Decolonising Oikoumene

Decolonising Oikoumene comes out as an academic work proposing to capture indigenous articulations of ecumenical expressions everywhere and particularly outside the confines of an ecumenism defined and practised in Western, European and World Christianity. This book has taken upon itself the task of that exegesis of the past, which in most contexts are similar due to a seemingly common heritage of imperial context both political and economic, providing the reader with the liberty to plunge deep into their own spaces to look for, document, research and develop indigenous and unique forms of ecumenical expressions and engagements. "The anxiety and ambiguity of ecumenical winter calls us for a radical shift in our perspectives towards revisiting the histories of the modern ecumenical movement. When seen from a shifted perspective that is informed by the postcolonial experiences of the Global South, histories of ecumenism appear to be the chronicles of decolonisation, where churches in colonial contexts subvert the imperial notion of oikoumene and transform it as a revolutionary instrument in challenging the empires. This book juxtaposes the narratives of ecumenism of oneness advanced under the shadow of colonialism and imperialism with the stories of ecumenism of manyness celebrated in the margins by the multitude daringly embracing the beauty of multiplicity and mutuality. It calls for a radical engagement with the disturbing and diversified realities of life in the contemporary oikoumene that suffers the colonisation of new empires, including the ecclesial and theological empires. The book, thus, challenges and invites the contemporary ecumenical movement dare to be true to its legacy of decolonisation and relive the ecumenical spirt of dissent and nonconformity to the empires of our times"--Page 4 of cover.