WORKSHOP ON RELIGIOUS RESEARCH IN AFRICA NAIROBI, 28TH DECEMBER 1967 to 12th JANUARY 1968.

This article provides information on the Workshop on Religious Research in Africa that was convened by David Barrett, director of the Unit of Research of the Church of the Province of East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya from December 28, 1967 to January 12, 1968. Work on the theme of the Workshop, the Life and Growth of the Church in East Africa, had begun eighteen months earlier and most of the papers prepared by the seventy participants had been distributed several weeks before they met at the University College, Nairobi. The morning sessions were guided by Bishop Stephen Neil, by Canon Houtart and by Professors Ranger and Tanner. The broad theme helped participants to pin down the topics of common interest. Ranger, who described his work as that of a political and social historian, assured them that the Christian conscience had penetrated East Africa deeper than one thought. The Workshop showed that there was as yet no agreement about such key concepts as that of the High God, that of ancestor worship, and still less about the meaning of the selected ritual expressions. Since most of the participants were also active missionaries from the Christian Churches, the discussion often turned to the formulation of problems for research workers.