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ACTEA eNews #21 -- September 2004The mission of ACTEA is to promote quality evangelical theological education
in Africa by providing supporting services, facilitating academic recognition,
and fostering continental and inter-continental cooperation.
1. Ghana seminary progresses toward ACTEA accreditationACTEA is pleased to announce that Ghana Christian College and Seminary (Accra, Ghana) has been granted Affiliate membership in the ACTEA Consortium of Theological Colleges. Membership implies that the institution has met core academic standards and is granted provisional academic recognition as it completes the process of accreditation with ACTEA. Since 1966, Ghana Christian College and Seminary, which is non-denominational, has been educating Christian leaders for the Church in Ghana, West Africa, and even abroad. More than 600 men and women have earned Certificates, Diplomas, and/or Degrees and gone out to serve in the Lordšs vineyard. More than 80% of the graduates from the pastoral/professional ministry training programmes are currently utilising their knowledge and skills in Christian ministry. This includes working as evangelists, pastors and other church leaders, cross-cultural missionaries, youth workers, Bible College teachers and administrators, para-church workers and Christian musicians and authors. They are having a major impact on a broad range of the Christian community in Ghana and abroad. For many years the physical facilities of the school, located on one and a half acres at Abeka, a suburb of Ghanašs capital, Accra, had been heavily overburdened, thus, hindering growth. On faith, it was decided that the College must be relocated. An initial gift in 1994 made the purchase of 33 acres of land possible. In 2003 the College relocated to its new campus at Amrahia at the outskirts of Accra with a fully operational classroom building, library/administration, and 24/7-satellite Internet connection. Construction work is still going on. As well as now being an ACTEA Affiliate, GCCS is also accredited by the National Accreditation Board of Ghanašs Ministry of Education. GCCS also holds the distinction of being the only private tertiary institution in Ghana to have been granted a university charter, enabling it to award its own degrees. For further information contact Yaw Boamah, the Vice President for Institutional Advancement, at: boamah@ghanacu.org 2. Society of Biblical Scholars conference announcedHokhma House (and its society arm, the Society of Biblical Scholars) is announcing its 2004 Annual Congress to be held in Abuja, Nigeria, 29-30 October. The main theme of this year's SBS Congress is: "Biblical Scholarship and Preaching in Africa," with a sub-title: Past, Present and Future Contributions and Challenges. This premier Congress will feature seminar and consultation programme format for the treatment of this theme. The Congress will attempt to chart the various courses within the scope of this theme and probe the various contributions and challenges of the past, present and future endeavours of biblical studies for contemporary Africa, in the midst of a global world. For those unfamiliar with Hokma House, as a Christian private centre for biblical research and preaching, it seeks to promote constructive research into all dimensions of the Bible, and its faithful exposition, through a critical engagement with the Bible, theology and culture, and thereby equip the corporate church and individual Christians for holistic ministry and discipleship. For further information about the congress including registration information, write to the Director at: hh_cbrp@yahoo.co.uk 3. ACTEA Council mourns loss of Mrs Juliana SenavoeThe ACTEA Council regretfully announces the death of one of its members, Mrs Juliana Senavoe. Mrs Senavoe passed into her Lord's presence on 7 August in the UK where she had gone for treatment. Julie was serving as Principal of Christian Service College (Kumasi, Ghana), a post she had held since 1993. As principal she directed the school in the inauguration of a degree programme and its subsequent accreditation by ACTEA in 2003. Her academic focus was Systematic Theology, and at the time of her passing she was engaged in a doctoral programme with Akrofi-Christaller Centre and the University of Natal. One of her keen interests was the role of the African woman in the Church, a topic on which she wrote several articles. Her continental stature as an evangelical theologian resulted in her appointment to the Theological and Christian Education Commission of AEA (the Association of Evangelicals in Africa). For eight years she was a member of the international faculty of Haggai Institute, Singapore. She was elected to and served on the ACTEA Council from 1996 to the time of her death. Mrs Senavoe's funeral took place at the College campus on 11 September. The ACTEA Council joins with the Christian Service College in mourning our loss. 4. Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology now on CD-ROMThe editor of the African Journal of Evangelical Theology is pleased to announce the release of all the articles published in AJET from 1982 to 2002 on one CD-ROM. With this purchase you will receive 41 issues published by AJET and an index of all the authors and books used to create each publication. The complete text of AJET for 21 years provides an in depth look into African Theology and the Church, an invaluable resource for your personal or institutional library. The cost is only US$20. Send a US dollar or GB pound cheque (payable to "AIM International") with your request for a copy of the AJET CD to:
For further information, contact: ajetjournal@yahoo.com 5. South Africa conference for Theological Higher EducationSouth Africa Theological Seminary has provided the following announcement which may be of interest to theological schools, educators, and students in South Africa: We are holding the very first Theological Higher Education Conference for Christian Higher Education Institutions in South Africa, on the 5th October 2004. The conference is designed to meet the needs of: Registered Institutions, Non-Registered Institutions, and Students of all Christian higher education institutions. Top class speakers and experts in their field will be talking about topics of interest to higher education institutions. There will be a Student Track where specialist speakers will cater to student needs, so please encourage your students to attend. Please visit the conference website www.theological-conference.org to see the speakers and topics. There will be opportunity to promote your institution at no cost if you book in advance.
If a group of five or more students book at one time each person will pay only R175. Lunch and refreshments are included in this cost. Please contact me on 011 234 4440, if you would like to discuss anything relating to the conference, or email me at: jenny@sats.edu.za I look forward to seeing you at the conference. May God bless you, Jenny Mason South Africa Theological Seminary 6. Keeping up with Africa--Reviews of Recent BooksSanneh, Lamin. Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000. 138 pp, pb, $12 Sanneh, a native of Gambia, is Professor of Missions at Yale Divinity School. As with many of his earlier works, this slender volume examines the impact of the gospel in the non-Western world. The context here relates to the opposing trends of rapid decline for Christianity in the West, accompanied by its explosive growth in non-Western lands. The result, Sanneh contends, is "post-Western Christianity," involving the migration of the faith to a new context. Such a development generates profound transformations in how Christian faith becomes expressed, changes comparable to the Hellenisation of the gospel in the early church. Sanneh emphasises that this movement has not so much resulted from Western efforts (though he by no means discounts such labours), but by local response to and appropriation of the gospel in indigenous languages. For example, the remarkable growth of the church in Africa has largely taken place in the post-colonial era, after the heyday of the modern missionary movement. Two key concepts frame Sanneh's argument. On the one hand, "Global Christianity," refers to "the faithful replication of Christian forms and patterns developed in Europe." "World Christianity," on the other hand, speaks of "the movement of Christianity as it takes form and shape in societies that previously were not Christian," incorporating "a variety of indigenous responses through more or less effective local idioms." The bulk of the book explores the relationship of these new embodiments of the faith, their relationship to Western expressions of Christianity, and their relationship to contemporary social, economic, and political developments. This is carried out by a question and answer format, in which Sanneh engages an imaginary Western interlocutor regarding the nature and implications of Sanneh's argument. This approach allows Sanneh to discuss not only information and sources, but to grapple with attitudes as well. The result is an informative, engaging analysis of the momentous developments in Christian history over the last century. The bulk of Sanneh's observations regarding non-Western Christianity relate to Africa in particular, with immediate implications for assessing the significance, role and future of African Christianity. This is a book that warrants wide reading and careful reflection at senior levels of Christian leadership across the continent. It should especially be on the reading list of any theological educator who takes contextual awareness seriously. And of course, as with the entire Sanneh corpus, it merits inclusion in theological libraries throughout Africa. [Review supplied by "BookNotes for Africa", a twice yearly specialist journal that offers 40+ such reviews per issue on recent Africa-related publications relevant for theological educators and libraries in Africa and overseas. The subscription rate within Africa is $8 for two years (4 issues--airmail); $12 to overseas addresses. Send inquiries and orders to: BookNotes for Africa, PO Box 250100, Ndola, Zambia, email: Stuebing@zamtel.zm] "This journal is readable, affordable and essential for effective Christian awareness in the African continent." Dr Scott Moreau, Editor of Evangelical Missions Quarterly ACTEA eNews is an e-mail forum for the periodic exchange of news, information, and resources on behalf of the Accrediting Council for Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA), ACTEA-related institutions and theological programmes, supporting organisations, and interested individuals. Please forward this message to others who might benefit from ACTEA eNews. Potential contributions to ACTEA eNews are welcome and may be sent to the editor at sbcunn@hisen.org. If you would prefer not to receive future editions of ACTEA eNews, you may unsubscribe by replying to this e-mail message, with "unsubscribe" in the subject area. If you received a forwarded copy of this message and would like to subscribe, contact ACTEA eNews at sbcunn@hisen.org stating preferred language (French or English). ACTEA is an agency of the Theological and Christian Education Commission of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa..
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