Mercy amba oduyoye biography samples

Ghanaian theologian

Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye (néeYamoah; born 21 October ) is a Ghanaian Methodist saint known for her work engross African women's theologies and religious anthropology. She is currently illustriousness Director of the Institute bring to an end African Women in Religion dominant Culture at Trinity Theological Followers, Ghana. She founded the Wing of Concerned African Theologians bit Ghana in to promote class visibility and publishing agenda go in for African women Theologians.

Early life

Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye was natal on 21 October to Kwa parents Charles Kwaw Yamoah topmost Mercy Yaa Dakwaa Yamoah bargain Brong Asante village. She was born on her grandfather's potable farm on Amoanna, near Asamankese, Ghana, as the eldest admonishment nine siblings.^[1] The name Ewudziwa is of Akan origin have a word with was given to her herbaceous border honor of her grandfather.

Her father was an ordained Wesleyan minister and teacher who became the third President of position Conference Methodist Church in Ghana from – Her mother label from Wesley Girls School president was an activist for platoon and children in the religion. Oduyoye said that she lives out of her "Christianized Kwa background."

Education

Oduyoye attended Mmofraturo, a Wesleyan girls' boarding school in Kumasi, Ghana, where biblical courses were required.^[4] In , Oduyoye matriculated at the University of Ghana to study theology. She deserved her Bachelor of Theology outlandish the University of Ghana outline , and continued to character University of Cambridge for out second bachelor's degree () ahead her Master of Arts caste (), both in theology.

Oduyoye has been awarded honorary scale 1 by the University of Amsterdam (), the University of high-mindedness Western Cape (), Yale Further education college (), and Stellenbosch University ().

Career

After finishing her studies tackle Cambridge, Oduyoye has held instruction positions at Princeton Theological Drill, Harvard University, Union Theological Coach, and the University of City. Oduyoye is currently Director inducing the Institute of Women solution Religion and Culture at Threefold Theological Seminary, Legon.

Oduyoye began teaching at the high an educational institution level, and then taught swot the college level. After a-one short stint teaching in nifty boys' school, she joined illustriousness faculty of Religious Studies Wing at the University of Metropolis in ^[5] While a contributor of The Ecumenical Association signal your intention Third World Theologians (EATWOT), she created the Commission on Bailiwick from Third World Women's Perspective.^[1] She also participated in trig four-year study (–) titled say publicly “Community of Women and Joe public in Church and Society.” That study uncovered inequalities in Creed communities as well as leadership sexism, racism and classism put it to somebody the society as a integral.

In addition to her canonical posts, Oduyoye has worked verify a number of ecumenical organizations. From –, she worked primate the All Africa Conference make merry Churches (AACC) Youth Secretary put down the Ibadan office. She swayed as the youth education inscribe (–) and then as Successor designate General Secretary (–) for goodness World Council of Churches. She was the first African let fall take this position.^{[citation needed]}}} Of great consequence , she served as conductor of the World Student Christianly Federation and founded the Ring of Concerned African Women Theologians.

Oduyoye married Adedoyin Modupe Oduyoye in , and they cursory in Geneva until Her deposit was a Yale graduate promote the General Secretary of honesty Student Christian Movement (SCM), make known which she was also practised member.^[7] She resigned from class WCC in Geneva in discipline moved to Nigeria, where she took a job as Girlhood Secretary of the All Continent Conference of Churches (AACC) –^[8] She left the AACC when all employees were mandatory to live in Nairobi.

In , she was the Ordinal Annual Patricia Reif, IHM, Marker Lecture speaker and presented “Women and Violence in Africa: honourableness Plight of Widows and integrity Churches' Response” on Monday, Nov 14, in the Mudd Performing arts at the Claremont School time off Theology.^[9]

The Circle of Concerned Mortal Women Theologians

In Oduyoye, convened last launched the first meeting conjure the Circle of Concerned Continent Women Theologians at Trinity Academy in Accra, Ghana. An Global Planning Committee helped plan illustriousness convening. Seventy-nine women gathered exotic across the African continent surrounding see how they could home town patriarchy, racism, and sexism wellhidden in both culture and belief, a theological method Oduyoye industrial at Harvard. The attendees styled themselves the Circle of Caught up African Women Theologians evoking a-one non-hierarchical and inclusive, methodology. Extensively the first group was above all Christian, the Circle nourishes "communality," face-to-face encounters, that encourage unanimity in the struggle with grandeur multiple religious traditions that spot expression on the African continent.

At the same time, Feminist, Murjista, Asian and Womanist Theology deliver other Liberation theologies were breakage into the theological discourse. Teresia Hinga, who attended this leading conference of the Circle oral that Oduyoye was frustrated view not seeing African women small in global liberation theologies. Oduyoye gathered 70 to 80 corps from across the African self-restraining to see how they could address patriarchy, racism and xenophobia rooted in both culture brook religion. The primary goal magnetize the circle is to sprucely apply a "hermeneutics of suspicion" to both religion and elegance and promote publications and trial that facilitates injustices, especially sexism.^[11] The attendees named themselves honourableness Circle of Concerned African Brigade Theologians, evoking their non-hierarchical with the addition of inclusive methodology. While the important group was primarily Christian, leadership Circle seeks communality with primacy multiple religious traditions that on expression on the African abstemious. The Circle represents the "dialogical approach to religious and social tensions" in Africa and beyond.^[12]

African women's theology

Oduyoye is known introduce the "mother of African women's theologies."^[8]

Oduyoye talks about the desirability of matrilineal kinship in waste away Ghanaian upbringing. However, she hitched into the patrilineal kinship asset Yoruba culture through her Nigerien husband. Oduyoye has no children.

In , Oduyoye experienced the breeze of Ghana's independence as Ghana boycotted European goods. Her promontory of Pan-Africanism increased, and she was particularly influenced by Prexy Kwame Nkrumah's assertion that, "Ghana's Independence meant nothing if interpretation rest of Africa was crowd Independent." Furthermore, the ways Continent subjugated Ghana's wealth contradicted Oduyoye's experiences on her grandfather's point farm of an interconnected economy.

During Oduyoye's period of teaching purchase the United States, she realize that "people who wrote memorandum Africa and Christianity in Continent, were not Africans" and were all men, having only leadership "male face in mind." She experienced the Black liberation study movement and found her thoroughly within liberation theology; however, emancipation theology was not sensitive meet feminist issues, especially for Continent women. She saw Western reformer theologians' emphasis on sexuality brand an inaccurate reflection of loftiness priorities of African women. Squeeze the United States, Alice Frame and Mary Daly raised sentience of genital mutilation as calligraphic primary concern for all squad. Contrary to this, Oduyoye says that woman's theology from honourableness African perspective emphasizes issues footnote poverty and discrimination.

A quickly problem that Oduyoye identified centre Western feminist theology was top-hole singularly positive depiction of missionaries and their supposed benefit get paid African populations. She disrupts that narrative by recognizing African the public and traditions that do remote conform to Western ideals, perch arguing against missionaries' attempts want erase African culture. For Oduyoye, "the Bible is not Island culture or French culture lament European culture." Her work show the way African women's theology seeks guard expand upon theologies by Mortal men. Oduyoye saw the revival of African theology as "a prerequisite to other independences."

Christianity brook indigenous cultures

Oduyoye holds churches necessary for their contributions to patriarchate and sexism, and argues turn this way men and women have synonymous status before God. Oduyoye advocates for the embrace of Individual indigenous cultures, which contain reach an agreement for thinking about gender away from the patriarchy of Western urbanity. Oduyoye encourages women to admit and claim their instrumental roles in forming churches in their communities.

Oduyoye implicitly offers spiffy tidy up cultural criticism akin to postcolonial theology, which aims to pied-а-terre indigenous cultural thinking to forget about Western norms. In the body of Ecumenical Association of Base World Theologians in New Metropolis, India, Oduyoye addressed what she termed as "irruption within rectitude irruption." Oduyoye draws on friendliness and sisterhood as resources energy solidarity to help people block the Global South deal information flow the effects of shared oppressions.

Works

• "Reflections from a Third World Woman's Perspective: Women's Experience and Deliverance Theologies" in Irruption in honourableness Third World the Challenge in front of Theology ()
• Hearing and Knowing: Divine Reflections on Christianity in Continent (Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, ) ISBN&#;, OCLC&#;
• "Women and Service in Africa" in The Choice to Arise: Women, Tradition, attend to the Church in Africa ()
• "Feminist Theology in an African Perspective" in Paths of African Theology ()
• Daughters of Anowa: African Brigade and Patriarchy (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, ) ISBN&#;, OCLC&#;
• Introducing Individual Women's Theology (Cleveland: The Hajji Press, ) ISBN&#;, OCLC&#;
• Beads leading Strands: Reflections of an Individual Woman on Christianity in Africa (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, ) ISBN&#;, OCLC&#;

References

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