Mercy Oduyoye

Mercy Amba Oduyoye (born 1934) is a Ghanaian Methodist theologian known for her work in African women's theology.[1] She is currently the director of the Institute of African Women in Religion and Culture at Trinity Theological Seminary in Ghana.

Mercy Oduyoye
Born1934  (age 87)
Asamankese 
Alma mater
OccupationTheologian 
Awards
  • honorary doctor of the Yale University (2008) 

Biography

Mercy Amba Ewudziwa Oduyoye was born on her grandfather's cacao farm in Amoana, near Asamankese, Ghana, in October 1933.[2] She was the first child born to her parents, Charles Kwaw Yamoah and Mercy Yaa Dakwa Yamoah.[3] Her father was a teacher and pastor who became president of the Methodist Church in Ghana.[2]

She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Ghana in 1963, a second bachelor's degree from Cambridge University in 1965, and a master's degree from Cambridge in 1969. From 1967 to 1979, she was youth education secretary for the World Council of Churches; from 1987 to 1994, she was Deputy General Secretary for the same organization. She has taught at Harvard University, Union Theological Seminary, and the University of Ibadan. She has also served as president of the World Student Christian Federation and founded the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in 1989.[1][4]

Oduyoye has written four books and more than eighty articles focusing on Christian theology from a feminist and African perspective. She is considered one of the leading Protestant African theologians. One of her central subjects is how African religion and culture influences the experiences of African women. In particular, she has addressed the effects of economic oppression on African women.

Oduyoye has been awarded honorary degrees by University of Amsterdam (1991), Stellenbosch University[5] the University of the Western Cape in 2002[6] and Yale University in 2008.[7]


Works
  • Hearing and Knowing: Theological Reflections on Christianity in Africa Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1986. ISBN 9781606088616, OCLC 758532712
  • 'Women and Ritual in Africa' in The Will to Arise: Women, Tradition, and the Church in Africa (1992)
  • 'Feminist Theology in an African Perspective' in Paths of African Theology (1994)
  • Daughters of Anowa: African Women and Patriarchy Maryknoll, NY Orbis Books 1999. ISBN 9780883449998, OCLC 258564319
  • Introducing African Women's Theology Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2001. ISBN 9780829814231, OCLC 611377765
  • Beads and Strands: Reflections of an African Woman on Christianity in Africa Maryknoll, New York : Orbis Books, 2004. ISBN 9781570755439, OCLC 55109167

References
  1. Kwok Pui-lan (Spring 2004). "Mercy Amba Oduyoye and African Women's Theology". Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. 20 (1): 7–22. JSTOR 25002487.
  2. Oredein, Oluwatomisin (2020-10-23). "Mercy Amba Oduyoye Centers African Women Within Christian Theology". Sojourners. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  3. Amoah, Elizabeth (2006). "Preface". In Phiri, Isabel Apawo; Nadar, Sarojini (eds.). African women, religion and health: essays in honor of Mercy Oduyoye. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. pp. xviii. ISBN 9781570756351 – via Hathi Trust Digital Library.
  4. Oredein, Oluwatomisin (Fall 2016). "Interview with Mercy Amba Oduyoye: Mercy Amba Oduyoye in Her Own Words". Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. 32 (2): 153–164. doi:10.2979/jfemistudreli.32.2.26. JSTOR 10.2979/jfemistudreli.32.2.26.
  5. "Prominent theologians to be honoured by Stellenbosch University". 28 August 2009. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  6. "The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, annual report 2001-02". 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  7. Mary E. O'Leary, "Yale graduates 3,100 under sunny skies", New Haven Register, 27 May 2008.

Further reading
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