Impact of Economic Status on Small Christian Communities in Nairobi
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Date
2012
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tangaza University College/Duquesne University
Abstract
Small Christian Communities are little Church cells where the mystery is lived directly
and with great simplicity and concern in the neighborhood. In the Lineamenta (Guidelines) of
2009 of the Second African Synod, SCCs are referred to as “Living Ecclesial Communities
where the Church is modeled as a family”. I would like to re-echo these words that “SCC
enables Christians to experience the Church directly”
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as lived today. Our parishes today are
functionally supported by these SCCs since they organize the parish activities. From my
experience, SCCs have given our local Churches the core foundational value therefore they add
greatly to the regular functioning of a parish. Without these SCCs, our parishes risk being
rendered dysfunctional and ineffective.
According to Dr. Lukwata, a priest from Masaka diocese-Uganda, says that “the brief
history of the Church in East Africa reveals that SCCs were the basis of evangelization of the
people around Lake Victoria from the onset that is between 1882 to 1885. SCCs have been very important in the life of the Church since time in memorial since they are modeled on the
foundation laid by the early Christian Communities. Dr. Lukwata continues to say that it was
hoped that in the context of political and ecclesiastical changes in the region, the SCCs would be instrumental in creating a self-supporting, self-reliant and self-propagating Church and that is
why in the 1970s, the existence of SCCs resumed”
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This study will dig deeper into the impact economic status has on SCCs and whether this
impact influences the formation and composition of SCCs.
St. Michael’s Archangel Parish is geographically situated in Langata, Ngei 1 estate, off
Langata highway along Chweya Road. It has two serving priests that is Fr. Francis Kariuki who
is the Parish priest and Fr. Mukui Joseph his assistant though they are helped by many other
visiting priests. There is also a parish coordinator, Sr. Eunice Mueni who is also the one in
charge of Sacristy.
The parish is comprised of Christians from different social status mainly the rich from the
estate and the poor from the slums. This has also influenced the formation of the Small Christian
Communities whereby the composition of the membership goes along with identification of
one’s socio-economic class.
Description
Keywords
Small Christian Communities, Economic Status