Church’s post-colonial survival lies in ‘meaningful’ theology
by Chris Sugden, Global Christian News:
The challenge to the church’s survival in the post-colonial era lies in a ‘meaningful’ theological engagement with the fields of economics, politics and issues of security, according to a leading mission expert, addressing PhD students in a ground-breaking doctoral programme for church leaders in the non-western churches of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Caribbean.
In a keynote address by video link, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, told doctoral students that in the colonial era an engagement with these areas had been seen as the preserve of the ‘colonial powers’, yet in some societies the challenges to the church’s survival lies in such study. He called for the new programme to prioritise research into controversial topics that were beyond the scope of secular university departments and Christian seminaries.
A ground-breaking initiative in developing church leaders for the future in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, particularly those facing the challenges of poverty and aggressive religious cultures began in Stellenbosch, South Africa this week. In a partnership between the Faculty of Theology of Stellenbosch University, the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life, Barnabas Fund and East Mountain Missional Community, fifteen Christian leaders, including bishops, lecturers, and pastors from nine countries gathered for a three and a half week seminar to prepare them for four years of doctoral research, undertaken primarily in their own countries.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
