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Research paper thumbnail of The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe

Springer eBooks, 2020

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Research paper thumbnail of Academic Freedom and the Problems of Patriotism and Social Responsibility in Post-colonial Africa

Alternation, Dec 1, 2018

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Research paper thumbnail of Africa and the Quest for Sustainable Development: A Critical Review

Springer eBooks, 2022

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Research paper thumbnail of Deathly concern: African Christians and cremation in Zimbabwe

Missionalia : Southern African Journal of Mission Studies, Apr 1, 1999

Religion and culture permeate all areas of people's life. This article explores the issue of ... more Religion and culture permeate all areas of people's life. This article explores the issue of cremation in Zimbabwe by highlighting the attitudes of African Christians. It illustrates the tenacity of African culture and how this has shaped views regarding cremation. Since the indigenous culture has adopted burial as a means of disposing of the dead, converts to the migrant religion' have maintained this practice. In the light of this reality, the paper argues that Christianity should continue to be sensitive to African culture if it is to blossom. A short history of cremation is provided, as well as other reasons for the African Christian resistance to the practice.

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Research paper thumbnail of The redeeming memory: Reflections on Christianity and black economic empowerment in Zimbabwe

Missionalia : Southern African Journal of Mission Studies, Apr 1, 1998

The author shows that the quest for black economic empowerment is embedded in the struggles of bl... more The author shows that the quest for black economic empowerment is embedded in the struggles of black people In Zimbabwe. The economic marginalisation of blacks started during colonialism but continues to the present day. Few fundamental changes have taken place in modern Zimbabwe, since economic power is still firmly entrenched in white hands.

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Research paper thumbnail of A Curse of the Western Heritage? Imagining Religion in an African Context

Journal for the Study of Religion, 1997

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Research paper thumbnail of Equipped and ready to serve? Transforming theology and religious studies in Africa

Missionalia : Southern African Journal of Mission Studies, 2010

... Njoroge, NJ 2008. Theology of stewardship in times of monumental suffering,” in Africa, Step ... more ... Njoroge, NJ 2008. Theology of stewardship in times of monumental suffering,” in Africa, Step Forth in Faith: Sub-themes in the Theological Imperatives of the AACC's Ninth General Assembly, edited by Nicholas Otieno. Nairobi: AACC:66-87. Olupona, JK and Falola, T. (eds). ...

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Research paper thumbnail of Justice Not Silence: Churches facing sexual and gender-based violence

SUN MeDIA eBooks, Sep 1, 2013

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Research paper thumbnail of Acting in Hope

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Research paper thumbnail of African traditions in the study of religion, diaspora and gendered societies : essays in honour of Jacob Kehinde Olupona

Ashgate eBooks, 2013

Contents: Preface, Ulrich Berner Introduction: African traditions in the study of religion in Afr... more Contents: Preface, Ulrich Berner Introduction: African traditions in the study of religion in Africa: contending with gender, the vitality of indigenous religions and diaspora, Ezra Chitando, Afe Adogame and Bolaji Bateye Part I Religion and Society, Religion in Society: Approaches to peacemaking in Africa: Obuntu perspectives from Western Kenya, Lucas Nandih Shamala Religious pluralism and secularization in the Nigerian religious sphere, Danoye Oguntola Laguda Faith, spiritualism and materialism: understanding the interfaces of religion and the economy in Nigeria, Olutayo Adesina Towards a civil religion in Nigeria, Musa Barnabas Gaiya The implications of ancestral veneration manifesting in national symbols for national integration and moral transformation in Nigeria, Jacob Kehinde Ayantayo The concept of expiatory sacrifice in the early Church and in African indigenous religious traditions, Samson Adetunji Fatokun. Part II Diaspora, Youth and Gender Dynamics: Researching African immigrant religions: boundaries, belonging and access, Abel Ugba AuA--nA- obA--nrin kA^2 seA(c) dA!kA(c) lA!sA!n, bA- a dA!kA(c) lA!sA!n, enu nA-A- yo ni: womena (TM)s leadership roles in AlA!dA-rA churches in Nigeria and the USA, MojA * bA olA * OlA * fA * nkA(c) Okome and Elisha P. Renne The place of second-generation youth in West Indian Pentecostalism in the diaspora - New York and London, Janice McLean Religion and masculinities in Africa: an opportunity for Africanization, Ezra Chitando Rethinking women, nature and ritual purity in Yoruba religious traditions, Bolaji Bateye The impact of Christian women's organizations on Nigerian society, Dorcas Olu Akintunde The Northern Nigerian Muslim woman: between economic crisis and religious puritanism, Oluwakemi Abiodun Adesina Index.

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Research paper thumbnail of Theorising African Women’s Leadership: An Overview

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Research paper thumbnail of Themes in Religion and Human Security in Africa

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Research paper thumbnail of Introduction: The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe

Springer eBooks, 2020

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Research paper thumbnail of Religion and Masculinities in Africa: An opportunity in Africanization

Fortress Press eBooks, 2013

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Research paper thumbnail of Introduction: Women, Religion and Leadership in Zimbabwe

Palgrave Studies in African Leadership, 2023

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Research paper thumbnail of Religion and Inequality in Africa

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Research paper thumbnail of Gendered Spaces, Religion, and Migration in Zimbabwe

Routledge eBooks, Sep 14, 2022

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Research paper thumbnail of Reconstruction, Music and Identity: Oliver Mtukudzi

The Life and Music of Oliver Mtukudzi, 2022

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Research paper thumbnail of “Nhai Varume, Tapindwa Nei?” (Men, What Has Entered into Us?): Oliver Mtukudzi and the Complexities of Transformative Masculinities

The Life and Music of Oliver Mtukudzi, 2022

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Research paper thumbnail of Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS in Theological Education

Handbook of Theological Education in World Christianity, 2012

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Research paper thumbnail of The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe

Springer eBooks, 2020

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Research paper thumbnail of Academic Freedom and the Problems of Patriotism and Social Responsibility in Post-colonial Africa

Alternation, Dec 1, 2018

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Research paper thumbnail of Africa and the Quest for Sustainable Development: A Critical Review

Springer eBooks, 2022

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Research paper thumbnail of Deathly concern: African Christians and cremation in Zimbabwe

Missionalia : Southern African Journal of Mission Studies, Apr 1, 1999

Religion and culture permeate all areas of people's life. This article explores the issue of ... more Religion and culture permeate all areas of people's life. This article explores the issue of cremation in Zimbabwe by highlighting the attitudes of African Christians. It illustrates the tenacity of African culture and how this has shaped views regarding cremation. Since the indigenous culture has adopted burial as a means of disposing of the dead, converts to the migrant religion' have maintained this practice. In the light of this reality, the paper argues that Christianity should continue to be sensitive to African culture if it is to blossom. A short history of cremation is provided, as well as other reasons for the African Christian resistance to the practice.

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Research paper thumbnail of The redeeming memory: Reflections on Christianity and black economic empowerment in Zimbabwe

Missionalia : Southern African Journal of Mission Studies, Apr 1, 1998

The author shows that the quest for black economic empowerment is embedded in the struggles of bl... more The author shows that the quest for black economic empowerment is embedded in the struggles of black people In Zimbabwe. The economic marginalisation of blacks started during colonialism but continues to the present day. Few fundamental changes have taken place in modern Zimbabwe, since economic power is still firmly entrenched in white hands.

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Research paper thumbnail of A Curse of the Western Heritage? Imagining Religion in an African Context

Journal for the Study of Religion, 1997

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Research paper thumbnail of Equipped and ready to serve? Transforming theology and religious studies in Africa

Missionalia : Southern African Journal of Mission Studies, 2010

... Njoroge, NJ 2008. Theology of stewardship in times of monumental suffering,” in Africa, Step ... more ... Njoroge, NJ 2008. Theology of stewardship in times of monumental suffering,” in Africa, Step Forth in Faith: Sub-themes in the Theological Imperatives of the AACC's Ninth General Assembly, edited by Nicholas Otieno. Nairobi: AACC:66-87. Olupona, JK and Falola, T. (eds). ...

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Research paper thumbnail of Justice Not Silence: Churches facing sexual and gender-based violence

SUN MeDIA eBooks, Sep 1, 2013

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Research paper thumbnail of Acting in Hope

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of African traditions in the study of religion, diaspora and gendered societies : essays in honour of Jacob Kehinde Olupona

Ashgate eBooks, 2013

Contents: Preface, Ulrich Berner Introduction: African traditions in the study of religion in Afr... more Contents: Preface, Ulrich Berner Introduction: African traditions in the study of religion in Africa: contending with gender, the vitality of indigenous religions and diaspora, Ezra Chitando, Afe Adogame and Bolaji Bateye Part I Religion and Society, Religion in Society: Approaches to peacemaking in Africa: Obuntu perspectives from Western Kenya, Lucas Nandih Shamala Religious pluralism and secularization in the Nigerian religious sphere, Danoye Oguntola Laguda Faith, spiritualism and materialism: understanding the interfaces of religion and the economy in Nigeria, Olutayo Adesina Towards a civil religion in Nigeria, Musa Barnabas Gaiya The implications of ancestral veneration manifesting in national symbols for national integration and moral transformation in Nigeria, Jacob Kehinde Ayantayo The concept of expiatory sacrifice in the early Church and in African indigenous religious traditions, Samson Adetunji Fatokun. Part II Diaspora, Youth and Gender Dynamics: Researching African immigrant religions: boundaries, belonging and access, Abel Ugba AuA--nA- obA--nrin kA^2 seA(c) dA!kA(c) lA!sA!n, bA- a dA!kA(c) lA!sA!n, enu nA-A- yo ni: womena (TM)s leadership roles in AlA!dA-rA churches in Nigeria and the USA, MojA * bA olA * OlA * fA * nkA(c) Okome and Elisha P. Renne The place of second-generation youth in West Indian Pentecostalism in the diaspora - New York and London, Janice McLean Religion and masculinities in Africa: an opportunity for Africanization, Ezra Chitando Rethinking women, nature and ritual purity in Yoruba religious traditions, Bolaji Bateye The impact of Christian women's organizations on Nigerian society, Dorcas Olu Akintunde The Northern Nigerian Muslim woman: between economic crisis and religious puritanism, Oluwakemi Abiodun Adesina Index.

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Research paper thumbnail of Theorising African Women’s Leadership: An Overview

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Themes in Religion and Human Security in Africa

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction: The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe

Springer eBooks, 2020

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Religion and Masculinities in Africa: An opportunity in Africanization

Fortress Press eBooks, 2013

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Introduction: Women, Religion and Leadership in Zimbabwe

Palgrave Studies in African Leadership, 2023

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Religion and Inequality in Africa

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Gendered Spaces, Religion, and Migration in Zimbabwe

Routledge eBooks, Sep 14, 2022

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Reconstruction, Music and Identity: Oliver Mtukudzi

The Life and Music of Oliver Mtukudzi, 2022

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of “Nhai Varume, Tapindwa Nei?” (Men, What Has Entered into Us?): Oliver Mtukudzi and the Complexities of Transformative Masculinities

The Life and Music of Oliver Mtukudzi, 2022

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Research paper thumbnail of Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS in Theological Education

Handbook of Theological Education in World Christianity, 2012

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Research paper thumbnail of Towards Sexually Competent Churches: The Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy

Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa, 2021

This chapter focuses on the contribution of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy ... more This chapter focuses on the contribution of the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiatives and Advocacy (EHAIA) to discourses on churches and homosexuality in Africa. EHAIA is a program of the World Council of Churches (WCC) with a strong African ownership. Since the early 2000s, it has worked to sensitize African church leaders on issues relating to HIV and AIDS. As part of this, it has also sought to challenge homophobia and promote a positive understanding of sexual diversity. The chapter begins by discussing the historical, cultural and political contexts in which EHAIA has come to address the issue of same-sex sexuality. It then examines the methodologies utilized by EHAIA in its engagement with the theme, including publications, theological education, intergenerational conversations, pastoral dialogues, and contextual bible studies. The chapter concludes by an analysis of achievements and challenges.

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Research paper thumbnail of Masculinities, Hiv and Religion In Africa

The Routledge Handbook of Religions and Global Development, 2015

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Research paper thumbnail of Affirming Human Diversity and Embodiment in the Face of HIV: Musa W. Dube

Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa, 2021

This chapter focuses on the work of leading African feminist biblical scholar and theologian, Mus... more This chapter focuses on the work of leading African feminist biblical scholar and theologian, Musa W. Dube from Botswana. It reconstructs and examines how Dube, from her activist-scholarly work on issues of gender and HIV/AIDS, has also come to advocate a progressive approach to questions of sexual diversity. The chapter locates Dube’s approach in her broader theological project that is informed by eco-feminist and liberation theologies, and that seeks to read the Bible in a quest for life and justice. It particularly identifies the biblical concept of the ‘Body of Christ’ and the indigenous African notion of ubuntu as cornerstones of Dube’s prophetic call to embrace and affirm human embodiment, both physically and communally, in the context of stigma, discrimination and injustice.

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Research paper thumbnail of The Art of Words: LGBTQ Poetry, Christianity and Flourishing in Africa

Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa, 2021

In addition to storytelling, poetry has also been adopted by African LGBTQ communities as a creat... more In addition to storytelling, poetry has also been adopted by African LGBTQ communities as a creative method to give voice to deeply personal struggles and experiences of trauma, but also to express glimpses of faith, hope and love, and expectations of the future. This chapter focuses on a collection of LGBTQ poetry from across Africa, titled Walking the Tightrope (2016). The chapter examines how selected poems represent and reflect the ambivalent experiences of LGBTQ people with religion, specifically Christianity. These poems engage with religion critically, but also creatively, as through the arts of language LGBTQ writers give sacred meaning to their struggles, signify their lives with religious idiom, reclaim biblical and theological concepts, and give voice to their life experiences. Thus, the chapter foregrounds poetry as a creative method of queer African religious critique as well as reimagination.

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Research paper thumbnail of Building a Progressive Pan-African Christian Movement: The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries

Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa, 2021

This chapter focuses on the work of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), an African Ame... more This chapter focuses on the work of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), an African American organization that in recent years has become active in Africa. Rooted in the traditions of black Pentecostalism and black liberation theology, TFAM was founded in the year 2000 to promote the ‘gospel of radical inclusivity’. The chapter offers an overview of TFAM’s history and its recent engagement with the African continent. It reconstructs how the organization and its local partners are promoting a pan-African, progressive, LGBTI-affirming and justice-oriented form of Pentecostal Christianity that seeks to combat the influence of American conservative, mostly white, evangelicals in Africa. It also offers an account of LGBTI-affirming congregation established with the support of TFAM, the Cosmopolitan Affirming Community in Nairobi, Kenya. Doing so, the chapter discusses TFAM’s work as a charismatic alternative to secular forms of LGBTI activism.

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Research paper thumbnail of Infinite Possibilities in a Nigerian Lesbian Love Story: Under the Udala Trees

Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa, 2021

Referring to the role of African literary writers as social critics, this chapter focuses on lite... more Referring to the role of African literary writers as social critics, this chapter focuses on literary texts that enable a reimagination of Christianity and sexual diversity in contemporary Africa. As a case in point, it discusses the novel Under the Udala Trees by the Nigerian writer Chinelo Okparanta (2015). Set in the aftermath of the Biafra war (1967-70), the novel tells the love story between two young women. The chapter explores how Christianity is a central theme in the novel, in a twofold way. First, the novel narrates the ambivalent experiences of the protagonist with the church as a space of rejection and ‘deliverance’ as well as of refuge and comfort. Second, the novel shows how the Bible has become a battleground in the debate about homosexuality, used to condemn same-sex love, while foregrounding alternative, liberating biblical interpretations.

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Research paper thumbnail of Reclaiming The Queer Body: Nigerian LGBT Life Stories of Sexuality and Faith

Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa, 2021

This chapter focuses on life-story telling as a method adopted by African LGBT activists to count... more This chapter focuses on life-story telling as a method adopted by African LGBT activists to counter the stigmatization of their bodies and the silencing of their voices, and to reclaim and affirm their embodied existence. As a case in point, it discusses the collection Blessed Body (2016), edited by the Nigerian writer and activist Unoma Azuah, which presents 37 life-stories of members of the Nigerian LGBT community. Embedding the discussion in broader literature about narrative methods, and in the context of the politics of sexuality in Nigeria, the chapter highlights autobiographical storytelling as an act of agency, creativity and resistance. It specifically explores the ways in which storytellers criticise the church but simultaneously express faith and embed queer theologies in their life stories in order to reclaim their bodies as divinely blessed.

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Research paper thumbnail of Race and Sexuality in a Theology of Ubuntu: Desmond Tutu

Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa, 2021

This chapter focuses on Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, and his con... more This chapter focuses on Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, and his contribution to debates about sexual diversity and Christianity in Africa. It examines how Tutu’s progressive stance on same-sex sexuality gradually developed over the years and is informed by his long-standing resistance against apartheid and his defense of black civil rights in South Africa. It argues that at the heart of both struggles – around race and sexuality – is Tutu’s strong commitment to affirming human diversity and to defending the dignity and rights of all people. The chapter locates this commitment in Tutu’s African black theological thinking that centers around the biblical notion of the Imago Dei (the image of God) and the indigenous notion of ubuntu.

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Research paper thumbnail of Gender, Sexuality and a Theology of Fruitfulness: Mercy Oduyoye

Reimagining Christianity and Sexual Diversity in Africa, 2021

This chapter focuses on Ghanaian feminist theologian, Mercy Oduyoye, and her contribution to deba... more This chapter focuses on Ghanaian feminist theologian, Mercy Oduyoye, and her contribution to debates about sexual diversity and Christianity in Africa. Profiling Oduyoye as a leading figure in African women’s theology, the chapter discusses her analysis of gender and patriarchy in African religions and cultures, especially in the Christian church. It further reconstructs how Oduyoye came to draw critical connections between patriarchy and misogyny in Africa, on the one hand, and homophobia and heterosexism, on the other hand. Oduyoye’s proposal for an alternative understanding of fruitfulness is important for women as well as sexual minorities confronted by the religio-cultural norm of procreation. The chapter argues that Oduyoye’s African feminist cultural hermeneutics and narrative theology present a model for queer theology in Africa.

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