This exploratory study examines the question of Mariology in the Anglican Church in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It focuses on how Anglican women priests relate to the Virgin Mary within the patriarchal structures and African context of the Anglican Diocese of Natal. It aims to ascertain the perceptions of the Virgin Mary held by a sample group of ordained, doctrinally informed, Anglican women. The premise is that because the Anglican Church is closer to Roman Catholicism than other Protestant churches, these clerics might be more open to the dogmas of Mariology as proclaimed by the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. The depths of the subjects‘ knowledge of Marian dogma are ascertained, as well as the extent to which their spirituality and devotions are affected by this. An attempt is made to establish the potential advantages of an enhanced Marian presence in The Anglican Church in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study is intended not merely to establish the dogmatic similarities in the Anglican and Roman Catholic traditions and underscore those issues which inhibit Marian veneration among local ordained Anglican women. Its intention is to elicit the effects of dogma on spirituality and worship, and to discern whether the subjects feel an affinity with Catholic Marian dogma and see any possibility of ecumenical progress between the two Churches. Roman Catholic Marian dogma is elucidated and examined. The four main dogmas are presented: the Theotokos, her Perpetual Virginity, her Immaculate Conception and her Assumption into Heaven. The Protestant and Anglican reservations regarding these dogmas are examined, and ecumenical dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant Churches is discussed, including the bilateral ARCIC discussions with the Anglican Communion. Nine Anglican priests are interviewed, and the data and its implications for Anglican-Roman Catholic ecumenism are examined. The findings indicate that the subjects do not subscribe to Roman Catholic dogma and praxis on Mary. It is proposed that Marian dogma per se is not a hindrance to ecumenism, but the fact of the dogmas reflecting the teachings on more fundamental theological issues such as the nature of sacraments, the trinity, the nature of grace and eschatology in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

This study has been motivated by the observation made in urban centres of Cameroon, that many Catholics are getting involved in divine, faith or spiritual healing ministry; something that has not been the case few years ago. A closer look at this phenomenon revealed that, not only the people were committing to the ministry, but the influence was external to the Catholic Church. With the gradual expansion of Pentecostalism in the cities and towns of the country, with its emphasis on healing, healing ministry became more of a necessity for other churches. The Roman Catholic Church having neglected this ministry over centuries is at the crossroad. And the question is to know how Catholic healing ministers can improve their healing ministry with elements borrowed from Pentecostal churches. In a fieldwork in Cameroonian city of Yaoundé, 20 interviews were conducted: 10 from the catholic side and 10 from the Pentecostal side represented by The Apostolic Church Cameroon. These data were analysed by the Thematic Analysis method. The analysis and the reflection that followed brought to light that there are different types of healing ministers operating in our cities but not all of them are actually doing what needs to be done. At this, Jesus Christ is presented as the model of healing for ministers to imitate; because Jesus did not heal for his own glory and interest rather for the infinite glory of God and for the salvation of the vulnerable people. The study states that ecumenism between Catholics and Pentecostal can well be initiated from healing ministry through a set of identified recommendations. KEY WORDS: Roman Catholic Church, Faith Healing, Healing ministry, Pentecostalism and Charismatic Churches. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

This study proposes an African life sustaining eco-theological framework for tilling and preserving the earth in the context of food insecurity and environmental degradation. The study argues that food insecurity in Tanzania results from an unjust economic order, application of modern farming methods and a lack of concern for the environment. The study examines the impact of the industrial agricultural revolution and the green revolution on food security and the environment. It argues that although these modern approaches to agriculture have improved the status of food security in many places in the world, their negative impact on the environment cannot be underestimated. More importantly, most of these modern farming methods are not compatible with the smallholder farmers in rural Tanzania due to their cost concentrated nature. The study has identified organic farming methods as having the potential to increase food production and take care of the environment. The study concludes that an African life sustaining eco-theological framework must comprise, but not limited to, six principles. These include: an African world view, a life-centred vision, a focus on sustainability, an African ethic of care, an understanding of salvation as holistic and recognition of an ecumenical earth community. An African life sustaining eco-theological framework that embodies these principles is capable of developing a sustainable relationship between humankind and non-human creatures. Further, such a framework ensures the sustainability of life within the entire ecumenical earth community. It will stand against all forces, powers, structures and systems that are a threat to life in all its dimensions. This framework will advocate for the systems, structures and practices that are life affirming. However, in order for this framework to be fruitful, the application of these principles should not be restricted to the human community alone. Rather they must extend to include the entire earth community which form a web of life on earth. In a long run this will help shape the behaviour, attitudes and practices of humankind in relation to nature, which will then lead to the addressing of issues of food insecurity and environmental degradation in Tanzania. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This study sets out to suggest a theological and methodological framework that assists the evangelical movement in Africa, and in Zambia in particular, to engage its missionary task with greater effectiveness. The study is located within the radical evangelical theological tradition. In this regard, firstly, the study posits that the evangelical movement has a heritage of sociopolitical engagement that can be traced back to its origins in the great evangelical awakening of the eighteenth century. Secondly, the study posits that the evangelical movement abandoned its heritage of socio-political engagement during the first thirty years of the twentieth century due to a number of seemingly unrelated factors that, nevertheless, worked in concert. Thirdly, the study posits that during the third quarter of the twentieth century, evangelicalism engaged in a process through which it inadvertently began to recover its heritage of socio-political engagement. This process began with the International Congress on World Evangelisation in Lausanne, Switzerland in July 1974 (Lausanne 1974). It was an inadvertent recovery in that Lausanne 1974 did not set out to recover the lost heritage of evangelical socio-political engagement, but to plan strategically and to encourage evangelicals in the task of worldwide evangelism. However, during the proceedings of Lausanne 1974, a group of radical evangelicals became dissatisfied with the Lausanne Covenant’s proviso on the question of socio-political engagement, in its ‘two-mandate’ approach to the missionary task of the church. This study however, argues that though the Lausanne movement has become a rallying point and the Lausanne Covenant its expression of evangelical unity and purpose, it falls short of providing an adequate theological and methodological framework for evangelical sociopolitical engagement in Africa. The study posits that with key insights from José Míguez Bonino’s theological and methodological works: socio-analytic mediation, hermeneutic mediation and practical mediation, evangelicals in Africa, and in Zambia in particular, will be enabled to engage in its missionary task with greater effectiveness. When these missional tools from Míguez Bonino are engaged, evangelicals in Africa will be equipped to engage a process of missional reflection on the contextual reality and thus engage effectively in missional activities. Employing these key insights from Míguez Bonino, the study argues for a process that will free evangelicalism in Africa from the Northern American and European ‘theological imperialism’ that prevented the development of its own theology and missiology. The study further argues that such a process, as will assist evangelicalism in Africa to free itself from such influence, will invariably lead evangelicalism in Africa to develop a theology and missiology that will be more responsive to the African context. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This dissertation seeks to examine and analyse the healing practices within JMC in relation to health care provided to women during pregnancy. The healing practice performed in this church has made the church become popular and grow numerically. This is also exacerbated by the high cost of medical care in Zimbabwe which is a challenge especially for pregnant women. This is an empirical study which used in-depth interviews with both men and women who are married and are long serving members of JMC. The objective of the study was to find out how the healing practice within JMC contributes to women’s health during pregnancy. The study found out that; one of the teachings of this church is that members are not allowed to seek for medical help from the hospitals. Therefore women who are pregnant are supposed to receive health services only from the church. This is done in form of prayers, prophecy and use of symbols which are directed towards the protection of the mother and child from evil that is perceived to attack them during this period. The church also provides teachings to these mothers to be on how to look after themselves through the use of elderly women who act as birth attendants. The study also found out that some women decided to also seek other forms of medication like visiting hospitals despite the consequences that were put up by the leaders of the church. This study does not claim that religion cannot help women during pregnancy but rather seeks to show that while the church focuses on spiritual healing, there is also a need for a holistic approach to healing that will call on women to visit hospitals, especially when addressing issues relating to pregnancy. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Abstract available on pdf file.

This study explores how Christian MLM in Lusaka-Zambia understand their sexual orientation and the imago Dei amidst the general teachings of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, Zambia Episcopal Conference and the Council of Churches in Zambia on same-sex orientation and the imago Dei. A plethora of literature about same-sex orientation and the imago Dei reveals that the heterosexism is generally regarded as the authentic image of God while same-sex orientation continues to be regarded as an affront to the image of God. Hence the need to merge the two terms “same-sex orientation” and “imago Dei” in order to deconstruct and reconstruct how sexuality and God are understood within prevailing theologies, using emerging theologies from Zambian Christian Men who Love other Men. This study is framed within postcolonial and queer theories. Focus group discussions were audio-taped and transcribed and field notes taken. Themes are determined, analyzed and interpreted using recurring and unanimously held incipient voices of Christian MLM. Study participants’ views bring to fore that they understand their sexual orientation as being inborn and that they are wonderfully and fearfully created in the image of God. They also view themselves as being the image of God since they love other men, thereby, exhibiting God’s qualities which are love, justice and mercy. The study also found that Christian MLM do not feel welcome in affluent churches, unlike in churches on the outskirts, due to anti-same-sex messages preached in affluent churches. Furthermore, the study discovered that the churches use the Biblical creation accounts to condemn the practice of same-sex orientation and regard persons of same-sex orientation as sinful, satanic and sick. The study concludes that Christian MLM are created in the image of God, and hence recommends revisiting the theology of complementarity and an inculcation of hermeneutics of love in understanding sexuality and God. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Despite efforts by the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs) and churches, the HIV epidemic remains one of the major challenges in Zimbabwe. Its impact cuts across all sectors of life and society. The context of HIV in Zimbabwe reflects that the economic and political decisions and policies have contributed to the spread of HIV. The spread of HIV is also exacerbated by some socio-cultural practices in that context. Among these socio-cultural factors are marriage practices, stigma and discrimination. This study is an investigation of the response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ) to HIV and AIDS. This is done through analysis of the ELCZ HIV and AIDS policy document (ELCZHAP). The ELCZ HIV and AIDS policy document is analysed by using the “HIV competent framework” (Parry 2008:20) in an attempt to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the response to the HIV epidemic by the ELCZ. From this analysis the policy document shows that the ELCZ has some competence but it needs to be strengthened in order to address socio-cultural and political factors, as well as improve engagement with government policies. The study reveals that the ELCZ lacks a comprehensive theological discourse in responding to HIV. Through this investigation, recommendations are made in order to strengthen the ELCZ HIV and AIDS policy document and indicate areas needing further research. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

Health and well-being are the central concerns for most African people. If health and well-being (utano) is the top priority for most Africans, the general and almost complete breakdown of the Zimbabwean public health care system in the past decade (2000-2010) has had far-reaching repercussions on the whole populace. Whereas African theology and religious studies have expended considerable energy in addressing the theme of health and well-being, there have been limited attempts at developing indigenous theologies. This study plugs the gap in the available scholarly literature by proposing a Karanga theology of health and well-being paying particular attention to a specific community‘s responses to the health delivery systems in Zimbabwe. Through an examination of indigenous responses to health and well-being and critiquing the collapse of the health delivery systems in the period 2000-2010, the study argues that understanding health agency in contemporary Zimbabwe enables appreciating the centrality of utano (health and well-being). This study also seeks to establish the agency of the community in responding to the national health care crisis, focusing specially on the Karanga community in Murinye district. It explores the Karanga healthworlds and documents the agency of the Karanga health-seekers and health-care providers in responding to the health-care crisis. The major focus of the study is to establish how the Karanga navigate the existing religious and medical facilities (Modern scientific bio-medicine; Traditional healing and Faith-healing) in their search for healing by conducting fieldwork research which entailed the use of interviews and participant observation. The study was also influenced by oral theology based on the community‘s underlying faith experiences. It also relied upon the life history approach and narrative theology to establish trends and patterns in the Karanga medical system. The study concludes by exploring some useful and life-giving Karanga indigenous resources that can be utilized in constructing a Karanga theology of health and well-being in contemporary Zimbabwe. A Karanga theology of utano places emphasis on a liberative motif which is life-giving and life-enhancing. This includes acknowledging the agency of health-seekers who are actively involved in their own welfare. It argues that utano is achieved when, on the basis of indigenous beliefs and Christian beliefs regarding health, individuals and families invest in refusing to accept ill-health. Information drawn from study participants demonstrated how they sought the opinions of traditional healers, prophet healers and modern health practitioners whenever they felt that their condition was compromised. The study foregrounds the fact that for the Karanga people, issues of health and well-being cannot be separated from their religious perspectives. There are diverse religious traditions among the Karanga people and these inform their understanding of utano. As such, the three health delivery systems should not be viewed as competitors for clients but more importantly, they should be viewed as complementing each other. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The study is a critical analysis from a feminist pastoral care perspective in rehabilitating female ex-prisoners in Zimbabwe. The central research question that the study focused on is: “In what ways can the understanding of the praxis of feminist pastoral care facilitate the rehabilitation of female ex-prisoners for their integration into the Zimbabwean society?” This empirical qualitative study was facilitated through feminist methods to excavate the lived experiences and perceptions of female ex-prisoners and prisoners, which were analysed through three theories. These theories were: feminist theological anthropology which provided the view male and female as equals before God; feminist cultural hermeneutics which assisted in recognising that culture and religion have a significant influence in shaping women’s identity and experiences, especially in the African context and in particular Zimbabwe; and feminist pastoral care which highlighted that all human beings are entitled to care and dignity and that in view of the pervasive gender injustice, it is essential for women to receive nurturing or support, liberation and empowerment during the pastoral care-giving process. Field research was undertaken to collect the narratives of female ex-prisoners and prisoners so as to get a fuller picture of their perceptions and experiences. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-eight female ex-prisoners and prisoners. The research findings highlighted central themes that emerged about how the participants perceived themselves, society and God. This data thus represented the subjective reality of the women. Their objective reality was ascertained by examining the gendered identity of women in Zimbabwe, and how this identity has been shaped by patriarchal aspects of religion and culture. The impact of these constructed identities on the lives of women in Zimbabwe is most evident in the areas of education, employment, health, access to resources and family life. The purpose of this study was to identify the rehabilitation needs of female ex-prisoners in Zimbabwe. To achieve this, an examination of the current theories of rehabilitation was conducted, followed by a critical gendered analysis thereof, employing the three theories vii | P a g e underpinning this study. The theories of rehabilitation revealed wide gender disparities and to address this, an African feminist pastoral care theory of rehabilitation was proposed. Using this proposed theory, current rehabilitation programmes, with special focus on those working with African women prisoners and ex-prisoners in Zimbabwe, while also making reference to those in South Africa, were then interrogated. Following on from this, a gender-sensitive programme of rehabilitation was put forward, which took into account first, the subjective experiences of the female ex- prisoners and prisoners of this study; second, the objective reality of Zimbabwean women’s daily lives; and third, the main features of current faith-based programmes and where these fall short in terms of the proposed African feminist pastoral care theory of rehabilitation. The rehabilitation programme that emerged from this process is of potential use to faith- based organisations and chaplains working with African women inmates and released prisoners. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.