Rethinking local ecumenism in Mberengwa in Zimbabwe through the social construct of ukama of the Karanga people

Abstract

Ecumenism refers to church or denominational relations and fellowship that seeks to maintain its nature of unity and oneness. Such movement is regarded as communion or cooperation that involves a visible unity with churches working together at different levels. Ecumenism takes different forms depending on the participants, location and purpose. Thus, there is conciliar ecumenism formed by the elite, namely the clergy and theologians who sit in the council of churches vis-à-vis the grassroots ecumenical engagement by the clergy and laity in local congregations. Usually, the aims and modus operandi are always different. Conciliar ecumenism refers to a top-down approach, while local ecumenism is a bottom-up approach that seeks to fulfil the spiritual and socio-economic needs of local rural communities. Local congregations’ ecumenism is usually guided by social-cultural setting of the people. Ukama is a Karanga social construct that emphasises relatedness in life.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate that some of the tenets of ukama, such as communal living, hospitality and cooperation, can promote local ecumenism. The article seeks to discuss local congregational ecumenical engagement in Mberengwa in relation to the Karanga concept of ukama. This article is based on literature analysis exploring the significance of the ethic of ukama in relation to local ecumenism. It begins by discussing the tenets of ukama and then connects them with some theological views of ecumenism.

Contribution: This article seeks to discuss how the church can learn from the local social construct to engage in ecumenism. In this article, I conclude that cooperation by local congregations in times of crisis and their fellowship form part of ecumenism from below, influenced by ukama, and the church can harness this concept to strengthen its unity. This article is partly based on my PhD research of 2020.