In Kenya earlier this month, a unique gathering met to discuss the Church in Africa and how it can contribute to the future of a continent poised at a critical juncture Everything in Africa always starts with a story. “A child on its mother’s back does not know that the journey is long,” said Nontando Hadebe. “We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors.” And with that she asked us to join her in calling out the names of some of Africa’s great figures from the past, inviting them to join our conversation as “active listeners”. We were gathered at the Jesuit-run Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, for the second of three annual meetings of the Theological Colloquium on Church, Religion