Little book about the crucial role of women in the Bible

Title: In Remembrance of HER

Author: Nyambura Njoroge

Publisher: Ssali Publishing House, South Africa

Pages: 77

Reviewer: Dorothy Kweyu

This booklet’s size belies the depth of its content. Composed of six parts, excluding the prelims, the 77-page booklet is the work of one of Kenya’s foremost theologians, Nyambura Njoroge, who just over 40 years ago became the first ordained church minister of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA).

Perusing this book, its connection to the paschal mystery that climaxed on Easter Sunday is not lost on the reader. Nyambura quotes these poignant biblical verses, (Mark 14:8-9), which are replicated in the gospels of Matthew and John: “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her”. I highlight the last four words as they constitute the booklet’s title.

According to the back cover blurb, in remembrance of HER has the keynote address she delivered at an academic symposium at the Presbyterian University of East Africa (PUEA). The seminar, which was held on September 5, 2022, coincided with the 40th anniversary of clergywomen in the PCEA. Nyambura Njoroge was ordained a minister of word and sacrament on September 5, 1982.

Nyambura’s quotation — and it comes as early in the book as the dedication page, iii, honours namesake Wambui Josephine Waweru and Wambui Jane Gakaara, who died in 2013 and 2019, respectively.

The author, who holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in African Theology and Christian Social Ethics from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America, exploits the book’s title to the full. Apart from seeming like a refrain throughout the booklet, it features in the second part of the booklet, which is titled: ‘The Neglected Mandate: “In Remembrance of Her”’.

The booklet is highly critical of what Nyambura calls ‘the patriarchal ideology’. The author employs feminist language. For instance, she uses ‘herstory’ instead of the familiar ‘history’. She quotes St Paul in 1 Corinthians 13-22: “…if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” She expounds: “Jesus affirmed and commissioned women to witness his resurrection through Mary Magdalene and many other women disciples from the womb to the tomb, as it were.”

The quote in the second paragraph above is pivotal to Nyambura’s Easter message as captured in her book. It is backgrounded in the biblical passage where a woman, Mary Magdalene, kisses and anoints Jesus’s feet with an expensive perfume and wipes them with her hair. It is this incident that triggers the Easter story, as Judas Iscariot uses it to justify his betrayal of his master, leading to the crucifixion.

Patriarchal church leadership

Despite women’s key role in the resurrection story, Nyambura laments: “…to a large extent patriarchal church leadership and patriarchal biblical interpretations continue to censure inclusion of women in all ministries of the gospel. The hallmarks of patriarchy are domination, control, marginalization, and gross conduct of injustices and it is exercised and promoted by both women and men.”

Judging by a testimony Nyambura gives of her immediate post-ordination period, a lot has changed in the last 40 years. Consider for instance that, at Nyambura’s ordination, the social media, as we know it today, did not exist, and what backlash the ordination would have caused as news of the unheard-of event went ‘viral’, if I may use the modern-day cliché! She recalls being attacked in the “letters to the editor” section of the two main daily newspapers of the time to explain Pauline passages that say women should remain silent in church”—letters that disapproved of a woman being ordained.

Nyambura writes: “In other circumstances, some women visited me in the office and made it clear that their child will be baptised by the senior male clergy”—a graphic example of ‘women are their own worst enemy’ mantra. The author attributes this to “the patriarchal mindset that is deeply entrenched in our socialization, culture, teachings and communities of faith.”

In regard to baptism, the Catholic Church expects any baptised member to baptise a newborn or wounded or seriously sick adult at grave risk of dying unbaptised. This exemplified ‘the priesthood of all believers that’s core to Presbyterian theology. However, the baptism of the sick must be repeated by an ordained priest should the person at risk survive. Unlike most Protestant churches, the Catholic Church maintains that ordination to the priesthood is a male preserve. The issue remains too emotive for this reviewer to wade into.

Controversy aside, in remembrance of HER is rich in examples of women, who, “by God’s design and wisdom”, were at the heart and centre of the good news. Nyambura cites “ordinary and unconventional women”, in the genealogy of Jesus. They include Tamar (Genesis 38), Rahab, the prostitute, (Joshua 2), who facilitated the Israelites' escape to the Promised Land, Ruth of the book of the same name, King David’s grandmother, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Because of their central role in the salvation story, the author employs another feminist term in the booklet, ‘foremothers’.

All in all, in remembrance of HER is a ‘must read’ for theologians and feminist scholars, an important addition to the library not just of theologians but also of ordinary Christians engaged in the perennial debate of women’s perceived marginalisation in Church leadership. Nyambura cites the book, Men in the Pulpit, Women in the Pew, which addresses gender inequality in Africa.

Caveat: women’s harping on their relegation in ordained ranks panders to the very domination they criticise: the Easter story, which sees the angel at the empty tomb sending Mary Magdalene to relay the resurrection message shows women as premier evangelists — a ministry that is core to the Easter story.

Ms Kweyu is Consulting Editor, The Editorial Centre, and contributor, Daily Nation. [email protected]