Religion and Development in Southern and Central Africa: Vol 1

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Description

This book is a result of a joint conference, which was held from 18th-22nd July 2017 under the theme Religion, Citizenship and Development � Southern African Perspectives." The theme of the conference was adopted in order to underline the importance and significance of religion in the socio-economic development of people in the world generally and in Southern and Central Africa in particular. The papers in the book are divided into two volumes. Volume one consists of papers which directly discuss religion and development in one form or another. The second volume contains papers that discuss religion and other pertinent issues related to development. The papers are grouped into sub-themes for ease of reference. These include Citizenship and Development, Migration and Development, Disability and Development, Pentecostal Churches and Development and Religion and Society. All in all, despite a divergence of sub-themes in volume two, all point to issues to do with the role of religion in development in Southern and Central Africa today.

Informations

• Publié par: Mzuni Press
• Date de parution: 09 décembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789996060397
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

that the purpose of development should be to li� up the life of

development and its major objecve should be to develop people in all walks of life without discriminaon. It should have a posive

rural, men and women, young and old, cizens as much as migrant

few. In this regard, religion should play a crucial role in development

(ATISCA SECRETARIAT)

which offers a range of books on

Vol: 1

Religion & Development in Southern and Central Africa

Edited by James N. Amanze Maake Masango Ezra Chitando Lilian Siwila

Religion and Development in Southern and Central Africa Vol. I

Copyright 2019 Authors All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any from or by any means, electronic, me- chanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission from the publishers. Published by Mzuni Press P/Bag 201 Luwinga Mzuzu 2 ISBN 978-99960-60-38-0  eISBN 978-99960-60-39-7 The Mzuni Press is represented outside Malawi by: African Books Collective Oxford ([e-mail]) www.mzunipress.blogspot.com www.africanbookscollective.com

Cover: Daniel Neumann

Printed in Malawi by Baptist Publications, P.O. Box 444, Lilongwe

Religion and Development in Southern and Central Africa

Vol. I

Edited by

Professor James N. Amanze

Professor Maake Masango

Professor Ezra Chitando

Professor Lilian Siwila

Mzuni Books no. 37

Mzuzu 2019

4 Acknowledgements This book would have never been possible without the contribution of many people who spent countless hours doing research on the theme "Re- ligion, Citizenship and Development – Southern African Perspectives" which ultimately led to the production of quality papers that form the substance of this book. Our thanks go to all the delegates that participated actively during the joint ATISCA Conference that was held at the Uni- th nd versity of Zimbabwe, Harare, from 18 to 22 July 2017.We greatly ap- preciate the excellent services that were provided by the University of Zimbabwe generally and the local Steering Committee in the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy, who skillfully put to- gether a well detailed and problem free conference programme. We would like to take this opportunity to express our profound and sincere thanks to the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) Bread for the World (BfdW) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) which made funds available for the conference which ultimately led to the publication of this book. For all that ATISCA has achieved in ecumenical theological education in Southern and Central Africa in the past thirty-three years we only say "To God be the Glory" for all that he has done for us.

5 Introduction th nd This book is a result of a joint conference, which was held from 18 -22 July 2017 under the themeReligion, Citizenship and Development – Southern African Perspectives."It was jointly organized by the Associ- ation of Theological Institutions in Southern and Central Africa (ATISCA), All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), Bread for the World (BfdW), Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (CIR- CLE) and Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC). It was hosted by the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy at the Univer- sity of Zimbabwe, Harare. Apart from ATISCA members the conference was also attended by the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologi- ans (The CIRCLE) in large numbers. The theme of the conference was skillfully crafted and adopted in order to underline the importance and significance of religion in the socio-economic development of people in the world generally and in Southern and Central Africa in particular. The thematic focus on development was conceptualized with regard to the future of the whole people in the Southern Africa region. The notion of "development" includes, in its broadest sense, both economic and so- cio-cultural dimensions. It also encompasses religious values as they are an essential component within the socio-cultural dimension of an inte- grated concept of development. Development by most experts is con- ceived as the process of transition from one type of economic system to another, implying both economic growth (increased production and in- creased per capita income) and socio-cultural change. In modern times, it is widely argued that the primary concern of development should be people, because if it is not for people then development is not worthy of the name. In this regard, people should be the principal component for development and the object of the exercise. In this sense, development offers people increased control over their lives, the environment and their destiny. It enhances their dignity, freedom, justice, wholeness and a sense of self-worth. It is through development that people are able to achieve full realization of their God-given potential and become fully human. In the recent religious turn of the international development de- bate which has taken place in UN circles it has become increasingly clear that the role of religious communities, their values, social services as well

6 as their ideas and concepts play a significant role in formulating a holistic concept of development. Theologically, it is the mission of the Church and theologians to take active part in the socio-economic transformation of human beings so that they may become their best and reflect more concretely the image and likeness of God free from the oppressive powers of poverty, ignorance, disease, and alienation from one another as a result of social, political, economic and religious conflicts. The Church and theologians have the theological and prophetic task to incarnate in their agenda the socio-eco- nomic programmes of their people. This is the only way in which the Church and theologians will remain relevant to the people, whom they have been called upon to serve. Consequently, churches and theologians need to develop an integral theology of development which is essentially an extension of the theology of creation, incarnation, redemption and sanctification. Generally speaking, the theology of development should be the continuation of the three-fold mission of God the Creator, Re- deemer and Sanctifier. The contributors to this book have contributed significantly to the debate that socio-economic development understood as transformation should be aimed at promoting and enhancing the dignity and full participation of all the people of God and that such undertaking should be supported and given shape by the work of the Church and theologians since it is part of their divine mandate. It is the duty of the Church and theologians to devote part of their ministry ministering spiritually and physically to the needs of the world in the field of health care services, education, eco- nomic growth and political emancipation. All in all, the conference or- ganized in order to explore the thesis that development advocates the full realization of humanity in Christ who, by taking human flesh, sanctified things material that nourish the body in accordance with the will of God. Christian involvement in activities of social, economic and political na- ture for the good of humanity has to do with the manifestation and ful- fillment of God's love as manifested in the definition of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth whose mission was "to preach the good news to the poor ... to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the accepta- ble year of the Lord" (Lk4:18-19 RSV). The role of the Church and

7 theologians, therefore, should be to enable people to receive the God- given opportunities of spiritual growth, employment, education, healing and prosperity for all.

It should be noted that more than 130 participants attended the confer- ence. They came from various institutions in Southern, Central and East- ern Africa as well as Europe. These included, among others, the Univer- sity of Zimbabwe, Kgolagano College of Theological Education, Bread for the World, University of KwaZulu Natal, Zimbabwe Open Univer- sity, Justo Mwale University, University of South Africa, Mutare Teach- ers' College, Catholic University of Zimbabwe, University of Swaziland, Bishop Gaul College, University of Botswana, United Seminary of Ricatla, United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe, Kwame Nkrumah Uni- versity-Zambia, Africa University, United Church of Zambia University, All Africa Conference of Churches, Mzuzu University, Great Zimbabwe University, University of Malawi, University of Zambia, Zimbabwe Eze- kiel Guti University, Stellenbosch University, Free State University, Ndejje University, University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria, Wadzanai Training Centre, Rice University, Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Arrupe College, Institute of Public Affairs, Murray Theologi- cal College, Rhodes University, Living Waters Theological Seminary and Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia. The conference was also at- tended by a large contingency of members of the Concerned African Women Theologians commonly known as the CIRCLE. It can thus be seen that the conference was well attended. It was one of the most suc- cessful ATISCA conferences.

A lot of papers were presented during the conference rich in theme and variation. After the conference, the papers were revised thoroughly, re- viewed and revised again whenever it was necessary in order to enhance their quality and international standards before they were published in this book. Thus this book is not made up of conference proceedings but papers which went through a stringent review process. The papers in the book are divided into two volumes. Volume one consists of papers which directly discuss religion and development in one form or another. The second volume contains papers that discuss religion and other pertinent issues related to development. The papers are grouped into sub-themes for ease of reference. These include Citizenship and Development,

8 Migration and Development, Disability and Development, Pentecostal Churches and Development and Religion and Society. All in all, despite a divergence of sub-themes in volume two, all of them point to issues to do with the role of religion in development in Southern and Central Af- rica today. The contributors of the chapters contained in these two vol- umes hope that the information contained herein will go a long way to provide significant and relevant knowledge that will assist our people to participate fully and meaningfully in the development of their respective communities as we move from capital based to knowledge-based econo- mies. Professor James N. Amanze ATISCA SECRETARIAT 26th March 2019

9 Contents Introduction 5 Notes on Contributors 11 Chapter 1: New Trends in the Global Discourse on Religion and Development 24 Chapter 2: The Role of Religion in the Development of the People by the People for the People 53 Chapter 3: Religion and Development in Southern Africa 69 Chapter 4: The Contributions of Religion in Development: The Case of Chasefu Mission of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Synod of Zambia 81 Chapter 5: TheImago Deiand Religious Communities as Catholic Development Cogs. The Gweru-Masvingo Diocese 1991-2017 110 Chapter 6: Religious Values, Women and the Concept of Development 125 Chapter 7: Community Based Theological Education for Social Transformation of Women in Chongwe District, Zambia 143 Chapter 8: Witchcraft, Revelation and Education in the Pursuit of Development 165 Chapter 9: Philosophical and Religious Reflections on Sustainable Development Goals: Revisiting Indigenization in Zimbabwe 179 Chapter 10: God is Watching You 195 Chapter 11: Religious Communities, FBOs and the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda: Crucial Religious Actors and Assets for Achieving Core Goals 206 Chapter 12: "Let the Children Come:" A Theological Reflection on Jesus' Call for Children's Development Agenda in Zambia 217 Chapter 13: Shona Proverbs and the Concept of Development 233