship with women in Bunia in the North East of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, during my sojourn there in the late 1980s
as a theological educator at the Institut Supérieur Théologique
Anglican. I owe them, and in particular Mugisa Kahwa, President
of the Mother’s Union and wife of the present Anglican Bishop of
Katanga, more than they can know, for all the ways in which they
enriched my life and the lives of my three children with generosity
and eucharistic celebration in the midst of brewing civil war and
general hardship.
The focus on the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians
first arose for me when I read The Will to Arise: Women, Tradition and
the Church in Africa in the Henry Martyn Library, an independent
Cambridge library committed to understanding the mission history
of the worldwide church, particularly in the last three centuries. The
will to undertake the study arose from a host of academic mentors
who encouraged me to undertake research and to publish the voices
I discovered in listening. Amongst these are Professor Haddon Willmer
(Leeds University), Dr Carolyn Baylies (Leeds University), the Revd
Dr Charles Elliott, Dr John Lonsdale (Cambridge University), Professor
Marilyn Strathern (Cambridge University), Dr Louise Pirouet (Cam-
bridge University), the Rt Revd Professor Stephen Sykes (Durham
University) and countless others in the Faculties of Divinity in the
Universities of Durham, Leeds and Cambridge, whose seminars, lec-
tures and informal conversations have helped form my academic
mind and shaped some of the theological desires of my heart. Particular
thanks are due to the Revd Professor Nicholas Sagovsky and the
Revd Dr Kevin Ward who examined the thesis which forms the ver-
tebrae of this book, and to the late Revd Professor Adrian Hastings
and Paul Gifford who, as Editors of the Studies of Religion in Africa
series, encouraged me to bring my research work to publication.
On the journey that represents the eight years during which this
book gestated, there have been many supportive midwives and places
of rest. Amongst these have been the organisers of the South African