Peggy Mulambya-Kabonde is a Zambian feminist theologian and the first female General Secretary of the United Church of Zambia.
Peggy Mulambya-Kabonde is a pastoral minister with the Methodist and United Reformed Churches in the United Kingdom [1] and an ordained minister in the United Church in Zambia. [2] She was married to Fred Kabonde until his death in 2020. [3]
Kabonde has a Ph.D. in Gender and Theology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. [1] She is the Southern Africa Coordinator of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, an organization she joined in 1989. [1] [4] She was a professor at the United Church of Zambia Theological University. She also served as the chaplain at the University of Zambia interdenominational church and the Ecumenical and Engagement officer on campus. [1] As of early 2018, she was the first female General Secretary of the United Church in Zambia. [1] [2] [5]
Kabonde's research interests include gender justice, gender and leadership in the church, theology about gender and ecology, and "the inclusivity of all God’s creation". [1] Her theology surrounding the "transforming gender equalities in the era of HIV/AIDS" has been called "most articulate". [6] According to the United Church of Canada, "Kabonde has a long and abiding interest in gender justice issues in church and society and has been involved with many organizations working with these, and other social justice issues in Africa and globally". [2]
Womanist theology is a methodological approach to theology which centers the experience and perspectives of Black women, particularly African-American women. The first generation of womanist theologians and ethicists began writing in the mid to late 1980s, and the field has since expanded significantly. The term has its roots in Alice Walker's writings on womanism. "Womanist theology" was first used in an article in 1987 by Delores S. Williams. Within Christian theological discourse, Womanist theology emerged as a corrective to early feminist theology written by white feminists that did not address the impact of race on women's lives, or take into account the realities faced by Black women within the United States. Similarly, womanist theologians highlighted the ways in which Black theology, written predominantly by male theologians, failed to consider the perspectives and insights of Black women. Scholars who espouse womanist theology are not monolithic nor do they adopt each aspect of Walker's definition. Rather, these scholars often find kinship in their anti-sexist, antiracist and anti-classist commitments to feminist and liberation theologies.
Women as theological figures have played a significant role in the development of various religions and religious hierarchies.
Boston University School of Theology (STH) is the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University, the largest private research university in New England. It is one of thirteen theological schools maintained by the United Methodist Church. BUSTH is a member of the Boston Theological Institute consortium.
Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye is a Ghanaian Methodist theologian known for her work in African women's theologies and theological anthropology. She is currently the Director of the Institute of African Women in Religion and Culture at Trinity Theological Seminary, Ghana. She founded the Circle of Concerned African Theologians in Ghana in 1987 to promote the visibility and publishing agenda of African women Theologians.
Jacquelyn Grant is an American theologian, a Methodist minister. Alongside Katie Cannon, Delores S. Williams, and Kelly Brown Douglas, Grant is considered one of the four founders of womanist theology. Womanist theology addresses theology from the viewpoint of Black women, reflecting on both their perspectives and experience in regards to faith and moral standards. Grant is currently the Callaway Professor of Systematic Theology at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.
Jann Aldredge-Clanton is an ordained Christian minister, author, teacher, and chaplain, who leads workshops and conferences throughout the United States. She has authored eleven books, six songbooks, a children's musical, and a children's songbook. She has also published many articles in publications such as Christian Feminism Today, The Journal of Pastoral Care, The Christian Ministry, and Patheos. She specializes in feminist theology and inclusive worship resources.
The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians is a pan-African ecumenical organization that supports scholarly research of African women theologians. The Circle mentors the next generation of African women theologians throughout their academic careers in order to counter the dearth of academic theological literature by African women. The Circle has chapters in more than a dozen countries across the African continent, as well as diaspora chapters in Europe and North America.
Esther Moraa Mombo is a Kenyan Anglican female theologian and a full professor of theology in the school of theology at St. Paul's University, Limuru. She researches on church history with a focus on mission history, interfaith relations and theology, gender studies with a focus on African women's theologies, sexuality and HIV/AIDS. She is the founder of the Tamar campaign in Kenya which acknowledges gender-based violence in society and empower churches to address it. She is the founder member of Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians St. Paul’s chapter in Kenya.
Emily Awino Onyango is a Kenyan priest who became the first female bishop in the Anglican Church of Kenya in January 2021. Prior to becoming a bishop, she taught theology at St. Paul's University in Limaru, Kenya. She attended the founding conference for the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in Ghana in 1989, and is a member of the Kenyan chapter of the Circle.
Nyambura J. Njoroge is a Kenyan feminist Theologian and ecumenical leader. She was the first Kenyan woman ordained in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in 1982. She was the first African to work in the World Alliance of Reformed Churches from 1992 to 1998 when she joined the World Council of Churches. She is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians and a member of the Kenyan chapter. She is a member of ANERELA+ . She co-edited Talitha Cum! Theologies of African Women, with Musa Dube. In 1992, she became the first African woman to earn a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. She was the first African woman to study a Bachelors Degree in Divinity at St.Pauls University, Limuru,Kenya.
Isabel Apawo Phiri is a Malawian theologian known for her work in gender justice, HIV/AIDS, and African theology. She has been a Deputy Secretary for the World Council of Churches since 2012.
Philomena Njeri Mwaura is a Kenyan Female theologian and an Associate Professor Religious Studies at Kenyatta University, Kenya. She has published widely in the areas of African Christianity- History and Theology and New Religious Movements.
Sarojini Nadar is a South African theologian and biblical scholar who is the Desmond Tutu Research Chair in Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape.
Teresia Mbari Hinga was a Kenyan Christian feminist theologian and a professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University in California. She was a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.
Fulata Lusungu Mbano Moyo is a Malawian systematic and feminist theologian who is an advocate for gender justice. Moyo has written over twenty-eight journal articles.
Mary Getui is a Kenyan theologian and professor of religious studies at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. She is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. In 2009, Getui was named a Moran of the Burning Spear. She was appointed as chair of the National Aids Control Council of Kenya that same year.
Hannah Wangeci Kinoti was a Kenyan African Feminist theologian and a member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. Kinoti is an African Ethicist and Religious Studies Scholar with over fifty publications under her name. She was a founding member of Wajibu Journal, created in 1985, focusing on religion, African values, morality, politics and culture. Kinoti was the first female chairperson in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Nairobi.
Hazel Ong'ayo Ayanga is a Kenyan theologian whose work focuses on the care and empowerment of orphans, vulnerable children and women affected by HIV/AIDS. She is an associate professor of Religious Studies at Moi University, Kenya and also researches spirituality in clinical settings, religion and change in Africa and the centrality of ritual in human life. She has published over twenty peer-reviewed articles and coauthored several book chapters and edited volumes.