WCC NEW: African churches consult on decolonization, reparations

Amidst a global momentum in discussions on decolonization and reparations, African churches are challenging the notion that early Western missionaries were part of the colonial enterprise, while asserting that the continent’s churches were not solely a product of colonialism. African Church leaders, theologians and academicians attending a theological consultation on decolonisation and reparations, from 3-6 June, stand in a group photo at the All Africa Conference of Churches headquarters in Nairobi , Kenya, on 4 June. Photo: Fredrick Nzwili 06 June 2025 Rev. Dr Fidon Mwombeki, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, said the missionaries were different from colonists and chose to live among rural communities, where they learned local dialects and translated the Bible for use by local people. “It is also not true—from what I know from the churches—the gospel simply disrupted our cultures, which we must go back to,” said Mwombeki. The leader spoke at a theological consultation on decolonization and reparations in Nairobi on 4 June. The 3-6 June meeting has assembled theologians, church leaders, and academics from across Africa to discuss subjects under the theme, “African Churches' perspectives on decolonization and reparations debates in global Christianity.” The meeting examined, among other areas, the existing understanding on the subjects and their implications on the continent. The discussions laid the ground for the production of a position paper that African churches can utilize and adopt to guide their discussions in the global arena. Mwombeki labeled as problematic the thinking that Christianity was a European cultural product, which should never have been “exported” to Africa. “It is also true that Africans were the biggest agencies of evangelization, and the churches grew and continue to grow faster than under missionaries’ leadership,” he said. Rev. Prof. Helen Ishola-Esan, president of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Eku, Nigeria, told the gathering that despite evangelizing Africa, the missionary churches also became vehicles of cultural colonization. Thus, according to the academic, the African churches' decolonization agenda involved more than rejecting Western theology to entail reconstructing Christianity through African lenses. “Decolonization in this sense encourages African theologians and church leaders to draw from African philosophies, proverbs, oral traditions, and communal values to shape doctrine and praxis,” she told the gathering. “This rerooting enhances relevance, especially in pastoral care, liturgy, and social ethics.” For Prof. Dr Faustin Leonard Mahali, vice chancellor of Tumaini University Makumira, an institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Africa’s decolonizing theology should involve rediscovering local resources and ways of life that could enhance people’s wellbeing to end excessive dependency on Western or Chinese lifestyles and supplies.   “I propose a return to the reinterpretation of our African liberation theology, which unmasks the heritage of colonial behaviours among our people while embracing our African cultural values of human dignity (ubuntu), hard work, community, environmental protection, hospitality, happiness, spirituality, and healing practices against threats to our wellbeing,” he said. However, Ishola-Esan highlighted that the agenda faced significant resistance within African churches, since they were still doctrinally and financially dependent on Western denominations and mission agencies.  “This creates a theological and institutional inertia that discourages innovation. Additionally, some African Christians fear that decolonization might lead to syncretism or a dilution of ‘pure’ Christian faith. This is partly due to earlier missionary teachings that vilified African culture,” he said. Tackling reparations, Dr Gorden Simago, director, African Union Office and Advocacy, All Africa Conference of Churches, said the call for reparations was no longer a peripheral issue. “They are at the center of global justice conversations at the moment, and I wonder whether this is what theologians call the kairos moment,” he said. “I think reparations go beyond financial demands and at the center is this truth-telling and restoring dignity. Addressing the systemic injustices is very important.”  However, the African church's voice on the subject was not visible, according to Rev. Prof. Edison Kalengyo from the Uganda Christian University.    “It is important to note from the onset that the churches’ effective voice on reparations is conspicuously and completely absent,” he said. “Little bits on the political side…but nothing concretely on reparations and advocacy for reparations on the side of the churches.”   Instead, he said, the churches have focused their prophetic advocacy on the weak, the sick, the poor the vulnerable, who live in progressively dehumanized conditions. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland