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Dean Mombo, member of Eames Commission, speaks in Diocese of Lexington

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Dean Mombo, of Eames Commission, speaks in Diocese of Lexington

By Katerina Longfeld

Doctor Esther Mombo, Academic Dean of St. Paul’s United Theological College in Limuru, Kenya, a member of the Lambeth Commission, spoke to the clergy of the Diocese of Lexington, and preached at Good Shepherd, Lexington, and St. Peter’s, Paris, in June. She served as a consultant to the 1998 Lambeth Conference.

Doctor Mombo prefaced her remarks with the caveat that she speaks for herself, not for all Africans. She was brought up in a village that she described as a “study of the theological horror of African life.” A strong maternal grandmother encouraged her to pursue her dream of becoming a “woman preacher” in a culture where women continue to be demeaned — where her “whole class — including one current bishop” walked out when she began her teaching career. Kenya has many tribes, with many different points of view. A number of conservative tribes view women as children. Women were not ordained in Kenya until 2002.

Mombo was “humbled and challenged” to be appointed to the Eames Commission, which produced the Windsor Report. The work was “difficult and demanding” for the 19 men and women from 14 provinces who not only did not know each other, and feared each other, but were constantly besieged by letters, phone calls and mandates to believe and/or defend particular stances. The goal of the Commission, which used Biblical foundations as the basis of its discussions, was not to judge what had happened in New Hampshire, but to look at the bonds that are currently shared across the Anglican Communion, and see a way to go forward.

She stressed that ECUSA did “nothing wrong in terms of its own constitution and canons; it was internally legal — but proceeded despite “grave concerns around the communion.” However, she stressed, it is clear that people intervening across diocesan boundaries is also wrong. She has been “shocked and enraged” by the way she has seen some use their leadership for their own power and position, and at the lies which have emanated from both sides. As a Kenyan woman, she is “sad at the arrogance which has accused ECUSA of arrogance,” but knows that repentance and forgiveness cannot be forced.

Mombo gave new perspective to the often heard words that Christianity is dying in the West and growing in Africa. She stated that one would have to be in Africa and understand the culture and the tribal system to critique the numbers, suggesting that one example of cultural understanding would be to realize that much of the stated growth has come through disagreements and splits among tribes, which form new tribes which require a new bishop.

She referred to a “Christianity of numbers,” posing the question of how deep this Christianity really is, and how it is being lived out when the AIDS pandemic increases because the church’s teaching and preaching regarding heterosexual behavior is insufficient and often “wrong theology.”

The historical context for polygamy was described as “serving the interest of men,” by serving as a substitute for divorce, and for propagation in cases of barrenness in a culture where it is necessary for each family to have children. Mombo was clear that the interests of women and single persons are not supported in her culture. Mombo stressed that she would like to see the energy used on the AIDS pandemic that is being used on homosexuality. “We must put our own house in order before we go out and claim other houses.” She emphasized that the current crisis is “not a Western issue” as has been strongly implied, and that ECUSA is simply the “first to be open.” She also was clear that anti-American sentiment involved not only theological but political issues.

Mombo’s hope for the future is that the “right people begin listening to each other and really talking to each other.” She believes that there are many other important issues that need to be part of the conversations among those who are Anglicans, and that in 10 years, homosexuality will not be an issue. “If there is a mess,” she said, “it is within the communion, not on one side or the other. ECUSA has forced us to look at the mess. Hopefully, Lambeth will help us critique our own context.”

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