As Canada wrestles with the legacy of colonialism, a new understanding of the church is emerging. Racialized and marginalized voices within the church are daring to make sense of their own experiences and understanding of Christianity, turning their faith traditions into a force for decolonization.
Decolonizing Church brings together varied theological voices to explore how Christian scholars and church leaders can reconfigure theology, ethics, and church practices. The volume aims to open conversations about how churches can engage the task of redressing the colonial legacy and its harms, and, in so doing, model the gratuitous disruptive power of the good news. The contributors come from diverse places and communities of identity – Indigenous, immigrant, racialized, LGBTQ2AI, disability, and gender – which shapes the way they speak and write, practice theology, and view church structures. Readers will find a range of genres including storytelling, ethnographic narrative, personal and biblical reflection, and practical wisdom. Drawing on decolonial thinking, the book offers other ways of knowing, being, and doing church.
Decolonizing Church blends theory and practice as it addresses justice concerns that are at the forefront for the church, for theological education, and for society at large.