KENYA: AMECEA founding fathers’ dream of a self-sustaining Church on course

The dream of a self-sustaining Church by the founding fathers of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) will soon be fully realized courtesy of the ongoing rigorous training of bishops in the region on financial sustainability.

Speaking on 26^th, March 2019 during the opening of a Capacity Building Programme on self-reliance of local churches for the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) at the Clergy House in Nairobi, KCCB Chairman, Most Rev. Philip Anyolo, paid tribute to successful dioceses in the country, who are implementing sustainable projects for prosperity of pastoral work.

**From Left; H.E Cardianal John Njue, and Archbishop Phili Anyolo**

At the same time, Archbishop Anyolo, who is also the Archbishop of Kisumu, has challenged more dioceses to embrace the spirit of self-reliance by initiating sustainability projects.

“Some dioceses have made milestones and we ask them to share their experiences on self-reliance initiatives,” Archbishop Anyolo said.

He noted that with dwindling donor funding, the Church in Africa has to find sustainable means to continue the Church’s Mission of evangelization.

During the training, the bishops and representatives from more than 20 Dioceses in Kenya were taken through human resource management, Church Administration, Local initiatives for self-reliance; Business ethics for financial sustainability, Leadership and management in Church Institutions, Church Social Teaching, Mobilization of resources and investments, Financial management, Project planning management, implementation of research projects and information on spirit and mission of AMECEA.

Addressing the bishops on the sidelines of the training, AMECEA Secretary General, Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Makunde, noted that in 1961, the Pioneer Bishops of AMECEA dreamt of a self-sustaining Church in the region to continue the mission of evangelization, a wish that has informed recent workshops for bishops.

“In 2008, bishop representatives of AMECEA met in Kampala with representation of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and University of Notre Dame to discuss on the needs of the region. They concluded that there is need of capacity building of agents of evangelization. USCCB agreed to journey with the Bishops in the program which started in 2010 after which the bishops of Germany under the supervision of mission took over”. Fr. Makunde said.

He told the bishops during the meeting that in the initial trainings, the emphasis have been on leadership skills and management of church resources adding that currently the focus is on sustainability and self-reliance.

Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Makunde AMECEA Secretary General — **Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Makunde**
**AMECEA Secretary General**

Fr. Makunde reported that AMECEA has been working with Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) as facilitators in various workshops. “We have managed to hold a workshop with bishops of Ethiopia last December, Tanzania in January, Zambia in February, Early March we were in Uganda and now we are here in Kenya. We are yet to visit the Bishops in Malawi, Sudan and Eritria, after that there will be a second phase where AMECEA will train financial controllers, treasure generals and project coordinators working closely with the bishops,” he said.

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By Rose Achiego