Contextualising Contemporary Christianities – What is the Future of Christian Theology?

This roundtable discussion was led by visiting scholar to the Centre, Dr Tim Hartman, Assistant Professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary in the USA. The discussion was chaired by Dr Teddy Sakupapa, Lecturer in Ecumenical Studies and Social Ethics in the Department of Religion and Theology at UWC.

Three respondents, Rev Canon Vicentia Kgabe, an ordained Priest in the Anglican Church of South Africa and Rector of the College of Transfiguration in Grahamstown, Dr Alease Brown, a doctoral researcher in the Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch University, and Bishop Dr David Zac Niringiye, an Anglican Bishop from Uganda, participated in the discussion. After a presentation by Dr Hartman on his research about the interconnection between Christian theology, politics, and society, a robust and lively discussion on how power and positionality reflect in developing “contextual theologies” ensued.

In a letter of thanks to the Centre, Dr Hartman reflected as follows:

“These experiences in South Africa have given me increased self-understanding as a white, male theologian from the U.S. who finds himself amid the historically racially-challenged society of the south-eastern United States.”

A key research outcome of this roundtable is the publication of Dr Hartman’s book “Theology after Colonisation: Bediako, Barth and the Future of Theological Reflection” due to be published in November 2019. Furthermore, Dr Alease Brown, who graduated with a PhD in 2019, has now joined the Centre as a postdoc researcher.