The Institute for Christian-Muslim Relations (ICMR) at the Joshua and Timothy School of Theology is a vibrant part of St. Paul’s University in Limuru, Kenya. Graduates from programs in theology proceed to have careers in community development, chaplaincy, lay ministry, teaching, human services, and more. The diploma, degree, and postgraduate programs allow for a flexible curriculum in a rigorous academic environment, and students can take regular classes or opt for distance learning, blended learning, and virtual programs as they continue with their ministry.
The school offers a unique Master of Arts in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations program. The program began in 2004 with a class of ten students and has offered training to students from a variety of backgrounds and nationalities including but not limited to: Kenya, Tanzania, D.R. Congo, Rwanda, Turkey, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Sudan. Both staff and students have also been widely spread including some from Africa, North America, Asia and Europe. Theological institutions in Africa, like in many parts of the world, make the teaching of other religions part and parcel to the theological education of students. The extent to which a particular religion receives prominence depends largely on the environment in which the student will eventually minister. In some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, African Traditional Religions received prominence. This was because of the understanding that adherents of African Traditional Religions constituted the majority in Africa, and therefore was the environment in which the church had to carry out its life and witness. However, in the recent past the religious environment of Kenya and Africa as a whole has seen a growth in Islam. Muslim population in most countries today exceeds those of adherents of African Traditional Religions. It is recognized that all Africans maintain a reference point with African Traditional Religions regardless of their formal religious adherence. This reality calls for taking the study of Islam more seriously, in addition to focusing on African Traditional Religions.
Objectives: First, the provision of necessary tools for Christian-Muslim positive engagement. It is clear that in our contemporary situation, dialogue has become indispensable for preventing and resolving conflict. Dialogue is vital in our world of political, cultural, economic and religious differences. Religious dialogue, however, has to be done in context. Our program is designed to encourage an African contextualized dialogue where stereotypes between Christians and Muslims (whether inherited or manufactured), are confronted, broken, and replaced.
Second, doing Christian mission in an interfaith milieu. Inherited concepts and practices of Christian mission hardly recognize the interfaith environment which fosters stereotypes. The objective of the programme is to provide students with the opportunity of developing concepts of mission in an interfaith environment where the other faith is equally ‘missionary’ and where there is a competition as to where to direct the human soul.
Finally, the appreciation of the Christian-Muslim presence in Africa and its meaning for Christian living. In the Christian-Muslim environment in which we live, we either accept our religious differences and live together in peace, or, alternatively, struggle over such differences and ultimately destroy each other. The objective of the program is to help students appreciate that Christianity and Islam are both here to stay, continue to encounter each other, and move towards peaceful relations.
