Brasilia, Brazil – From July 22-24, Dr. Kwok Pui Lan, EDS Distinguished Scholar, and the Very Rev. Lydia Kelsey Bucklin, President and Dean, attended a workshop in Brasilia titled “Decolonial Theological Education for Discipleship: A Workshop to Develop Theological Education Resources for the Americas and Caribbean.” Hosted by the Commission for Theological Education in the Anglican Communion (CTEAC) in partnership with the Diocese of Brasilia, the event brought together bishops and theological educators from eight provinces across North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean.
EDS’ financial support enabled the gathering to significantly widen participation - doubling the members in attendance and increasing the inclusion of Indigenous leaders and young theologians in the gathering.
One of the goals of the gathering is to strategize on how best to develop contextually appropriate resources for training ordained and lay leaders in mission and discipleship. Dr. Kwok Pui Lan served as the keynote speaker, providing insights from her distinguished career as globally recognized feminist theologian with a particular emphasis on fostering a postcolonial Anglican communion with multiple centers of equal importance. Her expertise was central to guiding discussions around the workshop's core themes.
"Decolonial theological education must be locally rooted and globally connected," stated Dr. Kwok Pui Lan. "It must challenge the hegemony of English theology and history in shaping our curriculum and develop contextual theologies and pedagogy. It needs to take advantage of the diversity of the provinces represented to equip students as global leaders to spread the good news and form disciples.”
EDS was invited as a key partner to support the consultation, underscoring its commitment to advancing theological education globally. Dean Bucklin presented on the work and experimentation of EDS.
A significant focus of the workshop revolved around developing practical strategies for theological education. Dr. Kwok Pui Lan elaborated on key themes that could guide implementation at the local level:
- Disperse – how to de-clericalise theological education and open it up to the whole people of God
- Disrupt – how to move away from imposed curriculum and to form, equip, and inspire disciples for mission in local contexts
- Develop – how to develop theology and pedagogy for a given context that allows different people to learn in different ways
- Deepen – how to deepen the spiritual life of students through embodied approaches, especially how to empower women for discipleship and mission
The final day focused on developing an action plan for implementation in local contexts. Participants were tasked with outlining aims for their leadership and for their seminaries and other training programs over the next year.
President Bucklin said, “The focus of this gathering - decolonizing theological education - is the way forward. We can only do this work in partnership with, and centering the voices of, leaders from the Global South and Indigenous peoples. We are looking forward to building on the relationships and action plans developed over the past week as we strive to form leaders of faith bridging the gap between theological education and the work of the church in our local contexts.”
Please keep Dr. Kwok and President Bucklin in your prayers as they continue exploring these vital new avenues for collaboration and the advancement of decolonial theological education.
From July 22-24, Dr. Kwok and President Bucklin met with leaders in theological education from eight provinces across North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean
President Bucklin co-celebrated the Eucharist with other global leaders
President Bucklin co-celebrated the Eucharist with other global leaders
Dr. Kwok and President Bucklin represented EDS at the Commission for Theological Education in the Anglican Communion workshop
President Bucklin plants a tree alongside the Rev. Natalie Blake of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. The Rev. Blake is one of the inaugural EDS Fellows: Women Leaders from the Global South. The tree planting was an initiative of The Anglican Communion called The Communion Forest, which encourages local tree planting and ecosystem restoration projects by provinces, dioceses, and individual churches.
President Bucklin with the Rt. Rev. Victor Atta-Baffoe '92, the fourth bishop of Cape Coast, Ghana and Chair of CTEAC