Indigenous Women in the Early African Church
In her book entitled In Memory of Her: a feminist theological reconstruction of Christian origins, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza illustrated how the New Testament gives glimpses of the first women who helped spread the Christian faith. Fiorenza argued that accounts of Christian history contain selected information reflecting androcentric preoccupations, and authors of such documents have manufactured the historical marginalisation of women. In the history of Christian missions in Africa a similar process occurred. Names of significant women, both European and indigenous, are given without details of their activities. This article explores how much can be learnt from the writings of female missionaries. The focus is on Betty Chungu. Born early in the twentieth century in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), she became a pupil at Mbereshi Girls’ Boarding School. The importance of Chungu’s work and her role in the emergent African Church is recorded in books written by missionary teacher Mabel Shaw.