1 Introduction. 1.1 Field of Inquiry

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2 1 Introduction 1.1 Field of Inquiry Does a church which numbers less than a thousand people deserve a comprehensive investigation documented by a doctoral dissertation? And if so, why? The history of the church among the Somali population in the Horn of Africa inevitably sparks inquisitiveness from a research perspective. On the one hand, Western mission agencies, having been involved in this area for more than a hundred years, have seen very limited church growth. Many congregations have been established, but they have often dissolved within a few years time. However, many smaller congregations exist, but the limited numbers of congregants have been highly mobile and individual members have often been roaming around among these smaller groups. This has resulted in a church context which is characteristically unstable and in flux. Adding to this picture is the fact that those Somalis who have turned to the church often have been subjected to stark persecution from the Muslim majority. This has led to a substantial backsliding from the church, and the question arises: are there cultural or religious features integral to this context which makes it particularly resistant to church growth? If so, to what extent has the church been able to respond to such challenges? In other words, one may ask whether the ecclesiological self-perception of the members has influenced the church s opportunities for local consolidation and development. The church among the ethnic Somali population in the Horn of Africa constitutes a culturally marginalized and persecuted minority. Ancient images, reflecting the historical process of a merger of religious and political animosity, are still prevalent in the context. Professor Said S. Samatar describes this tension accordingly: Somali Islam is a frontier Islam, hemmed in on all sides by pagan and Christian interlopers. Characteristically, frontier Islam is bellicose, xenophobic and profoundly suspicious of alien influences. 1 Christian Somalis, although few and scattered, thus carry with them an inherent tension pertaining to cultural and religious representation. Through several decades Christian Somalis have asked themselves the fundamental question: Is it really possible to be Christian and Somali at the same time? According to the Islaminfluenced traditional Somali myth of genealogy, the blood of the Prophet Mohammed flows in their veins. In light of this fact, does not the very concept of Somali Christian then represent a contradiction of terms? 2 As the Christian church among Somalis 1 Said S. Samatar, Unhappy Masses and the Challenge of Political Islam in the Horn of Africa, Horn of Africa 20 (2002) David W. Shenk, A Study of Mennonite Presence and Church Development in Somalia from 1950 through 1970 (Ph. D., New York University, School of Education, 1972). 361.

3 2 Introduction continues to exist within this sphere of tension, the question of whether it is contextually relevant accordingly constitutes a burning issue. The number of ethnic Somali Christians has never been great, and the presence of various mission agencies continues to wield a substantial influence on the church. Also the number of mission agencies involved has seen an increase during recent years. Although these agencies to some extent may pay due attention to challenges of contextualization, the inherent theological patterns and frames of understanding continue to carry the imprint of Western mindsets. As already indicated above, the way in which Somali Christians have conceived of the church, and related to it, may be one of the reasons why the number of Christians has remained rather small. This fact prompts a question: Is it possible that by developing Somali contextual patterns and understandings of concepts which are constitutive to the Christian message, one may assist the Somali church in overcoming its seeming unconnectedness with Somali culture? My thesis is that a development in this regard is possible, and it should consequently be pursued further. Is it possible to interpret the church in a manner that is experienced as culturally relevant for the Somalis, and through such a process to create a certain distance from the inherent foreignness which Christianity and Western mission agencies represent? I thus intend to further explore the theme of contextual theology in this setting, by suggesting the outlines of a contextually relevant ecclesiological model for the Somali church. In order to establish the cultural context of the Somali church, I shall base my study on a combination of qualitative interviews and relevant literature studies. Here the analysis of interviews serves a primary role in identifying prevalent challenges which I intend to address. My main research question is: How can ecclesia be interpreted in a theologically coherent and contextually relevant manner among the Christian Somali population in the Horn of Africa? I attempt to answer this main research question by employing a set of subquestions. These sub-questions will also identify the subject to be dealt with in each of the main chapters (Ch. 5 8) of the thesis. In my introductory chapter I will present in further detail the manner in which I seek to answer the main research question. That includes such issues as relevance and objectives of the study, a thorough presentation of the problem to be confronted, as well as an introduction to the methodology which will be employed. Before embarking on the main chapters of the thesis (Ch. 5 8), which contain interview reporting and analysis, I include a brief history of the Somali church (Ch. 4). I shall start by explaining how I will apply some of the basic terminology utilized in the thesis Applied Terminology The concept of coherence finds its roots in the Latin equivalent, cohaerere, which means to be consistent or to be connected. The term is most commonly employed when referring to the interaction of various parts and a totality, emphasizing that the

4 Introduction 3 parts within a particular field are interconnected and jointly form a logical unity. Coherence may further be qualified by its opposite, the negative term, incoherence, which emphasizes a lack of inner consistency. 3 I have accordingly used the term in this study to emphasize that the various parts of the ecclesiological model are logically and theologically interconnected and that they do not represent inner contradiction or inconsistency. 4 This further indicates that the study is hermeneutical, implying a dialogical process between the various parts that will be introduced, and the ecclesiological model as a whole. 5 The feature of theological coherence will be evaluated against a comparative analysis of various ecclesiological models which have been presented by Avery M. Dulles Models of the Church. 6 The term relevant has been intertwined with contextualization terminology since the latter came into general use during the 1970 s. The concept of contextualization still lacks a widely embraced definition, but the various understandings of the term all include a perspective of contextual relevancy. Other interrelated terms that have often been employed, such as meaningful, understandable and reflective, 7 emphasize a theology particularly conditioned by the inclusion of an emic perspective. 8 I concur with Birger Hjørland who defines the concept of relevancy like this, [ ] relevance is not primarily a psychological concept, but a concept in the theory of knowledge (epistemology), a paradigm, something generally accepted in a community. 9 Relevancy in this project will correspond to generally accepted cultural knowledge in the context which my project addresses the Somali culture. The concept of contextual relevancy will further be evaluated against various sociological theories of religion (see 2.5). 10 The key concept of contextual relevancy situates this study within the growing field of contextual theology. Considering the dearth of existing written material pertaining to the Somali church, it has become mandatory for me to opt for an empirical approach. This approach reflects the conviction that a study such as the present one would not represent any degree of contextual relevance unless the voice of Christian Somalis could be heard. Their past and present ecclesiological experiences, as well as their reflections on such experiences, thus constitute the unit of analysis in this study. 3 Poul Lübcke, ed., Filosofileksikon (Oslo: Zafari, 1996) This does not indicate a preference with regard to truth claims of various philosophical theories. 5 See Avery Dulles, Models of the Church, Expanded ed. (New York: Doubleday, 2002). See David J. Hesselgrave and Edward Rommen, Contextualization: Meanings, Methods and Models (Leicester, England: Apollos, 1989). 2; See also Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, Rev. and expanded ed., Faith and Cultures Series (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2002) Paul G. Hiebert, Anthropological Insights for Missionaries (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1985) Birger Hjørland, The Foundation of the Concept of Relevance, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 61, no. 2 (2010) For a further deliberation on my approach to contextual theology, see 2.1.

5 4 Introduction Since my focus has been to access the interviewees personal reflections, perspectives and experiences, I have opted for doing individual, semi-structured interviews. 11 The worldwide Christian church has gone through a radical transformation during the last decades, and Christianity is at present emerging in new forms. 12 At the beginning of the 20 th century, it was by its numerical distribution deemed a Western religion. Christianity had for centuries been enculturated in a European context and about eighty percent of global church members were located in the Western world. A hundred years later the picture had changed dramatically. At the beginning of the 21 st century the majority of Christian believers were living outside of Europe and North America. 13 Consequently, if one regards the pure statistics, Christianity can no longer be considered a Western religion. Although global structure and agency are still endorsing Western theological dominance, Christianity is for the first time in modern history evolving globally and the church is slowly losing its European forms. More and more powerful national or indigenous Christian movements in non-western contexts continue to develop their contextual characteristics, and appear increasingly culturally autonomous. 14 In the wake of these growing Christian movements, the awareness of a need for contextualizing theology has risen during the past decade. Their very existence has provided us with more relevant material as to forms of contextual theology. Nevertheless, the emphasis on the need for contextualizing ecclesiology is proportionally underestimated. By introducing the concept of ecclesia into the main research question, I emphasize that the present study particularly focuses on contextual ecclesiology. I maintain that the claim made by Charles Van Engen more than two decades ago is still relevant today: Around the world one of the most neglected areas of missiological research has been ecclesiology. Rather than finding new avenues for creatively contextualizing the congregation so that it might represent the gospel, we have exported church polities, church forms, church structures, and church traditions, superimposing them on all the cultures we have encountered. Although we have become conscious of the relationship 11 Steinar Kvale, Interviews. An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1996) See also Kjetil Fretheim, Rights and Riches: Exploring the Moral Discourse of Norwegian Development Aid (Ph.D., MF Norwegian School of Theology, 2007) The following is informed by Stephen B. Bevans and Roger Schroeder, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today, American Society of Missiology Series (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2004) See also Todd M. Johnson and Kenneth R. Ross, eds., Atlas of Global Christianity (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, 2009) Lamin O. Sanneh, Disciples of All Nations. Pillars of World Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) Such Christian movements are presently found across the globe. Some examples are: The African initiated churches, The house church movement in China and The base ecclesial communities in South America.

6 Introduction 5 of gospel and culture, we have yet to understand how drastically we must rethink that relationship. 15 As part of this global transition, particularly in the wake of Vatican II ( ), the ecclesiological pendulum has swung from sustaining traditional hierarchical models of church to a renewed emphasis on egalitarian, participative and more flexible interpretations of the same. 16 By researching contextual ecclesiology in the Somali context, the study further belongs within the growing number of scholarly projects focusing on Christian churches in Africa. During the second symposium at Sangana, Kenya in 1990, leading African theologians presented a call to the African church, enquiring: How can the Church be truly African and truly Christian? 17 My study represents a limited attempt to answer this question, and presents an ecclesiological response to challenges inherent to the Somali society. The proposed ecclesiological model further pursues the challenge which Stephen B. Bevans presents as the nature of all contextual theology, namely that of combining the experiences of the past (scripture and tradition) with the experiences of the present (context). 18 In this study, the latter is defined as the need for the church to be contextually relevant and authentically Somali today. The project is accordingly a part of the global response to move from the level of mere prolegomena to that of actual theologizing 19 in an African context. By this I do not suggest that the notion of African should be regarded as a uniform and monolithic entity. On the contrary, the African context is highly composite and Somali culture in particular carries distinct characteristics contrasted to what is often labeled Tropical Africa Charles Van Engen, God s Missionary People: Rethinking the Purpose of the Local Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1991) Miroslav Volf, After our Likeness: the Church as the Image of the Trinity, Sacra Doctrina (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1998). 12. See also Papers that were presented during the symposium were later published in: J. N. K. Mugambi and Laurenti Magesa, The Church in African Christianity: Innovative Essays in Ecclesiology, 2nd. ed., African Christianity series (Nairobi: Acton Publishers, 1998) Stephen B. Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, Rev. and expanded ed., Faith and Cultures Series (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2002) J. N. K. Mugambi and Laurenti Magesa, The Church in African Christianity: Innovative Essays in Ecclesiology, 2nd. ed., African Christianity series (Nairobi: Acton Publishers, 1998) A geographical term most often referring to Sub-Saharan Africa, differentiating it from the more strongly Arab-influenced northern part of Africa.