The Rev. Dr. Dorcas Chebet Juma is an Afro-feminist scholar and an ordained minister in the Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA). In 2008, alongside Professor Esther Mombo, she received the Sylvia Michel Prize for their research on discrimination against women within the RCEA, particularly their efforts to challenge and amend the church’s constitutional rule that restricted ordination to men^[1]. Due to her courage and bold advocacy for women's ordination, the 54th Synod in November 2017 officially endorsed the ordination of women as ministers of Word and Sacrament alongside their male counterparts^[2]. In 2024, she was further honored at the 6th Pan-African Conference, Sankofa 2024, where the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians recognized her as a champion for African Women’s Theologies during their homecoming Sankofa Conference, held from July 1st to 5th, 2024.

Juma was born on 1 January 1978 to Bishop Margret Temuko Wandiema and the late Joseph Juma Ng'otor. She is the firstborn among the girls and the third-born in a family of nine children. Juma comes from a polygamous family with a total of 21 siblings. Raised by a mother who strongly valued education for girls and boys, Juma grew up embracing Afro-feminist ideals, championing the dignity and empowerment of women. Her humble background inspired her belief in 'writing to right'—using research and scholarship as tools for social justice and change.

The Rev. Dr. Dorcas Chebet Juma is a research fellow at Stellenbosch University (Old & New Testament) and the University of South Africa (UNISA) and a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Pwani University. She holds a BD in Theology from St. Paul’s University, an MTh from Protestant University (Netherlands), and a PhD in Old Testament Studies from Stellenbosch University. Her research includes works such as “Rereading Esther 1 & 2 for Equity and Women Leadership,” “Tamar’s Voice in the Context of Covid-19: Re-Reading 2 Samuel 13 for the Dignity of Women’s Sexuality,” "Motherhood in Institutions of Higher Learning: The Case of Public Universities in Kenya," and "Law, Religion, Culture and Slay Queens," among others.

• Juma, D. C. and Mombo E. 2008.Women and Leadership in the Reformed Church of East Africa. Geneva, World Alliance of the Reformed Churches.
• Juma, D. C. and Cherop, B. 2012. ‘Teaching Gender and Theology in The Reformed Church of East Africa (RITT) in Eldoret, Kenya.’ In Jurgens Hendricks, Elna Mouton, Len, Hansen and Elisabet Le Roux (Eds). Men In The Pulpit, Women In the Pew? Addressing Gender Inequality in Africa. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. pp. 170-181.
• Juma, C. D. and Cherop, B. 2015. ‘Gender and Poverty:Rereading Proverbs 31 in pursuit of socio–economic justice for women in the Reformed Church of East Africa’ In Elna Mouton, Gertrude Kapuma, Len Hansen & Thomas Togom (Eds). Living with dignity:African perspectives on gender equality. Stellenbosch: SUN MeDIA. pp. 193-218.
• Juma, D. C. 2016. ‘Rereading Esther 1 & 2 for Equity and Women Leadership: A Reflection on Gender and Leadership in the Old Testament,’ In KeumJu Jewel Hyun and Diphus C. Chemorion (Eds.) “The Quest for Gender Equity in Leadership: Biblical teachings on Gender Equity and Illustrations of Transformation in Africa.” Ave, Suite: Wipf and Stock Publishers, available online @ www.lybrary.com/the-quest-for-gender-equity-in-leadership-biblical...
• Juma, D. C. 2016.  “Death and Dying! Exploring the Sabaot Word Kikume - Kusobe and Reading Song 5:1-7 for the Dignity of Kenyan Women,” in The Presbyterian University of East Africa International Research Journal. (V. 1) September 2016 pp. 64-88.    
• Juma, D. C. 2019. A Kenyan poetic and an African women's approach to the Song of Songs: For the quest: the dignity of human sexuality. Saarbrücken, Germany: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
• Juma, D. C. 2021. ‘NYAMBURA – MY SHERO – SHE ROSE – WE ROSE: A Poem in Honor of Nyambura Njoroge based on the Song of Songs,’ In Chitando, Ezra, Mombo, Esther & Gunda, Masiiwa Ragies (Eds.). That all may live!: essays in honour of Nyambura J. Njoroge. Bemberg: University of Bamberg Press, P. 9
• Juma, D. C. 2022a. “Tamar’s Voice in The Context of Covid 19: Re Reading 2 Samuel 13 for the Dignity of Women’s Sexuality.” In M.C. Green, F. Kabata & F. Sibanda (Eds.). Law, Religion, Health and Healing in Africa. Stellenbosch: African Sun Media, 201-215. Available online through, https://doi.org/10.52779/9781991201911/14.
• Juma, D. C. 2022b. “Film and African Women’s Religious Futurism. An Afro-Feminist Lens to Mark 15:1–40 from the Context of the Song of Songs 5:1–8.” “ZESZYTY NAUKOWE PUNO”, seria trzecia, nr 10, red. nacz. Jolanta Chwastyk-Kowalczyk, Londyn, 2022, 131-147. https://puno.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ZN-PUNO-2022.pdf.
• Juma, D. C. 2023a. “Proverbs 31 in Dialogue with Acts 9:36–43: An Afro-feminisation of Mother Earth for Equity.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 79(3), 7 pages. doi:https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v79i3.8181
• Juma, D. C. 2023b. “‘Sharon’s’ Blood through Judges 11:31–40: The Sacrificial Lambs in African Women’s lenses.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 79(3), 7 pages. doi:https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v79i3.8189
• Juma, D. C. 2023c. “The Hesed and Rahamim of God as Resources for Obedience in the Midst of Suffering in the Book of Lamentations.” Sacrum Testamentum, Volume 3 Article No. 8 - 1-33. Doi: https://sacratestamentum.wixsite.com/sacrum-testamentum/volume-3
• Juma, D.C., 2024a. Motherhood in Institutions of Higher Learning: The Case of Public Universities in Kenya. Journal of the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO. Vol. 4 No. 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.62049/jkncu.v4i1.54.
• Juma, D.C., 2024b. The Dragonfly Sea: The Sea, The Land and One African Woman’s Voyage-in. In Gudhlanga, E. S., Dube, M. W., & Pepenene, L. E. (Eds.). Ecofeminist Perspectives from African Women Creative Writers: Earth, Gender, and the Sacred. Cham: Springer International Publishing. 187-203).
• Juma, D. C., 2024c. Re-thinking ‘Matriarchy’ in the Life of Anna Elisha Mghwira: Women in Religion and Politics in the Context of 1 Kings 1:1-2:19. In Maseno, L., Mombo, E., Muke, N. and Kahindo, V. (Eds.). Queen of Sheba: East and Central African Women’s Theologies of Liberation (Circle Jubilee Volume 2). Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press, 71-87.
• Juma, D. C., 2024d. Feminist Cultural Hermeneutics and a Theology of Women Empowerment: Musimbi R. A. Kanyoro’s Global Pilgrimages of Justice. In Maseno, L., Mombo, E., Muke, N. and Kahindo, V. (Eds.). Queen of Sheba: East and Central African Women’s Theologies of Liberation (Circle Jubilee Volume 2). Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press, 71-87., 117-134.
• Juma, D.C., 2024e. ‘They Took Away My Cloak!’ Narrating Rape in ‘Her Voice’: An Afro-Feminism Lens to Song 5:6-8. In Riemersma, N & Spronk, K. (Eds.). Megillot (ACEBT 37). Amsterdam: Societas Hebraica Amstelodamensis, 25-34.
• Juma, D. C. 2024f. Law, Religion, Culture and Slay Queens. African Theological Journal for Church and Society, 5(2), 188-216. https://atjcs.netact.org.za/index.php/netact/article/view/150.