{{short description|Kenyan theologian (born 1959)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox theologian | honorific_prefix = | name = Mary Getui | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=KEN|size=100%|MBS}} | image = Prof. Mary Getui.jpg | image_upright = yes | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1959}} | birth_place = Thika, Kenya | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | region = | education = BA, MA University of Nairobi; PhD in Religious Education from Kenyatta University | occupation = Academic, professor | period = | notable_works = | spouse = | children = <!-- Two sons and a daughter --> | era = | language = | tradition_movement = | school_tradition = | main_interests = Theology, ethics, HIV/AIDS | notable_ideas = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = }}
'''Mary Getui''' {{Post-nominals|country=KEN|MBS}} (born 1959) is a Kenyan theologian and professor of Religious Studies at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |last=EWTN |title=Need for Consistent Dialogue among African Women Emphasized at Nairobi Conference |url=https://www.aciafrica.org/news/2937/need-for-consistent-dialogue-among-african-women-emphasized-at-nairobi-conference |access-date=28 July 2022 |website=ACI Africa |language=en}}</ref> She is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. In 2009, Getui was named a Moran of the Burning Spear. She was appointed as chair of the National Aids Control Council of Kenya that same year.
== Early life == In an interview about her work, Getui mentions that she was born in Thika, Kenya, and that her father was a policeman. Getui is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pactpan.org/press-releases/ecumenism-and-synodality-protestant-insights-for-the-catholic-church-in-africa/|title=Ecumenism and Synodality: Protestant Insights for the Catholic Church in Africa|last=Ali|first=Naemeka|date=September 6, 2024|website=Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network|access-date=June 23, 2025}}</ref> She is married and has three children.<ref name=":4" />
== Education and career == Getui notes that she went to school in Kisii as a child, and then attended St Mary’s Nyabururu Girls Primary School and Loreto Convent Limuru Girls High School. Getui also mentions that she was interested in becoming a teacher from an early age.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Getui |first=Mary |title=My dream is to see a HIV-free Kenya |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/eve-woman/article/2000053785/my-dream-is-to-see-a-hiv-free-kenya |access-date=28 July 2022 |website=The Standard |publisher=The Saturday Standard |language=en}}</ref>
Getui graduated from the University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education in 1983.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Faculty Members – Catholic University of Eastern Africa | date=15 September 2020 |url=https://www.cuea.edu/?page_id=7034 |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> She then taught for two years at Upper Hill Secondary School, a boarding school in Kenya, where she taught Religion.<ref name=":4" /> Getui then began lecturing in the Religious Studies department in Kenyatta University. Thanks to a Kenyatta University staff development scholarship, she was able to complete a masters of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nairobi in 1987. She continued to advance her studies while teaching, and earned a PhD in Religious Education from Kenyatta University in 1994.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" /> She became an associate professor, and by 1996, was the chair of the Religious Studies Department at Kenyatta University.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Fiedler |first=NyaGondwe |title=History of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians 1989–2007. |date=2017 |publisher=Mzuni Press |isbn=978-99960-45-23-3 |pages=67 |oclc=1007846412}}</ref> In 1999, while serving as chair, she co-led the planning team for a seminal conference of the African Association for the Study of Religion (AASR); the conference, the first held by the AASR in Africa, was hosted by the Religious Studies Department at Kenyatta University.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hoehler-Fatton |first=Cynthia |date=2000 |title=The African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR) Conference, Nairobi, Kenya July 27-30, 1999 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23551198 |journal=Method & Theory in the Study of Religion |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=422–425 |doi=10.1163/157006800X00274 |jstor=23551198 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> She later became a full professor at Catholic University of Eastern Africa, where she teaches Religious Studies.<ref name=":0" />
Getui joined the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) and was a member of the EATWOT Women's Commission.<ref>Fiedler, ''A History of the Circle'', p. 67.</ref> In 1996, she was elected the African regional coordinator for EATWOT.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 December 1996 |title=Third World Theologians Appeal to Pope, Elect Women Executives |url=https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1996/12/20/third-world-theologians-appeal-to-pope-elect-women-executives&post_id=8622 |access-date=28 July 2022 |website=UCA News |language=en}}</ref> Much of her scholarship has centered on gender issues in Christian theology and theological education. Her essay on theological education in the Seventh-day Adventist Church was included in the ''Handbook of Theological Education in Africa'', edited by Isabel Apawo Phiri and Dietrich Werner and published by the World Council of Churches.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Apawo Phiri |first1=Isabel |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/94195 |title=Handbook of Theological Education in Africa |last2=Werner |first2=Dietrich |date=2013 |publisher=Augsburg Fortress Publishers |isbn=978-1-5064-7589-9}}</ref>
By presidential appointment, Getui became chair for the National Aids Control Council of Kenya in June 2009.<ref name=":4" /> The council was established in 1999, when then-president Daniel arap Moi declared the HIV/Aids epidemic to be a national disaster. Noting that gender inequities contributed to the spread of the virus, and negatively impacted people living with HIV/Aids, the council made mainstreaming gender issues a priority in its work, beginning in the early 2000s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=National AIDS Control Council |date=November 2002 |title=Mainstreaming Gender into the Kenya National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (2000–2005) |pages=iv |url=http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/countryreports/Kenya_NACC_Gender.pdf |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=31 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731130146/http://www.policyproject.com/pubs/countryreports/Kenya_NACC_Gender.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians membership == In 1989, Getui was part of a small planning group of African women academics with degrees in religion or theology, led by Mercy Oduyoye, that organized the inaugural continental gathering of African women theologians in Ghana in 1989. At this gathering, the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (The Circle) was launched, to support the continuing development of African women's theology.<ref name=":1" /> The Circle has both local and regional chapters, which gather regularly and engage in discussion, research and publication. Getui joined the East African Circle representing Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania upon its formation after the 1989 convocation, and was active in the local Kenyatta University Circle, becoming the coordinator in 1992. The region was later reorganized and the Kenyan Circle was established as a separate chapter.<ref name=":2">Fiedler, ''A History of the Circle'', p. 63.</ref>
Getui played a major role in organizing two conferences for the Circle, in 1994 and 1996. In 1994, she helped organize the Southern and East African Zonal meeting, held in Nairobi. In 1996, a continental gathering of the Circle was held in Nairobi, and Getui was the chair of the local organizing committee.<ref name=":2" /> With Grace Wamue, she co-edited a volume of papers published by the Circle, entitled ''Violence Against Women: Reflections by Kenyan Women Theologians''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hinga |first=Teresia M. |date=2002 |title=African Feminist Theologies, the Global Village, and the Imperative of Solidarity across Borders: The Case of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25002427 |journal=Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion |volume=18 |issue=1 |page=81 |jstor=25002427 |issn=8755-4178}}</ref> In 2002, she co-edited, with Hazel Ayanga, a book entitled ''Conflicts in Africa: A Women Response'', published by the Kenyan Chapter of the Circle.<ref name=":3">Fiedler, ''A History of the Circle'', pp. 63–64.</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2025}}
== Awards and recognition == In 2009, Getui was made a Moran of the Burning Spear; this is one of Kenya's highest awards, given by the president to individuals in recognition of distinguished public service.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 December 2009 |title=Award of Orders, Decorations and Medals Jamhuri Day, 12th of December 2009 |pages=3572 |work=The Kenya Gazette |url=https://gazettes.africa/archive/ke/2009/ke-government-gazette-dated-2009-12-11-no-104.pdf |access-date=30 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=30 December 2021 |title=Kenyan Presidential Awards, Orders and Medals - Medals from Kenya |url=https://www.identifymedals.com/article/kenyan-presidential-awards-orders-and-medals/ |access-date=30 July 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> Getui was given an honorary doctorate by DePaul University in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Social Justice Champions to be Honored in Kenya |url=https://wdat.is.depaul.edu/newsroom/year_2012/2529.html |access-date=30 July 2022 |website=wdat.is.depaul.edu}}</ref>
== Selected works == * Getui, M. (2022). Land and Spirituality in the African Socio-Cultural Context. ''ONTENT'', 21. * Churu, B. W., & Getui, M. N. (2021). Community on Mission in a World Wounded by Poverty: A Call to Solidarity, Vulnerability and Liberation. ''Ecclesial Futures'', ''2''(1), 6-25. * Getui, M., & Richard, G. K. (2020). Masculinity and public space in the Greco-Roman period: Implications for Africa today. ''Stellenbosch theological journal'', ''6''(1), 27-39. * Getui, M.N. (1998). Zelophehad’s Daughters in Kenya. ''Women in the Bible'', ''26'', 52-59.
=== Co-edited works === * Getui, M. (2024). ''African Culture in 21st century'': ''Persistence, Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects''. AMECEA Gaba Publication-CUEA Press. ISBN 9789966836724 * Getui, M. N., Churu, B. W., & Susin, L. C. (2008). ''Spirituality for Another Possible World''. Twaweza Communications. {{ISBN|9789966724441}} * Getui, M. N. (Ed.). (2005). ''Responsible Leadership in Marriage and Family''. Acton Pubilshers. {{ISBN|9966888063}} * Getui, M.N. & J. K. Mugambi. (2004). ''Religions in Eastern Africa Under Globalization.'' Acton Publishers. {{ISBN|996688873X}} * Getui, M. N. & Musyoni, W. (2003).''Overcoming Violence: A Faith Based Response.'' National Council of Churches Publication. * Getui, M. N., & Ayanga, H. (Eds.). (2002). ''Conflicts in Africa: A Women Response''. Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, Kenya Chapter.: Faith Institute of Councelling, Nairobi, Kenya. {{ISBN|996698884X}} * Getui, M.N. & Theuri, M.M. (2002) ''Quests for Abundant Life in Africa''. Acton Publishers. {{ISBN|996688839X}} * Getui, M. N., Holter, K., & Zinkuratire, V. (2001). ''Interpreting the Old Testament in Africa''. Acton Publishers. {{ISBN|0820449784}} * Getui, M. N., Maluleke, S. T., & Ukpong, J. S. (Eds.). (2001). ''Interpreting the New Testament in Africa''. Acton Publishers. {{ISBN|9966888020}} * Getui, M.N. & Kanyandago, P. (1999). ''From Violence to Peace: A Challenge for African Christianity.'' Acton Publishers''.'' {{ISBN|9966888136}} * Getui, M. N. & A H de Jong (1999). ''Ethnicity: Blessing or Curse''. Paulines Publications Africa. {{ISBN|9966214577|}} * Getui, M.N., Obeng, E.A. & Mugambi J.N.K. (1999). ''Theology of Reconstruction: Exploratory Essays''. Acton Publishers. {{ISBN|9966888012|}} * Getui, M.N. (1998). ''Theological Method and Aspects of Worship in African Christianity.'' Acton Publishers''.'' {{ISBN|9966888969}} * Getui, M. N. & Wamue, G. N. (1996). ''Violence against women'': ''Reflections by Kenyan women theologians.'' Acton Publishers. {{ISBN|9966888489}}
== References == <references />
== Further reading == * Iminza, F. (2024). Mary Getui, African Indigenous Religions, and Society. In Dube, M. W., Musili, T. K., & Owusu-Ansah, S. (Eds.). ''Gender and African indigenous religions'' (''pp. 129-137).'' Abingdon, Oxon, New York, NY: Routledge. {{ISBN|9781003461883}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Getui, Mary}} Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Kenyan theologians Category:Academic staff of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa Category:People from Kiambu County Category:University of Nairobi alumni Category:Kenyatta University alumni Category:Kenyan Seventh-day Adventists Category:Kenyan women academics Category:DePaul University alumni Category:20th-century Kenyan women writers
Category:Morans of the Order of the Burning Spear Category:HIV/AIDS activists Category:20th-century Kenyan writers Category:21st-century Kenyan writers Category:21st-century Kenyan women writers Category:Kenyan academics