Talk at Book Launch of Building the Church as Family of God: Evaluation of Small Christian Communities in Eastern Africa (published by CUEA Press)

By Joseph G. Healey

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Monday, 3 September 2012
Jubilee Hall Auditorium

Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA)

Langata, Nairobi, Kenya

 

Good afternoon.

 

I am delighted to be here at CUEA and see many friends from over the past years. I have been privileged to serve the Catholic Church in Eastern Africa for 44 years of AMECEA[1]’s history (1968-2012). Hapa hapa Afrika Mashariki nimekula chumvi nyingi. If someone has done something for a long time, the extended meaning of this Swahili idiom says that “the person has eaten a lot of salt.” So I am happy to have eaten a lot of salt in serving AMECEA and the development of Small Christian Communities in Eastern Africa.I teach courses on Small Christian Communities at different campuses of CUEA in Nairobi.  I am now 74 years old. At the first class the students started calling me Mzee (the Swahili word for “elder”) as a title of respect. But I said, “No. Not yet. Please give me another name.” So the next day they started calling me “a youth from a long ago” (in Swahili it is kijana wa zamani). I like that a lot better.

This book on Small Christian Communities (SCCs) that we are launching today is the exciting story of many, many Catholics in Eastern Africa over the last 50 years. This book is the fruit of many people and of many experiences starting here at CUEA. The “First Version” was given as a paper on “Building the Church as Family of God:  Evaluation of the Growth and Impact of Small Christian Communities in the AMECEA Region as AMECEA Celebrates Its Golden Jubilee” at the 13th Interdisciplinary Theological Session on the theme “The Faculty of Theology of CUEA Celebrates the Golden Jubilee of AMECEA” here at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi, Kenya on 3 March, 2011. During the weekly community mass we sang the song “Bind Us Together, Lord” that is the theme song of SCCs around the world. We began this Book Launch by singing this song to imitate SCCs in Eastern Africa that that begin their weekly meetings with a song.

The “Second Version” was updated based on new research and given to the bishops and other delegates at the 17th Plenary Assembly of AMECEA on the theme of “AMECEA Family of God Celebrating a Golden Jubilee of Evangelization in Solidarity” that took place here at CUEA from 27 June to 6 July, 2011.

The “Third Version” was updated based on the discussion and final resolutions of the AMECEA Study Session that recommended that an on-going evaluation be included in the revitalization of SCCs in Eastern Africa. It included new interviews with a number of bishops and other pastoral agents in the AMECEA Region. It was published in September, 2011 as a photocopied booklet of 95 pages for the staff and students of the Catholic universities in Kenya.

This “Fourth Version” was updated and revised based on further research and a detailed analysis and commentary on Pope Benedict XVI’s 2011 Apostolic Exhortation Africa’s Commitment. In Number 136 this document states:

The Catholic Universities and Higher Institutes in Africa have a prominent role to play in the proclamation of the salvific Word of God. They are a sign of the growth of the Church insofar as their research integrates the truths and experiences of the faith and helps to internalize them. They serve the Church by providing trained personnel, by studying important theological and social questions for the benefit of the Church, by developing an African theology, by promoting the work of inculturation, by publishing books.

This version included further research in 2012 and efforts to implement the Apostolic Exhortation Africa’s Commitment on the regional, national and local levels down to the SCCs on the grassroots level.

Now this paperback, printed book has been posted as an Ebook (that is, an electronic Book) on our

Small Christian Communities Global Collaborative Website

www.smallchristiancommunities.org

This online version is updated every month with new statistics, quotations, stories and examples. This is the new way of keeping especially historical and informational books current and up-to-date. The latest online version updated as of 17 August 2012 has 6334 hits (visits) to the Ebooks Page on our website as of 3 September, 2012.

There is a proverb many hands make light work. So a big “thank you” goes to many people: The Editors and Designers at AMECEA Gaba Publications in Eldoret, Kenya. The Printer at Kolbe Press in Limuru, Kenya. The staff of CUEA Press here at our Langata Campus for organizing this Book Launch. The staff at the AMECEA Secretariat on Gitonga Road here in Nairobi for their help and encouragement. I am reminded that Father Pius Rutechura, the present Vice Chancellor of CUEA was Secretary General of AMECEA last year and encouraged the research and writing of this book very much. In fact this Book Launch is a kind of continuation of the 50th Jubilee Celebration of AMECEA.  

I am also reminded that last year when we celebrated 50 Years of AMECEA we also celebrated 100 Years (1911-2011) of the Maryknoll Society of Priests and Brothers. This year we celebrate 100 years of the Maryknoll Sisters (1912-2012).

Today there are over 120,000 Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in the Catholic Church in the nine AMECEA countries in Eastern Africa with 45,000 SCCs in Kenya alone. One success story is the SCC Courses amd Workshops that are conducted regularly in our seminaries and theological institutes and the permanent SCCs of students that meet every week in places such as St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary. the Apostles of Jesus Seminary, Bakanja Formation House and Hekima College.

There is a saying: When God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window. This applies to our Guest of Honor today that is part of the Ngong Diocese story. Originally we invited Bishop John Oballa to be the Guest of Honor. He is committed to SCCs. Years ago the then Father Oballa had over 100 SCCs in his parish in Kisumu Archdiocese. Later he helped to revive the SCCs in St.Thomas Aquinas Seminary next door.  But Bishop Oballa went to Rome last Friday. So God closed one door. But then He opened a new window. Two weeks ago I met Bishop Colon Davies who is writing a book on the Catholic Church in Kenya. I spontaneously asked him if he would be the Guest of Honor. He said “Yes,” adding “I was there at the beginning.” We are honored that Bishops Davies is one of the founding fathers of SCCs in the AMECEA countries. He participated in the AMECEA Study Conference on “Planning for the Church in Eastern Africa in the 1980s” in Nairobi, Kenya in December, 1973 that stated: “We have to insist on building church life and work on Basic Christian Communities in both rural and urban areas.” He participated in the AMECEA Study Conference on “Building Small Christian Communities” took place in Nairobi, Kenya in 1976.  The key statement was: "Systematic formation of Small Christian Communities should be the key pastoral priority in the years to come in Eastern Africa.” This is the single most important statement made about SCCs.

Another founder father of SCCs in the AMECEA countries is Servant of God Cardinal Maurice Michael Otunga whose cause for beatification continues. He is the Patron of many SCCs in Kenya. This 2013 Cardinal Otunga Calendar [hold up calendar] is a reminder of his presence among us.

If Small Christian Communities (SCCs) are a “New Way of Being Church,” then it is appropriate that we have a new way of writing a “Foreword.” Archbishop Emeritus Raphael Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki kindly wrote the “Foreword” to my earlier book Towards an African Narrative Theology.  But the backbone and heart of SCCs are lay people. I am reminded that last month at a conference here at CUEA Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria emphasized that 99 % of the Catholic Church are lay people. So this time we asked to write the “Foreword” seven Kenyan Catholic lay members of my St. Kizito SCC located in Waruku, an informal settlement area in Nairobi. It are one of the nine neighborhood, parish-based SCCs in St Austin’s Parish in Nairobi Archdiocese. May I ask the members of St. Kizito SCC to please stand up. I now invite Mwanajumuiya Josephat Mulinya to say a few words. Rather than be called Chairperson or Leader of our SCC he is called the “Servant of the Servants” (Mtumishi wa Watumishi) of St. Kizito SCC. This is a concrete reminder of the importance of servant leadership in our SCCs. Karibu, Josephat.

 

[1] AMECEA is an acronym for "Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa." It is a service organization for the National Episcopal Conferences of the nine English-speaking countries of Eastern Africa, namely Eritrea (1993), Ethiopia (1979), Kenya (1961), Malawi (1961), South Sudan (2011), Sudan (1973), Tanzania (1961), Uganda (1961) and Zambia (1961). The Republic of South Sudan became independent on 9 July, 2011, but the two Sudans remain part of one Episcopal Conference. Somalia (1995) and Djibouti (2002) are Affiliate Members.

 


Rev. Joseph G. Healey, MM
Maryknoll Society
P.O. Box 43058
00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Telkom Orange Wireless: 057-2522977

Email: JGHealey@aol.com

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