{"id":4480,"date":"2019-01-29T12:23:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T12:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ackenya.org\/\/?page_id=4480"},"modified":"2019-02-13T20:56:12","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T20:56:12","slug":"archbishops-charge","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ackenya.org\/index.php\/mission-of-the-church\/archbishops-charge","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop’s Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

The Charge of the 6 th Archbishop of
the Anglican Church of Kenya.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Date: 3rd<\/sup> July, 2016<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Venue: All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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<\/span><\/i> PREAMBLE<\/a><\/h3>
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Your Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, your Excellency the Deputy President, William Samoei arap Ruto, your Excellencies the High Commissioners and Ambassadors present, your Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, your Grace Archbishop Eliud and Mama Rhoda, our Preacher for the day, the Most Reverend Jacob Chimeledya, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Tanzania, all Primates and Bishops here present, your Excellencies the Governors, Honorable Senators and Cabinet Secretaries here present, the Archbishop Emeritus Benjamin Nzimbi, the Dean of the Province, fellow Bishops of the Anglican Church of Kenya, the officers and delegates to the Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church of Kenya, all clergy and laity here present, praise the Lord!<\/p>\n

I feel greatly humbled by your presence today. I am forever grateful to God for appointing me to His service as Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya. This is a task to which I will dedicate myself to the very best of my ability, relying on God in everything. To the electoral college of the Provincial Synod, thank you very much for trusting me and giving me an opportunity to serve this great Church and people of Kenya through your votes.<\/p>\n

I salute my five brother bishops who also presented themselves for election for the maturity you displayed in the run up to the election. I invite you to join hands with me and the entire House of Bishops to serve this great Church and the people of Kenya un-reservedly.<\/p>\n

To my wife Esther and all our children, thank you for standing with me in prayer and encouragement. Many close friends approached me, either individually or in groups to say that God was leading them to encourage me to offer myself as a candidate. They did this even when the thought had not crossed my mind. I believe that God used you to speak to me. Be blessed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/i> INTRODUCTION <\/a><\/h3>
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My Charge as the sixth Archbishop of Kenya and fourth Bishop of All Saints\u2019 Cathedral Diocese centres on three main areas. The first of these is building capacity for mission. The second area is the full deployment of all the human and material resources of the Church for mission. Finally, there is the socially transformative agenda. <\/span><\/p>\n

Beloved in Christ, many of us will agree with me that we are living in very exciting times, characterized by rapid change in all spheres. However, it would not be far from the truth to say that <\/span><\/p>\n

the more things change, the more they remain the same. As a nation we were at the same level of economic development as Singapore in 1963. Yet Singapore, previously referred to as an Asian economic tiger, moved from a third world to a first world country in one generation. <\/span><\/p>\n

As the region\u2019s leading econom<\/span>y, with infrastructure and a hu<\/span>man resource base to match, the gap is narrowing as our economic growth rates lag behind <\/span>those of our neighbors. For ex<\/span>ample, for 2015, Tanzania grew at 7.0%, Rwanda at 7.3%, while Kenya grew at 5.6%. Indeed, only o<\/span>nce in 53 years of inde<\/span>pendence has our economy attained the growth rate of 10%. This was in 1966. Sadly, every election cycle since 1969 has been ac-companied by a slowdown in economic growth. This trend has worsened since 1992, with the years prior to and after the elections also being affected. Yet our Vision 2030 demands that we grow at 10% or more for two decades in order to transform Kenya. <\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, time and time again, questions are being asked: What is the role of the Church in a fast-changing society? If Christians form 80% of Kenya\u2019s population, why are our elections often violence-prone? Why is our society riddled with corruption, nepotism and a great level of social stratification? Why are environmental degradation, poverty and disease still ever-present realities? These questions cause many of us great discomfort, even as moral de-cay, alcoholism and drug and substance abuse eat into the fabric of our society. By affecting ever-increasing numbers of our young people, these vices compromise our future as a nation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Beloved in Christ, let me reaffirm that the Anglican Church of Kenya remains committed to working towards being a growing and caring Anglican Church that boldly proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This vision remains our guiding light in the midst of darkness, as we seek to live out our witness in a troubled and broken society. This vision is deeply rooted in the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ when he taught us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13. The key theme is in this prayer is \u2018Let your Kingdom come\u2019<\/b>. This is the theme of my charge. <\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/i> THE CORE BUSINESS OF THE CHURCH <\/a><\/h3>
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Today more than any other time in its history, the Church must go beyond herself and reach out to the poor, the outcast and all in the periphery of society as well as to the affluent. Through this outreach, the Church shares their concerns, identifies with their sufferings and worries and helps them to meet their various needs. In this way, we shall let the kingdom of God come, and allow his will to be done in the lives of all. This is the essence of mission, which is the core business of the church.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s will in this prayer is that all creation, and mankind in particular, look up to Him for all their needs. Moreover, God de-sires that all give Him glory and honour as they seek to live in harmony with their neighbours. This harmony calls on us to for-give each others\u2019 wrongs as we seek to be forgiven by others, even as we ask God to forgive us and daily accept us as His children.<\/p>\n

The mandate of the Church at all times is to preach the good news of the Kingdom to all God\u2019s people, healing them and socially transforming their lives. This Good News reconciles us with our creator and brings reconciliation to a broken humanity and creation. The Church is called to transform the world in the power of the Holy Spirit, even as she exercises her responsibility in stewardship over creation.<\/p>\n

For the Church to remain true to her calling she must remain a credible witness to a broken world. As she calls for justice in every sphere, the Church must remain accountable in all her endeavours. Only in this way will she have a basis for holding others to account. In this respect the Church must constantly be on a mission to rally men, women, youth and children of faith to be alert, vigilant and diligent in their witness. Such are the witnesses Christ desires, who will never become complacent and live as if their Lord and Master is never coming back.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/i> OUR STARTING POINT FOR UNDERTAKING THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH<\/a><\/h3>
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Brothers and sisters, you will all agree that any mission that is neither clarified nor understood by those claiming to undertake it is an exercise in futility. A clear mission casts eyes on the desired destination\u2014which is vision. My vision is to see: \u201cA society of God\u2019s chosen people, honoring God and serving each other in love, within their neighborhoods, in Kenya and in the world at large.\u201d<\/p>\n

For this to happen, the Church must therefore define her under-standing of mission prior to developing a robust strategy for mission. In simple terms, our understanding of mission is two-fold. On the one hand is pastoral ministry, which consists of preaching, teaching, healing, prayer, pastoral care, worship and evangelism. On the other is the ministry of social transformation, which addresses matters such as physical health, food security, quality of living conditions, peaceful co-existence, justice, provision of quality education, stewardship, and justice in the care of the environment.<\/p>\n

For us to fully and effectively realise our vision as we engage in mission and impact society, we must critically consider two areas as key planks of our strategy. The first of these is our capacity for mission. The second is our outreach strategy as we carry the message of the Gospel to all sectors of society, both locally and inter-nationally. All my endeavors as the incoming leader of the Anglican Church of Kenya will focus on these two planks as we join hands in shaping the world to be a better place in which to live.<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/i> OUR CAPACITY BUILDING STRATEGY <\/a><\/h3>
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As we seek to effectively and efficiently engage in mission as de-fined above, we must critically assess our current capacity. This will be the basis for building more capacity so as to remain relevant in a fast-changing world. I want to thank all my predecessors for laying the foundation on which we desire to build.<\/p>\n

The capacity we seek falls into three broad areas:<\/p>\n

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  1. Human capacity in terms of skills, competencies, leadership and manpower.<\/li>\n
  2. Other resources, which includes financial assets, equipment, technology platforms and systems.<\/li>\n
  3. Governance instruments which include our constitutions, policies and systems of management and implementation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Allow me to comment on each of these in turn.<\/p>\n

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    <\/span><\/i> 1)\tBUILING OUR HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY <\/a><\/h3>
    <\/p>\n

    We must appreciate that the Anglican Church of Kenya, like the nation as a whole, is well endowed with huge and highly competent manpower resources. These resources are directly employed by the Church or are in its membership. Taking stock of this manpower is the first strategic action that we must carry out. Secondly, we must seek to utilize this manpower according to its area of expertise as we carry out the mission of the Church. As we do so, we must take careful note of two crucial matters. First, we must pay keen attention to the gaps that we have, so as to properly evaluate both our strengths and weaknesses in the area of manpower. Secondly, we must be cognizant of the fact that the world is constantly changing in all spheres. <\/span><\/p>\n

    We must therefore focus on furthering the capacity, competencies, character and commitment of those who serve in the Church. Three areas of training that must receive attention in this regard are: <\/span><\/p>\n

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    <\/span><\/i> a)\tIdentification of those to be trained.<\/a><\/h3>
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    Training of ministry team leaders for men\u2019s, women\u2019s, and children\u2019s ministries is critical. A second area of fo<\/span>cus shall be the training of Bi<\/span>ble exposition, pastoral ministry, counselling, intercessory and social development teams. Thirdly, we shall also redouble efforts in the training of chaplains, social development workers, financial and asset managers and so on. <\/span><\/p>\n

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    <\/span><\/i> b)\tContent and mode of delivery of the training.<\/a><\/h3>
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    The training to be provided in the three categories just outlined is to be carried out using relevant and appropriate materials and curricula. Of particular concern will be the acquisition of practical skills and lifelong learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    <\/span><\/i> c)\tService delivery skills.<\/a><\/h3>
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    This important area covers a broad range of skills. In the first instance we have facilitation skills, communication skills, and the use of technology. In the second instance there is the deployment of a full range of feedback mechanisms in planning, action-taking, monitoring and reporting. Lastly, the service delivery skills that we seek to develop shall encompass the assessment and evaluation of outcomes and impacts for the next levels of training.<\/span><\/p>\n

    For us to build the right human capacity with the competencies, character and commitment required, we must pay careful attention to our fora and training institutions. This will be done through <\/span><\/p>\n