The evangelical church of Zaire and the female ordained ministry 1

Abstract

African culture(s) had assigned inferior roles to women in society. The first Christian missionaries did very little to liberate women from this cultural enslavement. The missionaries's understanding of the leadership roles of women was not very different from that of African culture and its societal organisation. Many churches in Africa had kept to this cultural conservatism and also adopted the missionary theology. However, there are some Christians who accept women into the pastoral ministry, while others consider this move as blasphemous and unbiblical. The role of the church in this conflictual issue is to elaborate a new biblical hermeneutic which would help the church to create a conducive environment where men and women would understand their humanity on an equal basis and participate in God's salvific mission for the world.