Gender & Imago Dei: A Postcolonial African Reading of I Corinthians 11:1-16

Article IV of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Constitution supports gender equality in the governance of the church. However, in practice, women are still marginalized in the organizational structure of the church, particularly the top leadership positions of bishop and archbishop. This inequality has been reinforced, among other factors, by slanted gender-biased reading of Biblical texts as 1 Cor 11:1-16, 14:34-35, 1 Tim 2:11-12, and Eph 5: 22-24. With increasing intensity, African scholars are calling for gender equality as a justice question. How can the Anglican Church in Kenya, and by implication, Christian communities in general, re-read and re-appropriate Biblical texts to fulfill the mandate of gender equality? Gender & Imago Dei is a useful read for church leaders and scholars in the fields of postcolonial studies, gender studies, feminist scholarship, peace studies who aim to think holistically about the practices of social division and sacred texts.