The African Theological Fellowship (ATF)/Fraternité Théologique Africaine (FTA) links members across the continent in a network of spiritual encouragement, theological reflection, Christian social action and service, and engagement with the religious, social and cultural forces shaping African societies. It comprises African Christians of evangelical persuasion, often in mainline denominations, committed to serving the Church in the African context.
The ATF was formed in June 1984 in Tlayacapan, Mexico, at the second international conference of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Mission Theologians, now the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT), a world-wide network linking Two-thirds world fellowships promoting contextual theological reflection and action.
The ATF operates at regional (continental) and sub-regional levels. The first regional consultation was held in June 1985 at Kabare, Kenya. Papers read were published as Witnessing to the Living God in Contemporary Africa, Nairobi: Uzima Press (1986).
At the sub-regional level, ATF activities were concentrated initially in Ghana and Kenya, and later South Africa. A West Africa ATF consultation was held in Ghana in July 1987, and an East Africa conference in Kampala, Uganda, 1989. South Africa joined the ATF in April 1991 during the 4th INFEMIT conference at Osijek, in the then Yugoslavia.
Key institutions in the three sub-regional locations identified at a joint meeting of the ATF and INFEMIT ExCos in Nairobi, Kenya, in April 1992, were the St. Andrew’s Institute, now College, for Theology and Development, Kabare, Kenya; the Evangelical Theological House of Studies (ETHOS), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission Research and Applied Theology (ACMC), Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana. All these had credibility in context and shared a common vision and areas of concern, ranging from evangelism and renewal, development and transformation, the promotion of Christian scholarship and theological awareness, and were encouraged to develop distinctive emphases relating to the issues in their particular contexts which could be of benefit to those in other contexts.
In 1995, the ATF received assistance from the Pew Charitable Trusts, USA, to develop as a sustainable network linking present locations and drawing in others. A Francophone Africa sub-region was added, with its own Co-ordinator tasked to expand the FTA network in Francophone countries. The Centre International (now Universitaire) de Missiologie, Kinshasa, DRC, became the fourth ATF link institution. In 2004 the ATF expanded to Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries with a conference held in Maputo, Mozambique. Expansion into Arabic-speaking Africa remains a dream.
A major concern of the ATF has been to enhance the intellectual and spiritual preparation for ministry in Africa of promising African evangelical scholars. It seeks to do this through both financial assistance and academic mentoring in postgraduate studies. This concern led to the development of an ATF Master of Theology (MTh) African Christianity, which was initially run jointly by the ATF institutions in Ghana and South Africa, in conjunction with the School of Theology, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, which awarded the degree until 2005 when the Akrofi-Christaller Institute (ACI) received its presidential charter to award its own degrees.