1 Challenge of Financing Christian Theological Education in Africa H. Kwame Afaglo (PhD, BSc) This was a presentation delivered at the 40th anniversary of Nobles Hall in Trinity Theological Seminary on 20th November 2010 Population Dynamics Christian theological education is one of the potent vehicles of spreading and re-training minds globally with both the thoughts and actions of the philosophy of Jesus Christ. Also, Christianization is about celebrating the world’s strongest empire whose customer base as of today stands between 1.7 and 2.5 billion, that was originated by the effective leadership of Jesus Christ and driven forth by his twelve dynamic managers or who some of us call disciples. With the world population of about 5.5 billion people, it is only worth that the crusading zeal of Christianization should be stronger, wider spread through education and in various local languages. Evangelism as we know has been strong all these centuries, from which has emerged training of missionaries in higher learning and the sociology of territories. Christian theological educational institutes are springing up quickly in Africa, as a top-up to the high academic performance of products from mission secondary and primary schools. A significant number of parents, attempt to get enrolment for their wards in missionary primary and secondary schools, however the situation is to the 2 converse at the tertiary level of education. Inasmuch as Christianity has grown remarkably in Africa as indicated by Gatwa as; ‘Compared to the growth of the Church (see the beginning of the 20th century) Africa represents less than 10% of the world population, today it is more than 40%, ..’ (2010) The notable student population difference between missionary primary and secondary levels of education and that of tertiary Christian theological education is significant, which raises a lot of questions, of which I appreciate the organisers of this session for choosing this relevant topic. Non-financial causes Despite the significant offshoot of Biblical and Theological seminaries in Africa by Churches and missionaries, students’ population is dropping as the years go by. There are both non-financial and financial components of the challenge facing Christian theological tertiary education in Africa. Among some of the notable non-financial difficulties are; Use of solely foreign language for education Distancing Christian theological education from industry and society Denominationalism of educational institutions and its isolation Intellectual ostracism – accreditation systems, ill equipped libraries etc. Lack of resources Financial causes Latently, the latter three non-financial challenges have some elements of financial undertones. 3 Precisely in 1958 (which was after the Second World War) most Western Christian theological institutional heads gathered in Accra and launched the Theological Education Fund (TEF) for the South. This fund and its conditions did enhance the existing institutions not to be profit focused, also it did set up new ones in that same light. However, with the rate of dwelling financial support from Western Churches, charitable institutions and individuals, it has become challenging for a significant number of Christian theological tertiary education to run smoothly. Proverbially ‘rubbing salt into injury’ is the experience of significant drop in student numbers of Christian theological educational institutions in Africa. The pressure is not only felt by the administrators of these institutions but also their local Churches and governments. Mergers and Government funding With an increasing trend of unreliable funding of Christian theological educational institutions from both the West and local Churches, some have been forced to merger so as to get some financial relief from the state. Some other mergers have engulfed Christian theological philosophy and replaced it with religious studies under the faculty of humanities. A case in point is that of University of South Africa (UNISA). Whiles central governments do well to share common concepts and resolutions, Christian theological educational institutions do less, if not building pillars of isolationism. 4 Recommendations Much as there are more causes than highlighted in this presentation, for the sake of time and as a statement of fact, the world is getting fed up with criticisms and prefers viable solutions. Ecumenical It is imperative that Christian theological educational institutions should operate on ecumenical lines in terms of developing value oriented and market driven curriculum or programmes of study. Thereby expanding the educational horizon from leadership and introduce theological concepts that have contextual values for Africans without compromising the core values of Christianisation. Value oriented and Market driven curriculum (Adjei, M. 2010) The gulf between the population of learners of missionary primary, secondary schools and that of tertiary Christian theological education could be bridged by the radical mental change in re-writing disciplines or subjects of study with the Christian values, whiles evolutionary implementing it. Question here is; Can mathematics, finance, psychology, philosophy among others not be written with Christian values? Psalm 19:1, ‘the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands’ Hence, science and astronomy had their origin from the bible, yet today the situation is to the converse. 5 As long as the curriculum has Christian values and it is market driven we should expect the numbers to increase in Christian theological tertiary educations. If one man and his twelve (12) disciples could raise the biggest empire known as Christendom, what stops business management books from being written along the lines of the philosophy of this great man Jesus Christ? Patent Instead of intellectually ostracising the new and changing paradigm of Christianisation in the sociological context whiles maintaining the values, such works should be patented and its monetary returns ploughed into institutions. Outstanding theological researches must be published in Christian academic journals for global consumption. Research products must be launched after patents applied for and they must do well to be directed towards solving the problems of the society. Building relationship with industry Much as most trained theologians wish to head churches after their training it is worth the salt for educators to keep sending them for practical and hands-on training with the business world or what in some circles is known as secular world. Theological education must not be isolated and confined only to the Church, but must have effective relationship with the community. Asibuo does share the same thought with a quote from Matthew 28:19 as: ‘Jesus wisely sent his disciples to ‘Go into all nations to teach His values to every creature’ (2010) 6 Synergy Christian theological educational institutions in Africa must begin to build intellect synergy, so as to benefit from cross border knowledge share. Thoughts and presentation shared during these sessions have higher values than isolationism. University led projects Asibuo also strongly emphases that: ‘The Christian theological institutions in Africa must invest in high yield funds, farms, water projects, distance learning among others to generate funds needed to expand their horizon’ (2010) Students’ participation Inasmuch as it is a bitter pill and an unpleasant choice, students’ participation in financing of tertiary Christian theological education is worth exploring. The temptation for educational administrators to push for full-cost recovery is high, but in the case of Christian theological institutes, other sources of funding must be rigorous pursued to drive the agenda of global territorial dominance of Christendom, and this must be foremost. 7 With market driven curriculum having Christian orientation, students who voluntarily enrol and will voluntarily pay for the real cost of tuition among other facilities. These will strengthen the financial base of Christian theological educational institutions. Nonetheless, Christian theological institutions still owe the society the responsibility of identifying the have-nots and support them with the surplus from other sources of funds generated as earlier mentioned. I appreciate the audience given me and pray that Almighty God directs all of us in attaining financial strength for the dominance of his kingdom per the philosophy of Jesus Christ. Thank you. References Adjei, M.B. (2010) Value Oriented and Market Driven (Speech to staff and students of Ghana Christian University College Asibuo, J. (2010) Changing mind sets in Christian Tertiary Education (Speech to staff of Ghana Christian University College) Gatwa, T. (2010) The Challenges of Theological Education in Africa St. Colm’s, Edinbury Wener, D. (2009) Challenges and Opportunities in theological Education in the 21st Century ETE/WCC, Geneva