Beekay Global
Library+

The Beekay Library · Paper

Factors Attracting Women in Theological Education

Religion and Theology

By Bernard Kimani, PhD

Get this PDF

Before you buy

Read a free sample

Read the opening pages of the PDF before purchasing.

What’s inside

  1. Introduction
  2. Conclusion
  3. References

About this paper

Overview

Between 2002 and 2008 the enrolment of women at Nairobi Pentecostal Bible College rose steadily, from a single woman student to ten, and in the most recent intake at the time of writing more women were admitted. This paper assesses the factors behind this trend, drawing on the wider literature on women in theological education. It identifies seven groups of factors: denominational (changing views on the ordination of women and their place in ministry), institutional (role models, inclusive admissions and affordable programmes), relational, economic (career prospects and the search for financial gain), national (the empowerment of women and the movement for gender equality), cultural (changing perceptions of women and of the education of the girl child, from biblical times to the present) and spiritual (spiritual formation, the example of successful women’s ministries and a definite sense of call). Of these, the cultural, denominational and spiritual factors emerge as the most significant. The paper then reflects on the implications for women in ministry: the barriers of the past have been broken down, the whole church gains when women are equipped, motives of mere equality must be guarded against, and churches must not only train women but also make room for them to serve.

Abstract

xBetween 2002 and 2008 the enrolment of women at Nairobi Pentecostal Bible College rose steadily, from a single woman student to ten, and in the most recent intake at the time of writing more women than men were admitted. This paper assesses the factors behind this trend, drawing on the wider literature on women in theological education. It identifies seven groups of factors: denominational (changing views on the ordination of women and their place in ministry), institutional (role models, inclusive admissions and affordable programmes), relational, economic (career prospects and the search for financial gain), national (the empowerment of women and the movement for gender equality), cultural (changing perceptions of women and of the education of the girl child, from biblical times to the present) and spiritual (spiritual formation, the example of successful women’s ministries and a definite sense of call). Of these, the cultural, denominational and spiritual factors emerge as the most significant. The paper then reflects on the implications for women in ministry: the barriers of the past have been broken down, the whole church gains when women are equipped, motives of mere equality must be guarded against, and churches must not only train women but also make room for them to serve.

Who this is for

All levels of students

What this resource helps you explore

Understand the place of women in theological education and ministry

Resource details

Format
Paper · PDF
Subject
Religion and Theology
Learning level
Multi-level
Edition / length
1

Continue exploring

Want more like this?

Explore all papers
Paper · Religion and Theology

Translatability and the Indigenisation of Christianity in Africa A Critical Review of Lamin Sanneh's Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture

This paper offers a critical review of Lamin Sanneh's Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture (Orbis Books, 1989). Sanneh's central thesis is that Christianity, from its origins, identified itself with the need to translate out of Aramaic and Hebrew, and from that position came to exert a dual force in its historical development. The paper summarises the argument of the book, examines Sanneh's distinction between mission by diffusion and mission by translation, assesses his defence of vernacular Bible translation against its critics, and observes that his thesis rests on surprisingly little exegetical or biblical-theological support. It then reflects on what the principle of translatability means for the indigenisation of the Christian faith in Africa. The paper concludes that translation is key to the effectiveness of gospel transmission and that indigenous Christianity is, in a real sense, a child of translation.

Explore this resource Paper · Religion and Theology

Christianity is not a Western Religion: An Apologetic Response

This paper responds to the charge that Christianity is a Western religion — too white, too foreign, and a religious expression of colonialism — and therefore not an authentic faith for Africans. While acknowledging the aggressive, superior and imperialistic attitudes that have accompanied much of historic Western Christianity, it argues that Christianity is not and never was a Western religion, nor was it imposed on Africans by Westerners. Nine lines of argument are advanced: Africans freely chose to believe the gospel; the gospel was received and transmitted by indigenous Africans; Christianity is distinct from colonialism; the faith did not originate in the West but was shaped in Africa by the early church fathers; the biblical account links Africa with early Christianity; the colour of the messenger does not colour the message; Christianity is universal and cannot be encapsulated in race or colour; the charge of foreignness rests on neo-colonial presuppositions; and Africa's own religious heritage was never the blank slate the missionaries assumed. The paper closes with implications for contextualisation, incarnational missiology and a presuppositional apologetics in African Christianity.

Explore this resource Paper · Religion and Theology

African Traditional Religions and the Promotion of the Community Ideal in Africa The Religious Dimension of Community in Traditional and Contemporary Africa

Explore this resource
Lecture Notes Papers Presentations