Hinga, Teresia Mbari
Teresia Mbari Hinga was a pioneering Kenyan Christian feminist theologian, born in Kiambu, Kenya. A devoted single mother, she is survived by her two children, Anthony Hinga and Pauline Wairimu. She earned her B.Ed. with first-class honors from Kenyatta University, an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Nairobi, and a Ph.D. in African Christianity from the University of Lancaster (1990). Her teaching career spanned Kenyatta University (1987–1994), DePaul University (1994–2005), and Santa Clara University (2005–2023), where she served as Associate Professor of Religious Studies.
Hinga was a trailblazer in African feminist theology and ethics. A founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians and the African Association for the Study of Religion, she also held leadership roles in the American Academy of Religion and the Catholic Theological Society of America. Her scholarship emphasized decolonial, Spirit-centered theology that uplifted African women’s voices.
Hinga’s landmark book, African, Christian, Feminist (2017), exemplifies her commitment to anamnetic theology, recovering the memory and wisdom of Africa’s past to imagine a liberative future. Through her work on figures like Kimpa Vita, Hinga exposed colonial distortions and re-centered the feminine in African religious thought. A global theologian and local activist, she supported sustainable development in her home village of Ndumberi, funding farming initiatives and promoting rainwater harvesting. She also engaged deeply with ethical responses to HIV/AIDS, co-editing Women, Religion and HIV/AIDS in Africa (2008). Hinga’s legacy is one of prophetic courage, academic excellence, and unwavering advocacy for justice, memory, and hope.
Stephen Kariuki Apollo Warui
Source:
https://www.scu.edu/cas/religious-studies/news–events/stories/in-memoriam-teresia-mbari-hinga.html
This collected memory was submitted in May 2025 by Stephen Kariuki Apollo Warui, a PhD student at the Boston University School of Theology and a member of both the Presbyterian Church of East Africa and the Presbyterian Church (USA).
