Elna Mouton

Living with dignity Elna Mouton

This collection of essays continues the journey on which NetACT (Network for African Congregational Theology) set out fifteen years ago, and which eventually culminated in the publication of Men in the Pulpit, Women in the Pew? Addressing Gender Inequality in Africa in 2012 (Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS).

NetACT was formed in Nairobi, Kenya, in February 2000, with a vision to develop transformational leadership in Africa through theological education that would meet the dire needs of congregations (in the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition in sub-Saharan Africa) in bold and prophetic ways. At that stage the topic most discussed on the continent was that of HIV and AIDS, and already during its first meeting the network of theological institutions minuted the following: "If we want to address the issue of HIV and AIDS effectively and faithfully, we will have to move from denial to truth-telling."1 In order to achieve this goal, members committed themselves to an ever-deepening process of trust building - through personal friendship and working together on various projects. In the first formulation of its identity, NetACT declared that it "aims at assisting participating institutions to develop congregational theology and leadership. It seeks to achieve this aim (inter alia) through addressing the HIV and AIDS problem, especially by providing the theological, moral and spiritual undergirding to curb this pandemic."