TANZANIA: TEC Secretary General Calls on Small Christian Communities to Become Centres of Christian Witness
Pascal Mwanache
The Secretary General of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), Rev. Fr Charles Kitima has called on Small Christian Communities (SCCs) to be a source of comfort to the faithful and a tool of attracting more people to the Catholic faith, through the their way of life which reflects the image of Christ.
He made the remarks during the opening of a seminar on the ‘Promotion and Strengthening of Small Christian Communities’ for the eastern zone Catholic dioceses which include the Dioceses of Mtwara, Lindi, Tunduru-Masasi, Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Ifakara, Mahenge, Zanzibar, Tanga, Same and Moshi.
Organized by TEC Pastoral Directorate, the seminar aimed at preparing the participants to be trainers so as to strengthen SCC’s in their respective Dioceses, among other things.
“SCCs make people repent and believe in the Gospel and this should directly affect each community member based on how they live and protect the Catholic faith. Even the apostles of Jesus used their SCC where the members lived in love and harmony to preach the Gospel. So, we as a Church need to uphold this principle of families coming together as one, to meditate on the Word of God, and to live according to the Catholic faith,” he stressed.
Giving a presentation on the meaning and principles of SCCs, the Director of the Pastoral Department for the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam and Parish Priest of St. Peter, Oyster Bay, Fr Alister Makubi, said according to his experience, many SCCs are operated as Savings and Cooperative Societies (SACOs) or places for contributions monetary collection, which is contrary to the principles of its establishment.
“Some run away from SCC’s due to this emphasis on monetary contributions whereby time to pray together is shortened so that time is spent on sensitizing people about collections… and there are even some who come to SCCs out of fear of being denied prayer services when they are in problems, which is contrary to the principles of its establishment,” he stressed.
A similar seminar is expected to be held in Iringa from January 25 to 28 this year, targeting the Catholic Diocese of Arusha, Mbulu, Singida, Kondoa, Dodoma, Mpanda, Sumbawanga, Njombe, Songea, Mbinga, Mbeya and Iringa itself.
A Western Zone seminar will be held from February 22-25 this year in Mwanza Metropolitan which comprises of Catholic Diocese of Tabora, Kahama, Shinyanga, Geita, Rulenge-Ngara, Bukoba, Kayanga, Bunda, Musoma, Kigoma and Mwanza.
Small Christian Communities, a brain child of the AMECEA bishops, are meant to be groupings of the baptized in their neighborhood, who meet regularly to share the word of God, help each other, and celebrate life together.
At a seminar which took place in 1969 in Tanzania, where the concept and praxis of “local Church communities” was articulated, the SCCs have been a pastoral priority for the Catholic Church in the country, in the both rural and urban parishes.
In 1974, Bishop Christopher Mwoleka of Rulenge Diocese and the Tanzania National Council of the Laity developed a step-by-step plan for starting SCCs throughout Tanzania.
Rt. Rev. Mwoleka stated that in his diocese, “the entire pastoral work will be carried out by means of Small Christian Communities.”
In 2002, in Dar es Salaam, an AMECEA Study Conference on “Deeper Evangelization in the Third Millennium” came up with a pastoral resolutions on ‘Building the Church as a Family of God by Continuing to Foster and/or Revitalize the Small Christian Communities.”
“We recommend that a program on the theological and pastoral value of Small Christian Communities be included in the normal curriculum of the Major Seminaries and houses of formation of both men and women,” reads Resolution no. 43 of the plenary.
To promote the AMECEA Pastoral Priority of SCCs and to focus on ongoing spiritual and pastoral formation, a ‘Year of Small Christian Communities (SCCs)’ was celebrated in Dar es Salaam Archdiocese, Tanzania), from 2006-2007. Later this was extended to a “National Year of Small Christian Communities (SCCs)” for the whole of Tanzania.
