Ackermann, Denise M., Jonathan A. Draper, and Emma Mashinini, eds. Women Hold up Half the Sky: Women in the Church in Southern Africa. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 1991.
AbstractWhen African Theology was first formulated, women played just a small role. In 1989 Mercy Amba Oduyoye set out to change this by creating the Circle of Concerned African Theologians in order to them a voice. The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians is an African Baby, born in an ecumenical surrounding. Though there were other movements addressing the issue of gender inequalities in church and society, circle theologies are distinct from other women's liberation movements in that they are theologies formed in the context of African culture and religion. This book traces the Circle history from 1989 to 2007.
Ilibagiza, Immaculee. Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House Inc., 2010.
AbstractThirteen years before the bloody 1994 genocide that swept across Rwanda and left more than a million people dead, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ appeared to eight young people in the remote village of Kibeho. Through these visionaries, Mary and Jesus warned of the looming holocaust, which (they assured) could be averted if Rwandans opened their hearts to God and embraced His love. Mary also sent messages to government and church leaders to instruct them how to end the ethnic hatred simmering in their country. She warned them that Rwanda would become "a river of blood"—a land of unspeakable carnage—if the hatred of the people was not quickly quelled by love. Some leaders listened, but very few believed. The prophetic and apocalyptic warnings tragically came true during 100 horrifying days of savage bloodletting and mass murder. Much like what happened at similar sites such as Fátima and Lourdes, the messengers of Kibeho were at first mocked and disbelieved. But as miracle after miracle occurred in the tiny village, tens of thousands of Rwandans journeyed to Kibeho to behold the apparitions. After the genocide, and two decades of rigorous investigation, Our Lady of Kibeho became the first and only Vatican-approved Marian (related to the Virgin Mary) site in all of Africa. But the story still remained largely unknown. Now, however, Immaculée Ilibagiza has changed all that. She has made many pilgrimages to Kibeho, both before and after the holocaust, has personally witnessed true miracles, and has spoken with a number of the visionaries themselves. What she has discovered will deeply touch your heart!
Kanyoro, Misimbi R. A. Introducing Feminist Cultural Hermeneutics: An African Perspective. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 2002.
AbstractIntroducing feminist cultural hermeneutics is constructed as a collective story of African women doing 'communal theology'. It begins with tales of a child marriage and an unfaithful husband, told with the aid of biblical texts. Kanyoro explains and analyzes the cultural resources, the experiences, and the practices of African women, and the role of cultural hermeneutics in reading the Bible. At the center of the book stands an African woman's reading of the book of Ruth, and the concluding chapters analyzes the cultural hermeneutics and address the issue of the accountability of the Church, its women's organizations, of women in Africa, and of African women theologians.
Kanyoro, Musimbi, ed. In Search of a Round Table: Gender, Theology & Church Leadership. Geneva: World Council of Churches Publications, 1997.
AbstractThis book presents a story of the experiences of being church of the pastors’ wives within the Baptist Convention of Malawi (BACOMA). Formed in 1970 out of the missionary endeavours of the North American-based Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), BACOMA is a voluntary national association of Baptist churches. Molly Longwe‘s book presents a concise picture of African Feminist Theology and to relates it to the lived experiences of pastors‘ wives in the Baptist Convention of Malawi.
Oduyoye, M. Who Will Roll the Stone Away? The Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women. Geneva: WCC Publications, 1990.
AbstractThis volume traces the origins of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, a group of African women theologians established in the 1980s. It is a movement which has been dedicated to research, publication and support of African women. The book traces a struggle against excluding and alienating practices from Western missionary tradition and African cultural transpositions in contemporary Church and society. The theology of advocacy which has emerged encourages African women to develop theologies of empowerment from their histories and struggles, and addresses the multiple crises which the continent faces. The problems of culture, ethics and post-colonialism are explored in the issues surrounding ubiquitous violence against women on the continent and the continuation of clitoridectomy as an enduring strategy for making gender and clan for some African peoples.
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