The call for gender equity in leadership has become a global concern. From a Christian perspective, all forms of gender prejudice are sinful because they violate God’s intention for creating both men and women in God’s image. Although many Christian authors have published books and journal articles to address gender-based injustice, very few publications have approached the subject from an African perspective. This book is meant to fill the existing gap. With a specific reference to the African context, this book explores the phenomenon of equity in leadership from various dimensions, such as African culture and traditional religion, church tradition, biblical interpretation, as well as from the perspective of contemporary socio-economic and political realities in Africa. By giving vivid examples of success stories of men and women working together, the authors have demythologized the view that women cannot be leaders. In addition, this book is intended for general readership by Christian men and women throughout the globe. For universities and colleges that teach gender studies as a subject, the book can serve as a class text or reference resource. Seminaries and theological institutions will also find it handy for training and mentoring Christians to promote equity in the church, ministry, business, and family.
Bio’s
KeumJu Jewel Hyun is founder and president of Matthew 28 Ministries, Inc., focusing on Christian women’s leadership development and economic empowerment in Kenya. She is adjunct professor of Theology of Work at Bakke Graduate University and co-editor of Some Men Are Our Heroes: Stories by Women about the Men Who Have Greatly Influenced Their Lives. Jewel holds a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Ministries degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, as well as a Master of Science degree in Nuclear Physics from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. She and her husband have two adult children and four grandchildren.
Diphus C. Chemorion, an ordained minister, is director of Postgraduate Studies and Associate Professor at St. Paul’s University, Kenya. He is the author of Community Participation in Scripture Version Design: An Experiment in Translating Jonah into Sabaot and Introduction to Christian Worldview: Meaning, Origins and Perspectives. He also co-edited Contested Space: Ethnicity and Religion in Kenya. He holds a Master of Theology from Candle school of Theology, Emory University, and a Doctor of Theology in Old Testament from Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
The issue of gender bias among Christian clergy in Jamaica is also of concern to me in the light of inequity in how the sexual behaviour of male Christian leaders is treated in church circles including religious media against that of women. There has been increase discussions on the issue of abortion in the Jamaican society and more so among Christian women, however the main focus of the discussions is to condemn the women and to offer conselling and advice to prevent them from making the decision to abort a child. However, there has been little or no talk about the contribution of the men some of whom are fathers and other male family members, teachers, police officers, married meen and some pastors and heads of church organizations. Therefore many women, teenagers or young girl under the legal age of sexual consent are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to abort a child that is a result of rape, incest, carnal abuse or exploitation by men in our society who are in the position of leadership. It is my view that the issue of abortion must be addressed at the level of responsible sexual behaviour among male leaders in our society.