Sustainable Seminaries, reliable leadership: The NetACT Story 19992008

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Sustainable Seminaries, reliable leadershipThe
NetACT Story 1999-2008
Conflict, Peace Sustainable development EED
Conference 29 Jan 2009

• H Jurgens Hendriks
• Faculty of Theology
• Stellenbosch University

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Basic hypothesis / dream

• The church is the most respected and most
  influential organization in Africa
• Develop seminaries to raise a new generation of
  theological / church leadership who can
• Empower ordinary church people to live according
  to the basic values of a sustainable society

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Church and public trust

• trust in institutions in SA 2006
• Churches 82
• Electoral Commission 68
• National Government 59
• Big business 56
• Police 45
• WVS Typical pattern sub-Saharan Africa

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Southern shift in Christianity

• .

Numbers in millions
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The Growth of the church in Africa

• 1900 9 million Christians 9 of Africa pop
• 1900 4 Muslims for every 1 Christian
• 2005 411m Christians in Africa 46 pop
• 2005 355m Muslims in Africa 40 of pop

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Post-1962 growth of Church in Africa

• Circa 1962 colonialized Africa became
  independent, missionaries left
• 1962 60m Christians 145 m Muslims
• 1970-1985 Christianity grow with 16,500
  conversions every day.. mostly in poor areas
• WHY?

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Sannehs reasons for the growth

• The expansion took place after the colonial
  period
• The Bible in the vernacular
• Where the indigenous name of God was used
• African leadership
• The role of women

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Growth? Leadership discrepancies

• Case study Onwunta, Ethnicity in the PCNigeria
• Nigeria 160m ? 3 major ethnic groups ? 240
  ethnic nations ? Muslim-Christian rivalry
  in-fighting ? huge economic disparities
• Ethnocentricm erodes mission influence of PCN
• Monopoly of resources leadership with 2 ethnic
  groups
• Huge potential not used no real growth

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Growth? Leadership discrepancies

• Case Study Kagema, Leadership training in
  ACKenya
• 35m people 13 major tribes at least 20 other
• Tested 4self strategy self-sustaining-propagatin
  g -governing -theologizing
• Enormous growth 3.7m members, 1555 clergy 2400
  members to 1 priest / minister growing
• BUT Very poor theological training, Ethnic
  provincial infighting no real contextualization!

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Conclusions

• Denominations with access to intellectual
  resources lack theological leadership
  contextualization
• Growth kilometers wide, centimeters deep
• Influenced by American prosperity cult
  consumerism, rogue pastors prosper
• Africa needs reliable, servant leaders following
  the example of Jesus Christ

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http//academic.sun.ac.za/theology/Centres/NetAct/
netact.htm
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NetACTNetwork for African Congregational
theology

• Founded in Kenya in 2000 at a conference on
  theological training the church
• At present 11 seminaries from 8 sub-Saharan
  countries Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi,
  Mozambique, Angola, Namibia SA
• Mission train leadership for missional
  congregations

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NetACT goals/ achievements

• Curriculum Development Accreditation
• Reliable Information Technology
• HIV / AIDS curriculum effective training
• Scholarships for lecturers study in Africa
• Lecturer exchange networking
• Infrastructure development
• Contextual African theological handbooks

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WHAT MADE THE NETWORK WORK?

• Historical-denominational links
  (Reformed-Presbyterian)
• Personal relationships of trust across racial /
  ethnic spatial divides. This is an ongoing
  challenge it is growing by working together
• Power issues named addressed power must be
  shared SU resources put to disposal of
  network NetACT owned lead by its members

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WHAT MADE THE NETWORK WORK?

• Hospitality giving it and receiving it AGMs
  held annually in different countries The NetACT
  house in Stellenbosch (where lecturers /
  ministers and post graduate students from all
  over Africa are welcomed stay while
  studying) It is a small United Nations A
  home away from home A spiritual haven when you
  are lonely or depressed A place where you get
  info on all aspects of studying A think tank
  where leaders brainstorm Africas challenges A
  place where deep long-lasting relationships are
  formed

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WHAT MADE THE NETWORK WORK?

• Every institution benefitted without compromising
  its identity. Through NetACT it developed its own
  networks
• International networking partners. NetACTs
  most valuable partners are those who listen and
  help, realizing that they can learn from Africa
  allowing us to serve them too.

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Present challenges agenda

• No 1 goal now
• Internationally accepted accreditation through
  curriculum institutional development
• ACTEA (Accrediting council for Theological
  Education in Africa) accreditation implies that
  institutions undertakes a process of upgrading
  all aspects of their core business
  contextualized curriculum, adequate facilities,
  financial control, communication between
  students, lecturers and churches, discipline and
  spiritual formation etcetera are pursued by the
  institutions that set their goals on attaining
  these standards. All this is peer-reviewed and
  revisited / re-evaluated every five years.

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Why accreditation?

• Internationally recognized accreditation provides
  quality control and develop self-esteem
• NetACT acts to support the process through
  networking institutions with resources
• AGM meeting a gathering of lecturers of a
  theological discipline where the curricula of all
  the institutions are on the table and the theory
  and practice of teaching /researching etc in that
  field are discussed
• The dream of sustainable seminaries reliable
  leadership is becoming a reality