African Initiatives
Boston University hosts the second oldest African Studies Center in the United States, and is recognized by the federal government for its excellence in the study of African languages and cultures. The School of Theology is a vital component of African Studies at Boston University, beginning with the sending of graduates to Africa as missionaries over a century ago. Important African alumni include Bishop Josiah Kibira (1964 graduate), the first African head of the Lutheran World Federation; Dr. Kenaleone Ketshabile, Head of the Mission Desk, Methodist Church of Southern Africa; Yusufu Turaki, Professor and former General Secretary of the Evangelical Church of West Africa; and Professor Emmanuel Anyambod, Rector of the Protestant University of Central Africa.
Africa research in the CGCM grows from the work of retired Professor M.L. “Inus” Daneel. His over forty-year presence among African Initiated Churches in Zimbabwe culminated in the 1990s with the largest tree-planting movement in southern Africa, and a program in Theological Education by Extension. The son of missionary parents, Daneel served as a missionary of the Dutch Mission Councils, and then as professor of African theology and missiology at the University of South Africa. He and Professor Robert co-edit the African Initiatives in Christian Mission Series, published by the University of South Africa Press. The goal of the series is to reflect upon contemporary African Christianity, and to document its expansion. Other Africa projects include the digitization of Daneel’s photography and publications on the multimedia site Old & New In Shona Religion, and ongoing research into southern African traditions of earth-care.
See also the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (DACB) listed under Digital Projects.
Dr. Marthinus Daneel, Africa Research Director
Dr. Nimi Wariboko awarded the Ali Mazrui Award
Dr. Nimi Wariboko, the Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics and CGCM faculty associate, was awarded the Ali Mazrui Award on July 4, 2016. The award was given by the Board of TOFAC (Toyin Falola Annual Conference on Africa and the African Diaspora) to scholars who have shown research excellence and distinguished scholarship. The award ceremony took place at the Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria where Dr. Wariboko was invited to deliver a keynote address titled “Constructing Africa’s Greatness: The Neglected Path of Community, Narratives, and Care of the Soul.”
African Pentecostalism
Allan Anderson, one of the foremost scholars on Pentecostalism, delivered a lecture at the Boston University School of Theology on April 14th: "Pentecostalism and the African Spirit World: Continuity or Discontinuity?" In the lecture, Professor Anderson, explored the complex relationship between African Traditional Religions and Pentecostalism, highlighting how--often at the same time--Pentecostalism is both a rupture with the past and in continuity with it. The lecture drew not only students from Boston University, but also from the Pentecostal Leadership and Theological Institute of The Church of Pentecost, U.S.A. (pictured below).
BU memorial service and streaming for Father Machozi
Boston University will hold a memorial service for Father Vincent Machozi on Tuesday, April 26, at 2pm in Marsh Chapel. The service will be followed by a reception in the School of Theology Community Center at 3pm. The community invites all to attend this service for Father Machozi, a martyred graduate student of the School of Theology. The service and reception will include visitors and participants from the Congolese community, the Assumptionists, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Everett, and the university community. Live streaming will be available at http://livestream.com/accounts/4958196 for people to join in from other locations.
Vincent Machozi Memorial Services
On April 26th, life and death of Father Vincent Machozi, A.A. was remembered during a memorial service to be held in the Boston University Marsh Chapel. The service began at 2:00 pm, and included various people from the communities Father Machozi overlapped with in Boston, such as the School of Theology, African Studies, the Assumptionists, Congolese immigrants, and the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
Recently, a service was held for him at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Everett, Massachusetts, and his funeral was held in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Vincent Machozi (’15) Laid Down His Life for Peace
Sunday, March 20th, Father Vincent Machozi, A.A. was murdered for his work in documenting the human rights abuses that were happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Machozi had been a ThD student in Mission Studies and Ethics, but returned to Congo before completing the degree in hopes that he could speak out agains the atrocities that were being committed in eastern Congo.
A memorial service will be held at Boston University. For fuller coverage of the story, BU Today, Crux, and the Assumptionists have each published accounts of the heroic life and tragic death of Rev. Machozi.