Drums and voices from the grassroots: local women and the Hallelujah Chorus among Anglican churches in Ukwuaniland, Delta State, Nigeria, 1841-1941
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Authors
Odili, Jones Ugochukwu
Issue Date
2012-08
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
From the mid-19th century a certain consistent and encrusted paradigm in African
Christian historiography emerged, lamenting the voicelessness of the roles local people
played in the evangelisation of their kith and kin during the modern missionary enterprise
in that region. In their bid to sing of the unsung roles of indigenous agents in that
enterprise, the high pitch of androcentricism drowned a vital but marginalised note.
Using Ogbu Kalu’s (2005) theoretical framework (the concentric approach) and the case
study and historical approaches to the study of religious phenomenon, this study echoes
and reconstructs, from the grassroots, the gist of how indigenous, hitherto nameless
Anglican women in their local communities encountered the power of the gospel. The
study reveals that Ukwuani women understand Anglicanism through indigenous
categories and gives credence and authenticity to the indispensability of grassroots
women in the universal choir of Christianity. It recommends that local women should be
taken seriously in African Christian historiography.
Description
Peer reviewed
Citation
Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, vol 38, Supplement, pp 1-14
Publisher
Church History Society of Southern Africa
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
10170499