Panel: "AND YET IT MOVES". UNCONVENTIONAL ACTORS, NEW VOICES, AND DISPUTED AGENTS OF THE 21ST ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT



129.1 - THE ECUMENICAL VISION OF THE CIRCLE OF CONCERNED AFRICAN WOMEN THEOLOGIANS.

AUTHORS:
Njeri Mwaura P. (Kenyatta University ~ Nairobi ~ Kenya)
Text:
The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (hereafter Circle) is community of African women theologians from different Christian traditions; as well as other faiths for example African Traditional Religion, Islam and Judaism. It is therefore ecumenical and interfaith. The women theologians gather to reflect on what it means to them to be women of faith within social, economic, political, religious and cultural structures. They are further equipped and empowered with critical thinking and analysis skills, through capacity building programmes to advance current knowledge using a variety of theoretical frameworks derived from theology and the social sciences. Issues that they address include empowerment of women in Church and society, ministerial formation, development of contextual theologies from women's perspectives. This paper aims at exploring the ecumenical vision of the Circle especially how it was articulated in its founding and in what ways ecumenism is evident in the Circle's activities. The paper will therefore seek to answer the following questions; how does the Circle conceive ecumenism? How does this vision differ or converge with the conventional view of ecumenism? In what ways is ecumenism manifested in the Circle's theology and praxis? How does this enhance ecumenical relations and praxis in the Church in Africa? Data will be collected from both primary and secondary sources.