Theologies and Practices of Inclusion: Insights From a Faith-based Relief, Development and Advocacy Organization

Inclusion has recently become a high priority issue within the development sector, brought to the fore by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development's commitment to leave no one behind. Practices within the remit of inclusion often focus on increasing access and meaningful participation, with emphasis placed on bringing those at the margins to the centre. Theologies and Practices of Inclusion challenges such centre-focused practices from a global perspective, based on research conducted within the Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation Tearfund and beyond. Offering inspiration for practitioners within the sector and faith-based organisations in particular, as well as an academic contribution to the fields of international development studies and theology, the book aims to bridge theology and practice in an accessible way. Consisting of 13 chapters and case studies, this book draws on the wisdom of a diverse team of contributors at the forefront of international development, working in a variety of contexts. These include South Africa, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Ecuador, Panama, Bolivia, the Philippines, Iraq, Egypt and the UK. Highlighting ‘journey’, ‘change’ and ‘belonging’ as three key aspects of inclusion, the book explores the outworking of theologies of inclusion within organisational practice. With a foreword by Ruth Valerio, and an afterword by Catriona Dejean.

Table of Contents:
Contributors vii Acknowledgements xiii Foreword by Ruth Valerio xv Part 1: Inclusion within Faith-based Organizations Introduction 3 Nina Kurlberg and Madleina Daehnhardt 1. One Body, Many Voices: Theological Perspectives on Inclusion and Diversity from the Global South 21 Selina Palm 2. Embrace in the Margins: A Theological Framework for Inclusion 56 Nina Kurlberg 3. Case Study: Racial Justice 76 Liz Muir Part 2: Inclusion as a Journey 4. Between Longing and Fear: Peacebuilding and Religious Diversity 93 Mariam Tadros 5. The Pilgrim Identity: A Biblical Basis and Motivation for Inclusiveness 116 Nam-Chen Chan 6. Case Study: The Journey of the Latin American Campaign, ‘As Born Among Us’ 140 Loida Carriel Espinoza and María Alejandre Andrade Vinueza Part 3: Inclusion as Requiring Change 7. Inclusion in a Networked Society: Digital Theological Perspectives 157 Jonas Kurlberg and Rei Lemuel Crizaldo 8. Interrogating Gender, Faith and Masculinities: Tearfund’s Transforming Masculinities Approach 178 Prabu Deepan and Nina Kurlberg 9. Case Study: Localization and Inclusion 198 Oenone Chadburn Part 4: Inclusion as Belonging 10. Belonging to ‘the house of the Lord’: Ageing and Inclusion in the Rwandan Church 221 Madleina Daehnhardt and Emmanuel Murangira 11. ‘Nothing wey no get cure for this world’: Interrogating Healing and the Miraculous for Women Living with Disability and HIV in Nigeria 252 Jessie Fubara-Manuel 12. Disability-inclusive Self-help Groups: Lessons from Tearfund in Ethiopia 272 Sisay Mammo Sime and Barnabé Anzuruni Msabah 13. Abya Yala: ‘A House that Sings for all Nations’ 299 Jocabed Reina Solano Miselis and Juana Luiza Condori Quispe Afterword by Catriona Dejean 317

About the Author :
Nina Kurlberg is a Theology Development Officer at Tearfund, with a responsibility for developing their theology on diversity and inclusion, and a Senior Tutor at the University of Edinburgh. Madleina Daehnhardt is a Social Scientist with a PhD in Development Studies, Panel Tutor in International Development at the University of Cambridge and Impact and Research Advisor for Tearfund.

Review :
As a work of Practical Theology employing an interdisciplinary approach, Nina and Madleina have assembled in this volume scholars and practitioners who understands inclusion, diversity, equality and justice. The multiplicity of their voices and perspectives on the subject is much needed in this pandemic context in helping the global Church to be prophetic in speaking out and advocating for the marginalised, but also in reflecting God’s multi-ethnic kingdom on earth through race, ethnicity, class, gender, age and disability. This is indeed a radical transformative inclusion. Many of us intuitively identify with ideas of inclusion. We want communities within which everyone feels that they are included. We all need places where we feel that we belong. However, the practice of inclusion is complicated. How do we go about finding healing for those whom we implicitly or explicitly exclude? How do we deal with differences that can be dangerous for some? Is inclusion primarily a political idea and goal, or does it have theological meaning that invites churches to engage creatively, and critically with the various conversations? These are the kinds of complex but fascinating questions that this volume seeks to address. In a post covid, post Brexit era where exclusion has taken on new dimensions, this book is timely and potentially an important source of healing. Theologies and practices of inclusion is a text that is based on both experience and practice of authors who approach the topic with an intersectional lens. Thus the text covers all the areas that are required in both theology and practice in a society that is to be home for all people of God. The text has new insights and new ways of reading the Bible and in applying it to real situations.