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
Kongo: Power and Majesty
Review by Cathy Corman, CGCM Visiting Researcher
Those interested in the history of African Christianity may want to consider making a trip to The Metropolitan Museum of Art before January 3, 2016, to tour Kongo: Power & Majesty. The exhibit focuses on the material culture of Central African peoples after contact with Portuguese Catholics in the late fifteenth century. Curators have done a terrific job showcasing the ways master craftspeople wove tapestries and caps, incorporated crucifixes into indigenous forms, carved female power figures to increase fertility during population decimation, and crafted male power figures to safeguard villages struggling to survive. It’s well worth paying $7 for the audio guide, which weaves together interesting background information and curators’ interesting analyses. The Met is also featuring two relevant photographic exhibits in its contemporary collection: In and Out of the Studio: Photographic Portraits from West Africa and The Aftermath of Conflict: Jo Ratcliffe’s Photographs of Angola and South Africa.
Upcoming Conference “African Christian Biography: Narratives, Beliefs, & Boundaries”
From October 29-31 the Center for Global Christianity and Mission, the African Studies Center and the African Studies Library at Boston University will be co-hosting the conference “African Christian Biography: Narratives, Beliefs, and Boundaries” in celebration of the 20th year anniversary of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (www.DACB.org).
This working conference will bring together more than 30 international academics whose specialties cover a broad spectrum of time periods and geographical areas in Africa. Coming from a wide variety of disciplines including history, anthropology, theology, women’s studies and African area studies, the speakers will present scholarly papers exploring the historiographical role of biography and its part in shaping our understanding of African Christianity.
Keynote speakers:
Jonathan Bonk
Research Professor of Mission Studies, Boston University, Project Director, Dictionary of African Christian Biography.
African Church History and the Streetlight Effect: Biography as a Lost Key
Lamin Sanneh,
Willis James Professor of Missions & World Christianity, Professor of History, Professor of International and Area Studies, Yale University.
Biography and the Narrative of History
Linda Heywood,
Professor of African American Studies and History, Boston University.
Queen Njinga of Angola: Spirituality and Politics
For more details, the conference schedule, and registration information please go to http://www.dacb.org/acb-conference2015.html.
Translating Christianity
The 54th Summer Conference of the Ecclesiastical History Society was held at the University of York in England from July 28-30, 2015. Exploring the theme of “Translating Christianity,” the conference focused on cultural, linguistic, and ritual translation of the Christian faith into different global contexts over the past two millennia. To illustrate the conference theme, a virtual exhibition was put together in collaboration with the Minster Library and the Institute for Public Understanding of the Past, University of York.
In order to make sense of how Christianity has become a world faith as it has crossing geographic, cultural, and social boundaries, many of the papers built on the translatability principle of the Christian message proposed 
by Lamin Sanneh and Andrew Walls. The creative and complex interplay between the universal Christian message and particular local settings was carefully examined through various case studies in Greek, Latin, Asian, American, and African contexts. CGCM student Daewon Moon presented his paper, “The East African Revival: Transplantation or Indigenization of European Christianity?”
Teaching World Christianity in Burundi
CGCM student associate and PhD candidate Daewon Moon is now teaching church history and World Christianity at International Leadership University - Burundi (ILU-Burundi) in East Africa. For the next few years, Daewon will be supervising the bachelor’s and master’s programs in the School of Theology at ILU-Burundi. His wife, Jeonghwa, is working as Director of the Leadership Language Institute at ILU-Burundi. Her responsibilities include developing curricula and training instructors to teach academic English to prospective students in a more effective way.
As the only university in the country that offers English-based degree programs, ILU-Burundi has been growing substantially over the past few years. It now has more than 300 students from 10 different countries in Africa and Asia. Recently ILU-Burundi launched two joint graduate programs in partnership with North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa: Master of Theology (MTh) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with three concentrations, 1) Missiology, 2) New Testament, and 3) Practical Theology.
Dictionary of African Christian Biography leaders meet in Kenya
The Dictionary of African Christian Biography (DACB), now located in the Center for Global Christianity and Mission, held its first annual meeting October 26-28, 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya. This was the first meeting of the DACB advisory council and editorial committee, which consists of ten members: Edison Kalengyo, Michele Sigg, Deji Ayegboyin, Priscille Njomhoue, Jonathan Bonk, James Amanze, Lamin Sanneh, Thomas Oduro (shown in the photo above from left-right), Philomena Mwaura, Paul Nkwi and Dana Robert. They launched the first of many planned annual meetings of the DACB leadership team.