African Christian Leadership: Realities, Opportunities, and Impact ed. by Robert J. Priest, and Kirimi Barine (review)

Christian missionary archives have long been utilized to reconstruct the origins of social elites and governance structures in Africa. Less scholarship has examined the character of African Christian leadership in contemporary nation-states. African Christian Leadership: Realities, Opportunities, and Impact fills that void as it boldly contends, "if the world's knowledge of Christianity in Africa comes from the historical past and is not matched by equally rich treatments of contemporary African Christianity, our knowledge of Africa may easily be out of date." The editors, Robert J. Priest and Kirimi Barine, participated in the African Leadership Study, an empirical study of Christian leadership in three countries: Kenya, the Central African Republic, and Angola. The book consists of an introduction, eleven chapters, a jointly authored conclusion, and an appendix. The introduction addresses the study's methodology, which consisted of interviews and surveys of more than eight thousand Christian elites. The resultant book demonstrates that Christian institutions are distinct from the state and civil society, a central pillar of authority in the lives of Africans, and merit scholarly consideration.

The early chapters examine Christian leadership formation. The second chapter reports that Africans view pastors as individuals who wield a strategic influence. When asked to name a Christian with a major impact on their lives, a third of Angolans named their pastor, while half of Kenyans and Central Africans did so. David Ngaruiya demonstrates that the clergy is unique, as it mediates the relationship of the state and society. Where the state's capacity to deliver goods is impaired, the church provides resources for communities. The African clergy possesses moral authority and, he suggests, can use its influence to reform its nations. He identifies the concept of "good governance using biblical principles" as imperative to African leadership formation. He concludes, "effective Christian leadership required engagement with civil society."

In chapter three, Wanjiru Gitau explores the social networks that affect character formation: family and extended kin, community service, higher education, and mentorship. Gitau likens Christian leadership formation to a stage of biological growth, emphasizing individuals' capacity for change in transforming themselves and the continent. In chapter four, Steven Rasmussen examines the role of social capital. He suggests that the possession of social capital is essential to leadership in Africa, as social capital endows leaders with an instrument for building bridges across generations, ethnicities, and religions.

The fifth chapter examines Christian leadership during armed conflicts. The 2012 Central African Republic coup d'état occurred during the research stage. The Séléka rebels ousted President Bozizé. The coalition installed Michel Djotodia as the nation's first Muslim ruler. This unresolved civil war evolved into a religious conflict, with competing visions of how faith should mediate state and society. The authors reinterviewed the nation's leaders to gauge the challenges that war and pluralism pose to Christian leadership. They observed that Christian leadership was central to restoring national stability. The church stepped in to provide humanitarian assistance and shelter refugees, irrespective of religion. The Bible Society provided trauma-healing seminars to victims. In peace-building efforts, clergymen preached for the nation's political officials and the anti-balaka fighters.

Chapters six through eight examine Christian organizations. Nupanga Weanzana views Christian organizations as central to the formation of postcolonial identities, an accountability mechanism in local communities. Christian organizations ensure that the theological directives of the church be combined with contextual knowledge to keep leaders accountable. Michael Bowen details, in chapter seven, the socioeconomic contributions Christian organizations make to functioning economies: they provide health care, clean water, and environmental and agricultural conservation. Christian organizations serve as an economic trust in local communities. Chapter eight examines African women's organizations. Despite persistent gender inequities, it demonstrates that new opportunities exist for African Christian women as leaders and mentors, through direct confrontation with patriarchal structures in their societies.

The remaining chapters underscore the importance of literacy. In chapter nine, H...