The African Reformation
AMAHORO GATHERING SOUTH AFRICA
June 8 - 15, 2009
The African Reformation
I am an African.
I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land.
I owe my being to the Khoi and the San whose desolate souls haunt the great expanses of the beautiful Cape – they who fell victim to the most merciless genocide our native land has ever seen, they who were the first to lose their lives in the struggle to defend our freedom and dependence and they who, as a people, perished in the result.
I am formed of the migrants who left Europe to find a new home on our native land. Whatever their own actions, they remain still, part of me.
My mind and my knowledge of myself is formed by the victories that are the jewels in our African crown, the victories we earned from Isandhlwana to Khartoum, as Ethiopians and as the Ashanti of Ghana, as the Berbers of the desert.
I come of those who were transported from India and China, whose being resided in the fact, solely, that they were able to provide physical labour, who taught me that we could both be at home and be foreign, who taught me that human existence itself demanded that freedom was a necessary condition for that human existence.
Being part of all these people, and in the knowledge that none dare contest that assertion, I shall claim that - I am an African.
The Reformation Conversation
These were the words of Thabo Mbeki, then vice-president of the new South Africa, at the inauguration of the new constitution in 1996. With this speech he also revealed his concept of the African Renaissance – a new era of cultural rebirth and economic upliftment for a continent battered by the legacies of colonialism, exploitation and chronic under-development. Although many today feel that Mbeki has failed in providing the leadership to make this a reality it remains a noble vision indeed; and a vision for all Africans.
Just as the European cultural renaissance, starting in Italy in the 14th Century, was followed by spiritual revival and religious revolution in the Reformation led by Luther and Calvin, so many in Africa sense the birth of a new African Reformation concomitant to its cultural rebirth.
The missiologist Andrew Walls has long argued that the West has entered a post-Christendom era and that world Christianity is entering a post-Western era. Many are looking to Africa, the cradle of humanity (and to Asia and South America), for the emergence of a reformed and renewed paradigm in Christian thinking and practice.
It is time for emerging Christian leaders in Africa to give voice to what is being birthed – not so much to give answers, craft doctrines, or create structures – but to ask the difficult questions and grapple with the very real challenges of interpreting the gospel in a truly African way and establishing God’s Kingdom in a still fractured continent.
However, in a globalized world where we are only as human as our interdependent bonds with those on other continents, this is not a conversation that can take place in isolation. North and South, East and West, we need each other.
This is most certainly a spiritual calling but it is equally a social, political and economic one. Everything must change.
This is the unique space of dialogue and engagement that Amahoro Africa will once again host at its annual gathering in May 2009 in South Africa.
Topic Outlines
The Transformation Gospel
Much of the history of Western missionary activity in Africa, although often well-intentioned, presented a truncated and paternalistic form of the gospel. Claude Nikondeha, founder of Amahoro Africa, has called this the ‘Evacuation Gospel’, which aimed at saving souls but did little to transform the reality of African Christians suffering extreme poverty and colonial oppression. And yet the gospel of Jesus Christ as the good news of the establishment of the Kingdom of God is so much more – it is in all spheres of life truly transformative.
Everything Must Change
In his most recent book with the above title, Brian McLaren shows how the economic and political structures of the modern West have created a lethal suicide machine which destroys the very things vital for the survival of humanity and planet Earth. He argues that the real message of Jesus Christ encompasses an alternative reality and that His followers are called to make this Kingdom vision a reality.
Christianity and Democracy
The struggle for democratic freedom in Africa is far from over. Christians have played a prominent role in this struggle throughout Africa, as in most parts of the world, and yet many Christians are still ambivalent about the role they have to play in political and public life. Is there such a thing as a Christian approach to democracy and how does our faith impact on our calling to be salt and light in the public sphere?
African Christianity and Postcolonialism
Many Africans still suffer from an inferiority complex in relation to the developed world and the West in particular. This is as true in church and theology as it is in corporate and cultural spheres. How do we understand our history as African Christians and how has colonial oppression (and apartheid in South Africa) shaped and distorted our identities? More importantly, how can we reclaim an authentic space to contribute to the worldwide Church’s mission in our postcolonial context?
Truth and Social Reform
“The truth will set you free.” Almost every Christian has heard or spoken this biblical phrase, but exactly what does the truth of the Word of God free us from and for? The emerging view from the developing world is that the truth of the gospel is inextricably linked with social justice and that no individual can be free before God if she, or her fellow human beings, are ensnared in unjust systems.
Poverty and Inequality
No-one can live by bread alone, but no-one can live without it either! Or as Gandhi put it: you cannot feed someone’s soul if their stomach is empty. And yet poverty is so much more than insufficient nourishment. It affects the poor on all levels, including the spiritual – no more so than when it exists alongside affluence and excessive wealth. The gap between rich and poor in Africa is greater than it has ever been, as it is globally, and Christians cannot remain silent or apathetic.
The Church and Community Transformation
A recent World Values Survey in South Africa found that the church is the most trusted institution in society and the same is probably true for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. The church is therefore uniquely placed to drive community transformation at a local level. The question is how and with what resources? Local church leaders often feel helpless in the face of the needs of their communities, but with the right attitude, some organization and a little help from outside, miracles can truly be achieved!
Transformational Leadership
The church, whatever its form, will always struggle to remain faithful to its calling unless it has leadership that is inspired, committed, visionary and ethical. Through his example Jesus showed us that leadership does not necessarily requires large structures or status, but that it is in the relational quality of leadership – to serve, inspire and empower – that personal and social transformation takes place.
Transformational Leadership
The church, whatever its form, will always struggle to remain faithful to its calling unless it has leadership that is inspired, committed, visionary and ethical. Through his example Jesus showed us that leadership does not necessarily require large structures or status, but that it is in the relational quality of leadership – to serve, inspire and empower – that personal and social transformation takes place.
“The Lord’s Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me
to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce
freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone
who suffers, and to say, ‘This is the year the Lord has chosen.’”
Luke 4:18-19