Lecturer
of Practical Theology & Peacebuilding
Dean, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, PUR
P.O. Box 619, Butare, Rwanda
Phone:
(+250)788620232
[email protected] ;
1. General Background
Rev. Dr. Célestin
Nsengimana holds a PhD in Practical Theology from the Protestant Theological University,
Amsterdam (2023), a Master’s Degree in Peace Studies and Conflict
Transformation from the University of Rwanda (2014), and a Bachelor’s degree in
Protestant Theology from the Protestant Faculty of Butare (1999). He is
currently teaching Practical Theology and Peacebuilding. Since July 2023, he serves
as Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the Protestant
University of Rwanda (PUR). Previously, he was Dean of PUR’s Faculty of
Development Studies (2018–2023) and Academic Secretary of the Faculty of
Theology and Religious Studies (2010–2011, 2013). Rev. Nsengimana has extensive
pastoral and administrative experience within the Presbyterian Church in
Rwanda—as parish minister (1999–2008), President of Butare Region (2010-2013),
Rubengera (2007–2010), and Gitarama Presbyteries (2013–2018), and Director of
the Presbyterian Church Training & Documentation Center (2019–2023). He
began his professional career as a primary (1993–1995) and secondary school
teacher (1995–1997).
2. Publications
Nsengimana, C. (2007). L’E.P.R. et l’Islam. In E.
Musemakweli, L. Blommaert & W. Willems (Eds.), Eglise Presbytérienne au Rwanda
: Sa mission et son témoignage 1907–2007 (pp. 60–71). Brussels: PRODOC.
Nsengimana, C. (2007). Panorama historique des
régions, de paroisses et des zones d’évangélisation de l’Eglise Presbytérienne
au Rwanda. In E. Musemakweli, L. Blommaert & W. Willems (Eds.), Eglise
Presbytérienne au Rwanda: Sa mission et son témoignage 1907–2007 (pp.
74–150). Brussels: PRODOC.
Nsengimana, C.,
& Julienne, K. (2013). Current debate and future perspectives on the
remarriage of divorcees within Protestant Churches in today's Rwandan context.
In Violence and conflict management in families and communities (PIASS
Series No. 6, pp. 9–31). Butare-Huye: PIASS.
Nsengimana, C.
(2015). Peacebuilding initiatives of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda: An
impact assessment. Geneva: Globethic.net. https://www.amazon.com/Peacebuilding-Initiatives-Presbyterian-Post-Genocide-Rwandan/dp/2889310442
Nsengimana, C.
(2021). Genocide commemoration in Rwanda: Remembrance of the dead and
accomplishment of missed funeral rituals. In P. Post, M. Barnard, M.
Hoondert & M. Klomp (Eds.), Handbook of disaster ritual (Liturgia
condenda, 32) (pp. 347–360). Leuven: Peeters Publishers.
https://www.peeters-leuven.be/pdf/9789042946491.pdf
Nsengimana, C.,
& Mukantwari, D. (2021). Critical thinking and peace education in
post-genocide Rwanda: A comparative study on selected schools in Huye district.
In T. Gatwa (Ed.), Education quality in Rwanda: Challenges and opportunities
(PIASS Publication Series No.14, pp. 129–165). Butare-Huye:
PIASS. https://piass.ac.rw/files/SW%202019-%2016092021%20-Peer-Reviewed%20(Final).pdf
Nsengimana, C.
(2023). Academic programmes from the School of Theology to the Protestant
Institute of Arts and Social Sciences. In T. Gatwa & E. Musemakweli
(Eds.), Seeds of blessing from ETB to PIASS: History, Institutional
Development and Achievements of PIASS (pp. 183–213). Butare-Huye: PIASS.
Nsengimana, C.
(2023). Genocide commemoration and reconciliation in Rwanda from a
liturgical ritual perspective. Netherlands Studies in Ritual and Liturgy,
27. Amsterdam/Groningen: Institute for Ritual and Liturgical Studies.
https://www.pthu.nl/irilis/news-events/news/2023/03/new-publication-in-netherlands-studies-in-ritual-and-liturgy-on-genocide-commemoration-and-reconciliation-in-rwanda/
Nsengimana, C.
(2023). Genocide commemoration and reconciliation in Rwanda from a
liturgical ritual perspective. In Yearbook for Ritual and Liturgical
Studies, 39, 81–91.
Nsengimana, C.
(2023). Grassroots experience of memory, healing, and reconciliation:
Learning from the Center for Training and Documentation (CFD) of the
Presbyterian Church in Rwanda. In K. E. Sauer et al. (Eds.), Healing
through Remembering: Sharing Grassroots Experiences of Peace, Reconciliation
and Healing in the Great Lakes Region of Africa (pp. 127–145). Springer
Nature.
3. Research Projects
- Digitalization
of Church Practices and Ritual Absence in Rwanda: A Liturgical Response to
Church Closures During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Governmental Restrictions
(ready for publication)
- Digital
ethics in Rwanda: An exploration of Policies and Practices (ready for
publication)
- The Legacy of the Protestant Reformation on Education in Rwanda (Ongoing Joint Project, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies – FTRS)
4.
International Experiences
·
Presentation
on “The Role of Rwandan Churches in Peacebuilding” at the International Workshop on
Pentecostalism and
Peacebuilding, organized by PMU (Swedish Pentecostal Movement) and
ALT (Academy for Leadership and Theology), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1–4 April
2024.
·
Conference
Speaker at Kerk in Actie
headquarters on “Genocide Commemoration and Reconciliation in Rwanda,” Utrecht,
Netherlands, 15 March 2023. This engagement was part of an ongoing partnership
with Kerk in Actie
through the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda (EPR).
·
Joint
Publications with International Scholars and Publishers (2015, 2021, 2023). See list of
publications for details.
·
Guest
Presenter
in the United States through a partnership with Kiskiminetas Presbytery of the
Presbyterian Church (USA), as part of mutual visits and collaborative projects.
Notable presentations included:
o “I Am Because You Are: A Cultural
Perspective of Peacemaking in Post-Genocide Rwanda”, Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary, September 2019.
o “Church Growth in Rwanda: Ideas
and Methods Used by the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda and Gitarama Presbytery”, Calvary Presbyterian Church,
Indiana, PA, 10 September 2019.
·
Facilitator in an International Think Tank on
Deliverance, Magic, and Witchcraft, hosted by United Evangelical
Mission (UEM), Huye, Rwanda, May 2014.
·
Participant
in the Seminar on Good Governance,
organized by Département
Missionnaire de Suisse Romande (DM), Douala, Cameroon, November
2015.
·
Delegate
to the International Seminar on Migration, organized by Communauté des Églises en Mission
(CEVAA), Dakar, Senegal, February 2010
4. Research Interests
·
Worship
Studies and Liturgical Theology
·
Disaster
and Healing Rituals
·
Memory
Studies and Cultural Anthropology
·
Genocide,
Transitional Justice, and Post-Conflict Reconstruction
·
Conflict
Analysis and Conflict-Sensitive Development
·
Peace
Education and Christian Approaches to Peacebuilding
·
African
Theology of Reconciliation
·
Church
Governance and Leadership Development
·
Project
Management for Peace and Development
·
Ethics
and Rwandan Culture