Recommended Readings: Methodist Women Leaders in Africa

United Methodists are justly proud of Bishop Joaquina Nhanala, the first African woman bishop in the UMC. In addition to breaking that gender barrier, Bishop Nhanala has been a skilled leader for the Mozambique Episcopal Area.

But she's not the only Methodist woman to take the reins of leadership in Africa. Looking beyond the UMC, there are at least two other Methodist denominations in Africa that have women as their top leaders: the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and the Methodist Church of Togo.

The Rev. Purity Malinga was elected last year as the 100th Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, the first woman to hold that position. With nearly 2 million members, the MCSA is one of the largest Methodist denominations in Africa. It is also one of the oldest. At the same time as Bishop Malinga was elected, three other women were elected as regional bishops, meaning that 1/4 of the church's 12 districts are now led by women. Dr. Dion Forster has written this article about Bishop Malinga's election, the history behind it, and what it means for the MCSA.

The Methodist Church of Togo (Eglise Methodist du Togo) is a much smaller - about 40,000 members - and younger - independent since 1999 - church, but it too is currently led by a woman. In fact, it's led by two women. Rev. Grace Lawson is President, the highest-ranking clergy in the church, and as General Secretary, Rev. Angele is responsible for leading the work of the church. This partnership visit report by Dr Bunmi Olayisade, Africa Partnership Coordinator for the Methodist Church in Britain shares more about the ministry of these two women.

With episcopal elections coming up for United Methodists in Africa later this year, the question now stands: Will African United Methodists elect more women as episcopal leaders, as their fellow Methodists across the continent have?

Recommended Reading: Germany UMC/Methodist Church in Southern Africa partnership

This article from the Germany UMC's mission agency, Weltmission, describes a partnership between the UMC in Germany and the Methodist Church in Southern Africa (MCSA). The article (which is in German) is worth perusing not just as an interesting partnership in and of itself but because it strikes me as a good representation to an approach to mission typical in the UMC in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Mission in the European United Methodist tradition is often undertaken collaboratively and often involves collaborations with churches inside the Methodist tradition but outside the UMC. European United Methodists also partner with the Methodist Church in Great Britain, the Methodist Church in Ireland, and several other independent Methodist churches around the world historically related to the British Methodist tradition.

Reflecting on Together towards Life

Today's post is by UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott, Assistant Professor of Religion and Pieper Chair of Servant Leadership at Ripon College.

I had the good fortune of being invited to participate in a consultation organized by the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) two weeks ago in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.  The consultation was focused on discussing ways to develop curricula to help teach the WCC's new affirmation on mission and evangelism, Together towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes.  The affirmation was adopted by the WCC Central Committee in Crete in 2012 and presented to the entire WCC at their assembly last year in Busan, Korea.

Not only was the experience of being in South Africa with mission scholars and practitioners from around the world an exciting experience for me, I found Together towards Life itself to be an exciting and challenging document.  The document shows real theological and spiritual depth in its focus on the missio Dei, the self-giving love of the Trinity, and the role of the Holy Spirit in mission.  It reflects contemporary mission thinking in affirming the value of a diversity of cultures, noting the impact of migration, and highlighting the important place the poor and those on the margins have as agents of, and not just recipients of, mission.  The document challenges its readers in its call to think of mission and being from the whole creation to the whole creation, in its strong criticism of the system of global capitalism, and in the questions it raises about God's activities in other religions.

There is much to praise, critique, and dissect in this document, a process that has already begun in other forums.  This blog, as a project of the United Methodist Professors of Mission, will be looking at Together towards Life over the next couple of months as well.  We will not be giving it a thorough read as we did with Grace Upon Grace.  Our examination of that document reflected our identities as United Methodists.  Our treatment of Together towards Life will instead reflect our identities as professors of mission.  We will be continuing the discussion begun in Pietermaritzburg and elsewhere of how this document can be used to train clergy, missionaries, and laity.  Although the document is an ecumenical document with wide appeal, we will focus primarily on its applications within United Methodist contexts.  I hope you will join us as we see what the Spirit may be seeking to teach us through this document.  Look for the Together towards Life tag to follow posts in this new series.

Methodists and Mandela

Today's post is by UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott, Assistant Professor of Religion and Pieper Chair of Servant Leadership at Ripon College.

Following Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday this week, the United Methodist News Service ran a piece yesterday about the influence that Methodism had on Nelson Mandela and his influence on various United Methodist leaders.  Mandela benefitted from a good education provided by the autonomous Methodist Church in South Africa.  Mandela is not alone in the regard.  Many African (and Asian) leaders have been reared in the schools that Methodist  missionaries started.  The Methodist school system has been one of the great gifts from Western Methodists to Methodists elsewhere around the globe.

Yet Mandela shows that that gift is by no means a one-way gift.  The inspiration and testimony to truth and justice that Mandela proved to the rest of the world, Western Methodists included, shows that those in the West have received back from the gift of schools that they gave because of Christian faithfulness to others around the world.  I think that's what is most important to take from the UMNS piece - the reciprocal influences between Africa and the West.

That idea of reciprocity should be an important part of how we think about the global UMC.  Granted, the Methodist Church in South Africa is autonomous and not affiliated with the UMC.  Indeed, there is a UMC in South Africa with a complicated relationship to the Methodist Church in South Africa.  Yet the point remains - those United Methodists in the West must think not only about what they give in missions elsewhere around the globe, but what they receive.  Sometimes, as in the example of Nelson Mandela, it's quite a lot.