The Conversation Continues

From an Oxford conference to seven areas of work

A conference can end.

The questions it raises do not necessarily end with it.

When participants gathered at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford to explore African Anglicanism, the purpose was never simply to spend a week exchanging papers and then return home.

The conference created a space for historical reflection, theological discussion, cultural exploration and practical conversation.

It also created something else: A sense of where further work is needed.

The final stages of the gathering therefore turned towards the question:

What happens next?

The answer was not one single resolution or conclusion.

Instead, seven areas of work were identified through the workshops and conversations.

SEVEN PLACES TO KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS

1. Research And Publication

If African Anglicanism is to be understood more fully, African experiences and scholarship need to be documented, preserved and shared.

This connects directly with the challenge raised by Revd Dr Justyn Terry, whose contribution called attention to the depth of African theological roots and the need for African scholarship to continue contributing to contemporary theology.

It also connects with questions raised throughout the conference about whose histories have been preserved, whose theological contributions have been published and which stories remain undocumented.

Research is not simply about producing academic papers. It is about creating a body of knowledge that future generations can inherit.

Who tells the story of African Anglicanism matters. So does who gets to produce the knowledge from which that story is understood.

2. Theological Institutions And Academic Development

Theological education is central to the health of the Church. But several contributions highlighted the tension between church growth and theological formation.

The Revd Berthier Lainirina spoke about the rapid growth of the Anglican Church in Madagascar and the challenge of forming congregational leaders who have not necessarily had access to formal theological education.

The Right Revd Elsir Hassan Kuku showed what theological education looks like in an entirely different context: Sudan during war, where institutions such as Korkel and Shokai Theological Colleges continue preparing leaders to serve communities experiencing violence, displacement and loss.

The Revd Francis Philip Lado similarly identified theological education as essential to the future of the Church in South Sudan.

Strengthening theological institutions therefore means thinking about faculty, curriculum, research, access, resources and the relationship between academic theology and the life of local churches.

It also means asking what theological education should look like in different African contexts rather than assuming that one model will work everywhere.

3. Grassroots Training And Mission

Theological knowledge cannot remain inside institutions. It has to reach the people leading and serving local congregations.

Lainirina's contribution is particularly relevant here.

His argument was not simply that African Christians need more theological information.

They need forms of theological formation that people can actually inhabit.

Story.

Proverb.

Song.

Drama.

Memory.

Participation.

Practice.

Dr Esayas Ersabo raised a related challenge in his exploration of liturgical formation and missional discipleship.

Worship, Scripture and sacrament should not be separated from the task of forming people who are then sent into the world.

The question therefore becomes: How do we make theological formation accessible without making it shallow?

The challenge is to connect serious theological reflection with the realities of everyday church life.

4. Youth — Scholar And Practitioner Collaboration

The future of the Church is not an abstract question. 

It is a question about people.

Several contributions pointed towards the need to think seriously about younger generations.

Ersabo's discussion of discipleship, Lainirina's concern with grassroots formation, and the wider conversations around digital culture, social change and emerging issues all point towards a Church that needs to listen to younger people rather than simply speak about them.

Young Christians will inherit institutions, traditions and communities shaped by previous generations. But they will also face questions that previous generations did not.

Digital culture.

Changing social expectations.

Migration.

Education.

Work.

Politics.

Technology.

Artificial intelligence.

The Church therefore needs spaces where young people are not simply spoken about but are able to contribute to the conversation themselves.

The youth workstream creates an opportunity to connect younger generations with scholars, practitioners and church leaders — not simply as recipients of knowledge, but as participants in shaping what comes next.

5. Finance — Scholar And Practitioner Collaboration

Financial sustainability is ultimately about more than money.

It touches leadership, stewardship, governance, mission and local ownership.

The Revd Dr Mansita Sangi examined poverty, dependency and financial relationships in Anglican mission, asking what happens when churches become dependent on external partners or political patrons.

Ade Mary Samuel approached the question through stewardship in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan. Her contribution widened the definition of resources beyond cash to include land, buildings, time, skills, young people, professional expertise and local generosity.

Both contributions pointed towards the need to move from dependency towards responsible interdependence.

That means asking:

What resources already exist within African churches?

What can communities contribute?

How can institutions become more sustainable?

How can external partnerships strengthen local capacity rather than unintentionally creating long-term dependency?

These questions require both theological reflection and practical expertise.

6. Women's Empowerment — Scholar And Practitioner Collaboration

The conference also highlighted the importance of recovering and strengthening women's voices.

Michaela Copsey's contribution on women in and around the Church of Uganda showed why this matters.

Her research recovered women who studied Scripture, evangelised, taught, formed Christian networks and developed theological understanding through the everyday life of the Church.

It also raised a broader question about historical memory:

Who gets remembered as a theologian?

Whose leadership gets recorded?

Whose work becomes part of the official story?

The work ahead is therefore not simply about representation.

It is about recognising the reality of women's contribution to the life and theology of African Anglicanism and creating space for that contribution to shape its future.

7. Emerging Issues — Scholar And Practitioner Collaboration

A Church cannot only ask questions about its past.

It also has to engage the world in which it currently exists.

Bishop Victor Atta-Baffoe's contribution highlighted the need for African Anglicanism to engage realities such as poverty, corruption, inequality, migration, ecological pressures and youth unemployment.

The conference also surfaced questions around digital culture, secularisation, Islam, changing family structures, sexuality, technology and artificial intelligence.

The challenge is not to chase every new trend. It is to develop the theological and intellectual capacity to engage change thoughtfully. This is where scholar-practitioner collaboration becomes important.

The Church needs people who can research.

People who can teach.

People who can work in communities.

People who understand technology.

People who understand theology.

People who understand the lived realities of the people the Church serves.

And it needs spaces where those forms of knowledge can meet.

SEVEN WORKSTREAMS, ONE CONVERSATION

These seven areas may appear separate, but they are deeply connected.

You cannot strengthen theological education without thinking about research.

You cannot strengthen grassroots mission without thinking about formation.

You cannot talk about financial sustainability without thinking about leadership and stewardship.

You cannot talk about the future of the Church without listening to young people.

You cannot talk about the history of African Anglicanism without asking whose voices have been missing.

And you cannot prepare for the future without being willing to ask new questions.

The contributions from across the conference already showed these connections.

Justyn Terry's call for stronger African scholarship connects naturally with theological institutions and research.

Michaela Copsey's work on women's histories connects with questions of whose knowledge is preserved and whose voices shape the Church.

Elsir Kuku's reflections on theological education during war connect academic formation with local agency and reciprocal partnership.

Ade Mary Samuel and Mansita Sangi connect financial sustainability with stewardship, governance and ownership.

Francis Lado connects theological education, discipleship, spiritual formation and the resilience of the Church.

Esayas Ersabo connects worship with discipleship and mission.

The seven workstreams are therefore not seven unrelated projects.

They are different expressions of the same larger question: What kind of Church is African Anglicanism becoming, and what will it need in order to flourish?

BEYOND THE CONFERENCE ROOM

There is a temptation after a conference to reduce what happened to a set of photographs, presentations, quotes and action points. But the value of a gathering like this is ultimately determined by what happens after people leave the room.

Does the research continue?

Are the questions pursued?

Are relationships strengthened?

Do ideas become projects?

Does scholarship reach the Church?

Do younger voices enter the conversation?

Do institutions become stronger?

Do partnerships become more reciprocal?

Do churches become better equipped to understand their own contexts and respond faithfully to them?

Those are much harder questions than simply asking whether the conference was successful. And perhaps that is why the conversation about African Anglicanism should not belong only to the people who were in Oxford.

A person reading this series may know very little about Anglicanism. Another may have grown up Anglican. Another may be a theologian or church leader. Another may simply be curious about how Christianity develops across cultures. Each reader comes with a different starting point. But the invitation is the same:

Read.

Listen.

Ask questions.

Research.

Challenge assumptions.

And be willing to discover that something you thought you understood may be more complex than you realised.

The people who gathered at Wycliffe Hall in September 2026 left with more than papers and presentations.

They left with questions. And questions, when taken seriously, can become research.

Research can become learning. Learning can become formation. Formation can become practice. And practice can change communities.

That is why the conference did not really end when the gathering ended.

The conversation continues.

Kelly Mutizira