Special Forum • Visiting Scholar 23

has been observed that the center of Christianity is no longer in Europe, but is now in Africa and Asia, there are few African students of church history who have access to the types of material featured in this exhibition. What the exhibition has brought to light is the reality that Africa may have the numbers, but the information about numbers is stored somewhere else.

The reasons for this imbalance include the structural challenges that make it hard for researchers from the majority world to access basic bibliographical data, such as are included in this exhibition, as well as other research that remains inaccessible altogether. In addition to the structural challenges, there is also the financial inhibitions for students and researchers of the African church story. This can clearly be seen in the curricula of courses on the church story that continue to lay emphasis on the Western church and not the African church, curricula that fail to take note of the African agency in the establishment of the church theologically. Courses teaching history or theology need to be inclusive of all groups that make up the church.

In this essay, I have reflected on my experience with the exhibition “Expressions and Encounters: Experiencing the Histories and Theologies of African Christianity in the Collections of Pitts Theology Library.” In my reflection, I have picked some of the themes that I found enriching to the ways in which the African church story and theology come out from the art and archival materials displayed in the gallery, and I have used the exhibition as a launching point to consider major topics for future study of African Christianities. I have noted the ways in which there is a rich tradition and heritage of using images to present a narrative. The topics that I have discussed, including the AIC, African leadership, unity, women, and democratization are ongoing themes in the story of the church in Africa. There is great interest in the study of theology and its varied subject areas, and the study of history is important. The exhibition confirmed this fact very well, as it was not an end in itself but a foundation and call to action for researchers of African church history. Giving attention to the leadership of women and their theological contribution gives voice to those in the margins. The reality of the exhibition is twofold. First, it reflects the imbalance of producing and sharing of knowledge. Second, it highlights the challenge of working towards ending that imbalance. In this case, the exhibition was much more than an art exhibition.