AbstractInterview with three Francophone African women, all having achieved PHDs in theology and serving in their local universities and churches. Mesa Global is bringing people around the table and fostering leaders serving the church. Learn more about how Mesa Global is using education to reach the nations with the Gospel.

AbstractMary Wanjiku Kihuha is a lecturer at Pan-Africa Christian University Kenya School of Theology and Biblical Studies, a Nagel Institute research grantee as well as a member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.

AbstractThis article considers the role of theological education in developing the ministry of the church and the need for it to be relevant to the realities and needs of the people it is to serve. The article considers three factors – racism, imperialism, and tribalism – that influence theological education in different ways. It then turns to a consideration of African-American womanist theology and African women's theology – as reflected in the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians – and the similarities between these two approaches as expressions of liberation theology and their relevance for inclusive global theological education.

AbstractEsther Mombo is an associate professor at St. Paul's University in Limuru, Kenya, where she was previously deputy vice chancellor (Academics). She teaches church history and theologies from women’s perspectives. She works closely with the Programme for Christian and Muslim Relations in Africa and is a member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. Her areas of service include networking among Christian and Muslim women leaders on issues of dialogue. She has previously served on the Inter-Anglican Doctrinal and Theological Commission. Mombo earned her BD from St. Paul's United Theological College, MPhil from Trinity College Dublin, and PhD at Edinburgh University.

AbstractThis paper highlights the models that are being used by African women theologians and the All Africa Conference of Churches to increase women's chances in theological education, hence ensuring equal participation of women and men in church leadership.

AbstractThis article explores the transformative role of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in engendering higher theological education in Africa. Grounded in African Women’s theology, the study analyses initiatives in championing gender equality, inclusivity, and intersectional solidarity within theological academia. The study highlights the historic journey of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in promoting the integration of gender-sensitive curricular and nurturing a new generation of African women theologians. Methodologically, I adopt a qualitative design and use African Women’s Theology as a lens to understand the transformative strides made by the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians towards engendering theological higher education in Africa.

AbstractEpistemological injustice refers to situations where individuals or groups are systematically excluded from accessing or contributing to knowledge because of their social identities. Theological knowledge and practices have generalised masculine concerns and experiences and space must be made to value women’s knowing to create inclusive, equitable and emancipating practices that is owned and lived out within the institution. This article explores epistemic violence against African women in theological education that limits their possibility of participation, highlighting how women are still denied full recognition. It engages the practical theological task of making a critical analysis of the gender system by identifying specific frameworks of knowledge that validate and legitimise ways of knowing and practices in educational spaces. By critiquing the positioning of women, anti-women frameworks can be deconstructed and reformed. This article offers interventions that must be realised that enable women to reflect and theorise about their lived experiences. Through the process of finding voice women discover their own subjectivity which dislocates labels, and thereby undoes this violence.

AbstractFounded in 1984 as a Jesuit School of Theology to a few students of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Hekima University College (HUC) has advanced its mission as a centre for excellent formation, research and intellectual scholarship committed to offering a high-quality, integral, and contextualized education to include students from about fourteen local and international religious congregations. As part of the celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Jesuit institution, Sr Dr Jacinta Opondo, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Anna (FSSA) and a faculty member at HUC Jesuit School of Theology writes about the noble mission of HUC in providing opportunities to religious women to study theology for a stronger foundation for ministry, personal enrichment and greater capacity for leadership.

AbstractFormation is foundational to religious life. It allows candidates to discover, acquire, assimilate and deepen their religious identity. Since family and societal culture constantly change, high-quality ongoing formative programs are indispensable. Yet, despite the aim of formation and the Church’s guidelines on holistic and transformative formation, formation challenges appear perennial and seem to call fora collaborative approach. This article highlights some challenges to the holistic and transformative formation, indicating magisterial responses. It also elucidates the Church’s invitation for a collaborative approach and buttresses the synergetic approach of Hekima University College (HUC)towards the transformative formation of African women religious.

AbstractThe paper reflects on the major challenges for African women theologians in theological education as presented and experienced in the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (“Circle”) which was launched in Ghana in 1989 as a community of African women theologians who come together to reflect on what it means to them to be women of faith within their experiences of religion, culture, politics and social-economic structures in Africa. Four major challenges are identified that African women theologians have had to contend with and which are still present, namely (1) re-defining the identity of African women theologians; (2) promoting more women to study theology and be on permanent staff; (3) inclusion of African women's theology in the theological curriculum; and (4) collaboration with male theologians.