About the Book
A new collection of thought-provoking essays explores the impact of questions of culture and history across the Anglican Communion.
Edited by Michael Battle, an Anglican thought leader and innovator, Conversations in Global Anglican Theology: Culture,the second book in this new series, appears at a moment in time when culture wars bedevil national and international politics, as well as Christian communities across the globe.
Featuring contributions by a diverse group of theologians including Mercy Tabitha Wambui Kamau, Khushnud Azariah, Walter Brownridge, James Tengatenga, Noah Mbano, and Chanmi Byun, this volume addresses the most pressing questions facing the churches of the Anglican Communion. From classical issues such as Christ against Culture, to the possibility of common prayer among diverse cultures, to the problems of ethnocentrism, the conversation on Culture challenges the Western church how to better engage the global one.
As the world seems to be pivoting away from a compassionate global order the voices in this volume shy away from the typical tropes of peace on earth and instead present the practical steps needed to first practice and resemble a communion of churches.
Platforming non-Western theologians, theConversations in Global Anglican Theologyseries addresses the most pressing questions facing the churches of the Anglican Communion, featuring thought-provoking essays by established and emerging scholars.
About the Author :
Michael Battle is the Extraordinary Professor at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, and formerly taught at General Theological Seminary in New York where he was the Herbert Thompson Professor of Church and Society and Director of the Desmond Tutu Center. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and later given one of the highest Anglican Church distinctions as “Six Preacher,” by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Battle has published nine books, including Reconciliation: the Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu, and Ubuntu: I in You and You in Me. He lives in Knightdale, North Carolina.
Samuel Wells is vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, and the author of many acclaimed books including How Then Shall We Live and What Episcopalians Believe. Prior to returning to the United Kingdom, Wells served as dean of the chapel and research professor of Christian ethics at Duke University. The Rev’d Canon Walter Brownridge has since 2024 served as the Transition Vicar at Christ Episcopal Church in Montpelier, Vermont. He provides spiritual, pastoral, liturgical, and public ministry leadership to the Episcopal parish in Vermont’s Capital City. Before his current call, Walter served as Canon to the Ordinary for Cultural Transformation in the Diocese of Vermont (2021-2023). At the Diocese of Vermont, Canon Brownridge spearheaded the diocese’s work in Christian Formation, Racial Justice, Stewardship, and Creation Care. Walter has served for five years as the Dean of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Honolulu, Hawai’i, and for five years as Associate Dean at the School of Theology at Sewanee: University of the South. He served parishes in Ohio, Michigan, Delaware, and New York City, and as a Canon at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa.
Chanmi Byun, PhD, is the Administrative Director of Episcopal and Anglican Studies and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology and Religion at Union Theological Seminary. Her scholarly interests lie at the intersection of spiritual care, decolonial studies, religion, and psychoanalysis. Her book-in-progress, Where Is the Bachata in Spiritual Care?: Decolonial Spiritual Care after Religion, grew out of her doctoral dissertation. Recognizing the colonial legacy of the category of religion and its implication for spiritual care practices from a decolonial perspective, it explores and imagines decolonial spiritual care after religion through the lens of a genre of social dance called “bachata.”
The Rev. Mercy Wambui Kamau (OGW), is an ordained priest and Canon in the Anglican Church of Kenya, currently serving as attached clergy at St. Mark’s ACK Parish in the Diocese of Nairobi. She also serves as a Deputy Chancellor in Machakos Diocese, where she provides legal support to the Diocesan Bishop and the Synod in general. She is a Commercial Lawyer and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, with over 30 years of legal experience. Currently, she serves as the Managing Partner at Kagwe, Kamau & Karanja Advocates, www.kagwekamaukaranja.com, a leading commercial law firm based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is the Founder and President of the Goodness and Mercy Foundation, www.gnm-foundation.org, which focuses on providing legal aid and advocacy programs for orphans, vulnerable children, and youth. Canon Mercy holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Nairobi, as well as a Master of Arts (MA) in International Relations and Diplomacy from the same university. Additionally, she is a Certified Public Secretary (C.P.S (K)) with the Institute of Certified Secretaries of Kenya and serves as company secretary for several financial institutions. Canon Mercy Kamau continues to serve actively in both the public and private sectors alongside her Christian Ministry within the Anglican Communion in Kenya.
Khushnud Azariah is the first Pakistani woman to be ordained to the priesthood. She was ordained deacon in Pakistan in 2000 and priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 2009, later serving as vicar of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Riverside, from 2012–2021. Carrying forward a four-generation family legacy of priests and encouraged by her parents, she pursued theology at a time when women were excluded from local seminaries. At just 24, undeterred by cultural barriers, she took a bold step of faith and left Pakistan in 1974 to study at Trinity Theological College, Singapore. Her ministry has embraced pastoral leadership, the empowerment of women, and pioneering service among developmentally disabled children. On the global stage, she served on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (1991–1998) and as World President of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women (1996–2001). She holds a PhD in Personality and Theology from the Claremont School of Theology and continues to dedicate her life to strengthening the church and society in Pakistan.
The Rt. Rev. James Tengatenga is on the faculty of the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, as Distinguished Professor of Global Anglicanism. He is a former bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Southern Malawi in Central Africa. For many years, he served as a member of the Anglican Consultative Council, and the last seven of which as its chair, and president of the Anglican Family Network. He has also served as a member of the Inter-Anglican Commission for Ecumenical Relations. He was twice chair of the Anglican Council in Malawi and once chair of the Malawi Council of Churches. He was also a founding member of the Malawi National AIDS Commission. Before leaving Malawi, he chaired the Public Affairs Committee (the most influential multi-faith civil society body in Malawi). He also served, for a number of years, in the Steering Committee of the Pan-African Civil Educators Network and was a visiting facilitator at the Grail Centre’s (South Africa) Training for Transformation training courses. Before becoming bishop, Tengatenga taught at Zomba Theological College and the University of Malawi and has been on the board of the Foundation of St. George’s College, Jerusalem, and Zomba Theological College.
The Rev’d Dr Noah Mbano is the current Priest in Charge of St Aidan's Anglican Parish of Jarrahdale Serpentine in the Diocese of Perth Metro in Western Australia. He is also the School Chaplain of Court Grammar Anglican School in the same area. Before this appointment Fr Noah was a Curate and Assisting Priest at St Georges Anglican Cathedral in the Perth City. As a background, he was born in Zimbabwe where he worked as a teacher, journalist and banker until 2003 when he came migrated to Australia to work as an English teacher in the South West. After 12 years working in the Department of Education teaching in remote and metro Western Australia, he spent the next eight years as a university lecturer at Curtin University and the University of Southern Queensland. He holds post graduate certificates in Divinity (Grief, Loss and Suffering) and Education (TESOL), a master’s degrees in education (ESL), and a master's degree in Theological studies (MTS), as well a PhD in the Philosophy of Education (Applied linguistics) from Curtin University. His research interests are in the area of Sociolinguistics, Culture and Cultural Adjustments, African background Refugees and linguistic adjustment, especially how first languages and culture can affect second language learning (English).
Review :
“A book like this is itself an act of faith.”
