| This dissertation seeks to prove the thesis that Third World Feminist ecclesiology forms a relevant critique of Western Evangelical ecclesiology and contains the potential to impact the global church. These voices form a global ecclesiology, with differing and distinctive marks of the Church and wrestles with the challenge of globalization. This work intends to be a critique of the incomplete and often one-dimensional ecclesiological frameworks presented by Western theologians. Such a critique will occur using the works of Third World feminist theologians with their approaches as to how to speak of the Church. One feminist voice from Asia, the Americas, and Africa, respectively, will be thoroughly assessed to highlight the manner in which the Western church has systemically and systematically ignored the realities of much of the world in forming its limited ecclesiology. Three voices will be given prominence in this work from the Majority world: Mercy Oduyoye, a Ghanaian feminist theologian as representative of Africa, Kwok Pui-Lan, a Chinese feminist theologian as representative of Asia, and Maria Pilar Aquino, a Mexican feminist theologian representative of the Americas. To begin, this paper intends to lay out a foundation for this conversation by discussing the significance of Christian ecclesiology and the background of the Evangelical ecclesial tradition, where doctrines such as Christology and the role of Scripture will be presented. Contained in that will be a conversation around globalization and the context of the Western Christian Church today (chap. 1). Then some space will be given to the methodology from which the author understands ecclesiology: the Quaker ecclesiological tradition, Political and Feminist ecclesiology (chap. 2). This chapter will also give a brief treatment of Trinitarian theology and its influence on ecclesiology as well as discussion on liberation theology and the place of base communities. From here, our three Third-World feminist theologians will together be given a chapter of space: Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Kwok Pui-Lan, and Maria Pilar Aquino (chap. 3). Then those conclusions will be presented as a constructive global ecclesiology, with attention given to the following sub-sections: salvation of whole persons and structures of sin as theological treatments (chap. 4). And lastly, constructive practical theology will explore these three ecclesiological tenets: peacemaking, women in leadership, and multi-ethnic churches (chap. 5). This project speaks to Third World feminist descriptors of Church and believes that their descriptors extend to the entire theological enterprise of ecclesiology and applies across geopolitical contexts and spaces. This intends to cover the project of a constructive Christian global ecclesiology for Western Evangelical churches. |
