Beyond the Walls: Lament and Love made me an innovator

Cathy Ross is Head of Pioneer Leadership Training at CMS (Church Mission Society) and Lecturer in Mission at Regent’s Park College, Oxford.  She comes from Aotearoa/NZ.  She has previously worked in Rwanda, Congo and Uganda with NZCMS.  Her recent publications focus on mission and include Imagining Mission with John Taylor with Jonny Baker, (London:SCM, 2020)  Her research interests are in the areas of contextual theologies, World Christianity, feminist theologies and hospitality.  She is married to Steve, a GP in Oxford and they have 3 children and five grandchildren.  She enjoys tennis, swimming, coffee, travel and watching the All Blacks.
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“There are things that can be seen only with eyes that have cried.” 
We will briefly consider Psalm 13 as an example of a narrative  of lament.  By reflecting on the work of Emmanuel Katongole, a Ugandan theologian, and the story of a pioneer Maggy Barankitse from Burundi, we will move on to see how articulating lament  can lead us to practices of resistance, justice, innovation and hope.