A Womanist Retrospect of Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye’s Liberation Theologies in the Circle

Abstract

The Matriarch Prof Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye remains a household name and a prophetic voice when it comes to African women theologians. Mercy grew up in a matrilineal-patriarchal Akan culture and later married into a patrilineal -patriarchal Yoruba culture. She was then a lone female ranger in theological education and faculty who also served with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT). Her overarching personal experiences, which represent that of many African women who were relegated to the background in almost every facet of life, compelled her to search and gather women in ministry and/ or theology to form the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (the Circle). The context was that which did not favor women politically, economically, socio-culturally, religiously, and theologically. For over three decades, the Circle remains a prophetic voice and a safe haven for female theologians who would have remained isolated due to patriarchal systems in our cultures and religious context. Aunty Mercy as affectionately called, did not limit her endeavors only to the 'assembly' but moved further to formulate liberation theologies, which offered a framework for confronting the patriarchal systems in theology, the church, the society and African Religion and cultures. Womanism approaches feminism from an Afrocentric premise with the assertion that not all feminist experiences are the same and that of the African woman is unique, hence, the Afrocentric-Womanist paradigm is engaged in this chapter to reflect on Oduyoye's liberation theologies then and now.