22 Theological librarianship • Vol. 12, No. 1 april 2019

played as wives and leaders. Women like Marie and Susan were significant in the beginnings of their churches as leaders of the women in the churches. While wives of leaders of the church are often invisible or, when they are visible, they are described through the lenses of patriarchy, this exhibition does a wonderful job of highlighting them as representative of women in leadership roles in African churches.

The large women’s groups are pillars of the church, but they can also be seen as churches in and of themselves. These women’s groups such as The Guild of St. Monica (The African Orthodox Church’s women’s organization), Mothers’ Union (Anglican), the Women’s Guild (Presbyterian), and the United Society of Friends Women (Quakers) provide spiritual and moral support for women. In many cases, women in these groups find a way to exercise their freedom to minister to one another, to explore scriptures together, to speak of their family lives and their lives as a whole. Even though these groups may be seen as aiding patriarchy and lacking hermeneutical tools to critique patriarchy, they remain the source of strength for many women in their denominations. These women’s groups are also a source of financial support for the churches through fundraising.

Women’s work in the church is not limited to the women in uniform alone. In more recent years, women theologians have made significant strides in the church through different forms of leadership and the writing of theology. The ecumenical organisations, for example the All Africa Conference of Churches, became spaces issues like women’s ordination and leadership were discussed. 14 There are two ecumenical organizations that became springboards for African women theologians. The first was the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women (1988-1998), set up by the World Council of Churches (WCC), aimed at empowering women to challenge oppressive structures in the global community, their churches, and communities. It was also meant to affirm—through shared leadership, decision making, theology, and spirituality—the decisive contributions of women in churches and communities. It was designed to give visibility to women’s perspective and actions in the work and struggle for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation, to encourage the churches to take actions in solidarity with women.15 The second ecumenical organization is The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, which was launched at Trinity College Legon, near Accra, Ghana, in 1989, a year after the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women, under the leadership of Prof. Mercy Amba Oduyoye. This is an ecumenical and interfaith body of African women theologians. The Circle aims to empower lay and ordained women to study and write theology that will have an impact on the churches. Since 1989, members have discussed various theological themes and published over a dozen books. The themes addressed include the Bible, an objective critique of African culture, violence against women, and interfaith issues. The exhibition brings women to the center of the African Church by using the literature produced by women and in the way they tell their story.16 Through theological writing and leadership, women continue to challenge the ideology of patriarchy, which is alive in the African church, theological institutions, and society at large. Women theologians continue to raise issues around theological education curricula, the ordination of women, and role of women after ordination.

MORE THAN AN ART EXHIBITION

As I stated, experiencing the exhibition was both a joyous and painful experience. It was joyful because it was good to experience through art and archival resources the African church story. The exhibition was also painful, however, because it highlighted the imbalance of knowledge production and sharing. Even though it

14 See Mercy Oduyoye, “Churchwomen and the Church’s Mission,” pp. 68-80 in J.S. Pobee and Barbel Von Warten-berg-Potter, eds., New Eyes of Reading: Biblical Reflections from the Third World (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1986).

15 See Irja Askola, Living Letters: A Report of Visits to the Churches during the Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1997), 13.

16 Rachel Nyagondwe Banda-Fiedler, A History of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians 1989-2007 (Mzuzu, Malawi: Mzuni Press, 2017).