ANITEPAM is a network serving African
Anglican theological education.
The creation of ANITEPAM was
proposed at the first Anglican-Episcopal Inter-Seminary
Symposium in Africa, held in Harare in 1991. During that
meeting, African delegates met and recommended that a network
be formed to nurture, support and sustain theological
education for Anglicans on the continent.
The Harare meeting named
representatives from throughout Africa to continue the vision
begun there. These representatives became ANITEPAM's first
Governing Council.
The
Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) endorsed the creation of
ANITEPAM at its meeting in Harare in October 1992. ANITEPAM
itself was launched in 1993, with The Revd Dr Leon
P. Spencer as its first Corresponding Secretary, based
in Nairobi, Kenya (1993-8). He was succeeded by The
Revd Fareth Sendegeya of St Mark's College,
Dar-es-Salaam (1998-2003). The current Corresponding
Secretary is The Revd Mike McCoy, a part-time staff member at the TEE
College of Southern Africa (2003- ).
The role of ANITEPAM
One of its core jobs – and
perhaps its best-known and most appreciated – is the
regular publication of the ANITEPAM Bulletin and the
ANITEPAM Journal. (See the most recent issues
here.)
- The Bulletin
appears in February, May and August each year,
carrying news and comment on issues of importance and
relevance to African theological educators and
students who might otherwise not be aware of them
through geographic isolation and/or lack of access to
electronic and other media.
- The Journal
appears in November, and offers articles and teaching
resources at a greater depth than is possible in the Bulletin.
First published in 1999, the Journal has
focused on:
- The African
church toward the new millennium: Challenges
for African theological education (1999)
- Christian-Muslim
relations in Africa (2000)
- Understanding
T.E.E.: A course outline and handbook for
students and tutors (2001)
- Women in the
African church (2002)
- Contextual
theology (2003 and 2004)
- Theological education and God's
mission in Africa (2005)
-
Theological education and the Anglican Way in Africa
(2006)
All of these publications can be downloaded
in PDF format from here.
Both publications are mailed
to every known Anglican institution of theological education
in Africa, to every African Anglican bishop, and to a large
number of interested individuals and supporters of ANITEPAM's
work throughout the world – including a significant number
of Anglican leaders, theological educators and mission
agencies all over the world. (They can also be downloaded
from
here.)
The editor of both the Bulletin
and the Journal is ANITEPAM's Corresponding
Secretary,
The Revd Martin Mgeni MTS. He is a
Malawian theological educator, and was appointed in May 2007.
+++
ANITEPAM seeks to work in
partnership with others to strengthen and encourage the
ministry of theological education throughout the continent.
ANITEPAM is therefore well placed to support the search for
contextually-appropriate ways of doing theology.
For more than a decade now we
have done this by helping colleagues to be informed of
resources and opportunities, especially through:
- The quarterly ANITEPAM Bulletin
(replaced in the fourth quarter by the Journal)
- Undertaking a
publications program designed by African scholars and
suitable for African institutions, especially at the
grassroots
- Maintaining a faculty
exchange program, by which African theological
educators in one region of the continent gain
experience in other regions of Africa
- Hosting consultations,
such as that of French-speaking Anglican theological
educators and church leaders, held in Kenya in 1996;
of African women theological educators, in Zimbabwe
in 1998 – both the first such Anglican events ever;
and the second global consultation of Anglican
Contextual Theologians in Durban, South Africa in
August 2004
- Building relationships with other
theological education networks, such as the Primates' working group
Theological Education for the Anglican Communion (TEAC),
whose January 2006 meeting was attended by members of our Governing
Council (Read more about this here.)
We provide varied opportunities for
educators to deepen their understanding of their faith and to
broaden their relationships not only within Africa but also
within the Anglican Communion and the universal church.
Partnership
We have been well-supported
by partners in the Anglican Communion, including
SPCK,
USPG, CMS,
Crosslinks,
the St Augustine Trust in Britain, the
Episcopal Church
in the USA, and the
Anglican Church of Canada.
Support from African Anglican Provinces is
small, although the Church of the Province of Southern Africa has pledged an
annual amount for the years 2006 to 2008.
For particular projects we
have secured support from Trinity Church, Wall Street; the St
Augustine Trust in Canterbury; Feed The Minds (a project of SPCK in the UK), parishes and trust funds
in North America; and a wide range of individuals who have an
interest in theological education in Africa.
If you would like to support
ANITEPAM, please visit our Friends of
ANITEPAM page.
