
Living Postcolonial Anglicanism
Prospects for a Polycentric Anglican Communion
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Will be published approx. on 5. February 2026
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-1-6669-7997-8 (ISBN)
Description
With contributions from Anglican scholars from across the worldwide Anglican Communion, this volume reimagines the Anglican Communion as a polycentric and multivocal community serving God's mission.
The Anglican Communion faces many challenges and opportunities as its primary demographic continues to shift to the Global South, and its English and Western cultural and ecclesiological hegemony is increasingly called into question. As a global family of churches, the Anglican Communion has to explore new relationships, power dynamics, and ecclesiological practices as it lives into a postcolonial, multivocal, and polycentric Communion. This hopeful anthology offers theological and ecclesiological analyses, critical reflections on matters of justice and Anglicanism's colonial legacy, as well as missional, and pastoral possibilities for a postcolonial Anglican Communion.
The Anglican Communion faces many challenges and opportunities as its primary demographic continues to shift to the Global South, and its English and Western cultural and ecclesiological hegemony is increasingly called into question. As a global family of churches, the Anglican Communion has to explore new relationships, power dynamics, and ecclesiological practices as it lives into a postcolonial, multivocal, and polycentric Communion. This hopeful anthology offers theological and ecclesiological analyses, critical reflections on matters of justice and Anglicanism's colonial legacy, as well as missional, and pastoral possibilities for a postcolonial Anglican Communion.
Reviews / Votes
As a pastor situated in the two-thirds world, I wholeheartedly commend this audacious reimagining of Anglicanism. As always, Kwok Pui-lan and Ian T. Douglas have ably curated inputs from a diverse array of scholars from the Anglican community, to explore paths that transcend colonial legacies. This publication is a meaningful contribution to contemporary discourse, and will to pave the way to a genuinely polycentric and life-affirming Communion. * Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa * Living Postcolonial Anglicanism is an eye-opening and thought-provoking examination of the colonial legacy of Anglicanism and its ongoing impact. This book, rich in historical analysis, serves as an invaluable resource for students, scholars, and anyone seeking to understand the evolving discourse on human rights and inclusion within the Anglican Communion. It is a timely and transformative read. * Akua Ofori-Boateng, Director of Programmes for the Anglican Diocese of Accra, Ghana * Living Postcolonial Anglicanism offers a clear elucidation of the historical motives, methods, and manifestations of the colonial agenda. The examples given of how churches contextualize the Anglican tradition provide opportunities for the entire Communion to learn how to live out a new, postcolonial Anglicanism and to find unity in our diversity. * Natalie Blake, United Theological College of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica * This is a very timely publication. As Anglican Communion structures are being debated, with proposals to make them less centered on the set of Canterbury and more reflective of the diverse nature of its member churches, these essays provide extensive theological commentary on and passionate advocacy of this trajectory. As with it's widely read predecessor of 2001, Beyond Colonial Anglicanism, this volume will richly fulfil the editor's hopes of catalyzing discussion that shapes "our common dream for an embodied, pluralistic, and freeing postcolonial Anglicanism". * Stephen Spencer, Anglican Communion Office and Durham University *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
3 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
560 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6669-7997-8 (9781666979978)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Living Postcolonial Anglicanism
Prospects for a Polycentric Anglican Communion
E-Book
11/2025
1st Edition
T&T Clark
€94.99
Available for download

Living Postcolonial Anglicanism
Prospects for a Polycentric Anglican Communion
E-Book
11/2025
1st Edition
T&T Clark
€94.99
Available for download
Persons
Kwok Pui-lan is Distinguished Scholar at Episcopal Divinity School and a past president of the American Academy of Religion.
Ian T. Douglas is retired Bishop Diocesan of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut and former Angus Dun Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Episcopal Divinity School.
Ian T. Douglas is retired Bishop Diocesan of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut and former Angus Dun Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Episcopal Divinity School.
Editor
Contributions
St. Paul's University
Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast, Ghana
Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sabah Theological Seminary in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Rio de Janeiro State University
Diocese of Huron in Ontario, Canada
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Kwok Pui-lan and Ian T. Douglas
Section I: Toward Postcolonial Ecclesiology and Theology
Chapter 1: Postcolonialism and the Anglican Communion
Kwok Pui-lan
Chapter 2: The Truth Shall Set You Free: Anglicanism Through a Hermeneutic of Difference
Ian T. Douglas
Chapter 3: Shattering the Ceiling of Power: Reimagining Anglican Witness as "Withness"
Esther Mombo and Godfrey Owino Adera
Chapter 4: Race and Sexuality in the "Regions Beyond": Toward a Queer Missiology
Patrick S. Cheng
Chapter 5: Voicing Postcolonial Anglican Theology
Robert S. Heaney
Section II: Horizons for Justice
Chapter 6: It's All about Climate: Change, Crisis, Justice
Julio E. Murray Thompson
Chapter 7: A Challenge to the Anglican Communion: Step Up and Prioritize the Global Poor
John Hammock and Edmund Newell
Chapter 8: Exploring Human Sexuality in Postcolonial African Churches
Victor R. Atta-Baffoe
Chapter 9: Reimagining the Future of Women in Ministry: The Experience of Malaysia
Judy Berinai
Chapter 10: The Spires and the Rafters: Exploring Haudenosaunee Self-Determination as Indigenous Anglicans
Rosalyn Kantlaht'ant Elm
Chapter 11: Christian Unity and Witness: Stories from Pakistan to the United States
Salmoon Bashir
Section III: Missional and Pastoral Possibilities
Chapter 12: Mission and Postcolonialism in the Anglican Communion
Jesse Zink
Chapter 13: Shaping Anglican Bible Study: Contextual Bible Study in the Anglican Communion
Gerald O. West
Chapter 14: Liturgy as Mission and Mission as Liturgy
Luiz Carlos Teixeira Coelho
Chapter 15: Decolonizing White Supremacy: Confronting Colonial Anglican Legacies
Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook
Chapter 16: Redeeming Imperial Anglicanism: The Challenge for Theological Education
Jenny Te Paa Daniel
Index
About the Contributors
Introduction
Kwok Pui-lan and Ian T. Douglas
Section I: Toward Postcolonial Ecclesiology and Theology
Chapter 1: Postcolonialism and the Anglican Communion
Kwok Pui-lan
Chapter 2: The Truth Shall Set You Free: Anglicanism Through a Hermeneutic of Difference
Ian T. Douglas
Chapter 3: Shattering the Ceiling of Power: Reimagining Anglican Witness as "Withness"
Esther Mombo and Godfrey Owino Adera
Chapter 4: Race and Sexuality in the "Regions Beyond": Toward a Queer Missiology
Patrick S. Cheng
Chapter 5: Voicing Postcolonial Anglican Theology
Robert S. Heaney
Section II: Horizons for Justice
Chapter 6: It's All about Climate: Change, Crisis, Justice
Julio E. Murray Thompson
Chapter 7: A Challenge to the Anglican Communion: Step Up and Prioritize the Global Poor
John Hammock and Edmund Newell
Chapter 8: Exploring Human Sexuality in Postcolonial African Churches
Victor R. Atta-Baffoe
Chapter 9: Reimagining the Future of Women in Ministry: The Experience of Malaysia
Judy Berinai
Chapter 10: The Spires and the Rafters: Exploring Haudenosaunee Self-Determination as Indigenous Anglicans
Rosalyn Kantlaht'ant Elm
Chapter 11: Christian Unity and Witness: Stories from Pakistan to the United States
Salmoon Bashir
Section III: Missional and Pastoral Possibilities
Chapter 12: Mission and Postcolonialism in the Anglican Communion
Jesse Zink
Chapter 13: Shaping Anglican Bible Study: Contextual Bible Study in the Anglican Communion
Gerald O. West
Chapter 14: Liturgy as Mission and Mission as Liturgy
Luiz Carlos Teixeira Coelho
Chapter 15: Decolonizing White Supremacy: Confronting Colonial Anglican Legacies
Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook
Chapter 16: Redeeming Imperial Anglicanism: The Challenge for Theological Education
Jenny Te Paa Daniel
Index
About the Contributors