Browsing by Subject "Innovation"

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Innovations and New Trends in Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in Africa Today
(Hekima review, 2009) Healey, Joseph
Today there are over 90,000 Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in the eight AMECEA countries of Eastern Africa. Kenya alone has over 35,000 SCCs. The past year has seen innovations in the development of SCCs in Africa including Highlights of the SCC Practicum Papers, Case Studies of SCC Involvement in Peacemaking/ Peacebuilding and in the Kenyan Lenten Campaign 2009 and Expanding the SCC Global Collaborative Website. A careful assessment of these experiences can help chart new trends in the future of the Catholic Church in Africa. This can lead to deeper theological reflection especially in the context of evolving a contemporary African Christian Theology than includes African Narrative Theology and the Theology of the Church-Family of God in Africa
Tangaza Update( Celebrate our Mission)
(Tangaza University College, 2016-10) Tangaza University College
E very higher educational institution in Kenya is required to have its own “mission statement”. The one for Tangaza reads: “To prepare ethical servant leaders for the church and society in an environment of freedom and responsibility by providing quality education, research and community service”. It is meant to provide a brief summary of our purpose. But in a deeper sense, perhaps more than for other Kenyan universities and colleges, the church’s “mission” is at the very heart of Tangaza’s origin and identity. After all, we were founded three decades ago by religious congregations committed to mission in Africa. They were told that, due to overcrowding, there was no longer any room for their candidates in the diocesan seminary. So the religious superiors decided to start a project of theological preparation in Nairobi for their own candidates, to train them for the “mission” of their respective congregations. But even in those early days, the superiors its inception, Tangaza has been focused on preparing not just candidates for priesthood but also all those called to “proclaim the mystery of faith” (Tangaza fumbo la imani) in our contemporary church and world – women and men, lay and religious. In other words, we are about mission. October is “mission month”, an ideal time to celebrate and reflect on what “mission” means to the Tangaza family as we prepare for a university charter. We are fortunate to have an energetic “Tangaza Missionary Group” (TAMIGRO) and missionary formators helping us to keep “mission” at the forefront of our awareness through a variety of activities, not only during October but throughout the year. May their efforts prosper! The Second Vatican Council’s Decree Ad gentes famously points out that “the pilgrim church is missionary by her very nature” (AG 2), and all of us, whatever our vocation, are called to share in the church’s missionary activity by virtue of our baptism. For some of us, especially the Tangaza fam- ily members from the missionary congregations, this may mean engaging in the “primary evangelization” of those who have not yet heard the Gospel. For others it may mean bringing the same Gospel values and servant leadership to our communities and workplaces. For still others, even if we are impeded by circumstances from direct engagement in the church’s traditional “missionary” activities, we can make an essential contribution to “mission” through our support and prayers for those “on the front lines”. (After all, “mission month” begins with the feast of the co-patron of the missions, St. Therese of Lisieux, a cloistered Carmelite nun who nevertheless dedicated herself to prayer for missionaries and profoundly experienced the essentially apostolic purpose of her contemplative vocation.) Interestingly, in his message for the 90 World Mission Day (23 October 2016), Pope Francis writes: “In many places evangelization begins with education”. During this month of October, as we reflect on Tangaza’s educational task and missionary roots, let us renew our own commitment to apply the formation and education we receive here to spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, by “teaching minds, touching hearts and transforming lives”.