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Omega Bula

Omega Chilufya Makumba was born in Zambia, Omega Chilufya Bula, (d. January 31, 2023) was an ecumenical leader who held many influential positions with the World Council of Churches and the United Church of Canada, She also worked closely with the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) on issues of ecumenism and racial, gender economic and social justice. Working with the World Council of Churches, she ran the Woman’s Desk for the All Africa Council of Churches in the 1980s and 1990s where she warned of the hardships of structural adjustment on women. 

In the United Church of Canada, She helped create the Partner Council and shaped the Principles of Global Partnership that guide the global partnership program of the United Church of Canada.  She served in the Division of World Outreach as Area Secretary for Southern Africa and Gender Justice. She was Area secretary for Southern Africa and Gender Justice. she was the first racial justice minister.  She was  Executive Minister of the former Justice, Global and Ecumenical Relations (JGER) and Partners in Mission Units (PIM).  (https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-mourns-loss-of-omega-chilufya-bula-who-opened-doors-of-opportunity-for-many)

https://catalogue.unitedchurcharchives.ca/bula-omega-2023

On April 29, 1994 she was the keynote speaker for the United Methodist Women’s Assembly in Cincinnati, Ohio, a quadrennial event for which 10,000 women were registered to attend.

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/408020557/

Life

Omega Chilufya Makumba Bula was (1948 - 2023) was born on 8th October 1948 during the British colonial rule of Zambia and died on January 31, 2023 in Lusaka Zambia. [1]

Upon retirement, she established a sustainable farm and guesthouse, providing educational and entrepreneurial support for members of her community, and worked with members of her church in Zambia and Canada to host a two-week children's camp in August, dubbed "Camp Chipembi."

https://catalogue.unitedchurcharchives.ca/bula-omega-2023.

Economic Literacy

Bula was know for setting up economic literacy programs in the 1990s to educated women about female impoverishment caused by structural adjustment policies (SAPs) of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. She set up these program while running the Women's Desk for the All Africa Council of Churches at the World Council of Churches (WCC). The programs used the laity to transform society held five assumptions.

1. The Laity makes up the majority of the church and has a diversity of talent gifts economic resources and commitments.
2. The Laity can assume key leadership roles in ministry and the Church.
3. The majority of the laity are women who play important life giving roles in society.Their participation and empowerment will create significant positive change in society.
4. Social change takes a long time and must address economic, political and cultural aspects of society that are historical and dynamic. Therefore, laity formation must be consistent, long term and community based.
5. There is a need to use popular methods of education that value reflection, activism, making connections with the larger society and working towards structural explanations of society.

https://newint.org/features/1994/07/05/life

Bula was a member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians from Zambia. (no citation for this) https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-mourns-loss-of-omega-chilufya-bula-who-opened-doors-of-opportunity-for-many https://www.auroraunitedchurch.ca/news/remembering-omega-chilufya-bula http://wcrc.ch/news/communion-mourns-passing-of-omega-bula

(https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-mourns-loss-of-omega-chilufya-bula-who-opened-doors-of-opportunity-for-many) Omega passed away in Lusaka, Zambia on January 31 2023. Her son Mwai Bula shared the sad news that Omega passed away from heart complications after a long battle with cancer. Omega leaves an incomparable legacy of ecumenical leadership in the struggle for racial, gender, economic and social justice in her home country of Zambia, across the African continent, in The United Church of Canada, and globally. She served in the General Council Offices in the Division of World Outreach as Area Secretary for Southern Africa and Gender Justice, as the first-ever Racial Justice Minister, and as Executive Minister of the former Justice, Global and Ecumenical Relations (JGER) and Partners in Mission Units (PIM). Her commitment to partnership led to the formation of the Partner Council, and was instrumental in shaping the Principles of Global Partnership that guide the global partnership program of The United Church of Canada today.

https://prairietopinerc.ca/memorial-service-for-omega-chilufya-bula-february-6-2023-8am-e

https://youtu.be/GTLMpR5x9qs

https://youtu.be/QCiSElPPfW8

Her voice…speaking on Kairos moment and inclusivity

More sources:

MOURNING THE PASSING OF OMEGA CHILUFYA BULA https://northernspiritrc.ca/memorial-for-omega-chilufya-bula/

Bula wrote the foreword to Belonging: Constructing a Canadian Theology of Inclusion by Kawuki Mukasa (2005), pp. vii-viii.

Transformation of Society by Laity Formation, by Omega Bula (October 1993). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6623.1993.tb02890.x

Mentioned several times in this book: With Courage and Compassion: Women and the Ecumenical Movement, by Aruna Gnanadason (2020). https://www.google.com/books/edition/With_Courage_and_Compassion/WqC2DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Omega%20Bula

Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH) Saturday, March 5, 1994, page 30. Downloaded February 19, 2023.

Mihevc. (1994). Omega Bula--Kenya. In New internationalist (Issue 257, p. 17–). New Internationalist Co-operative.