Participation of Women in Small Christian Communities in Africa “enormous”: Kenyan Theologian

Nairobi, 07 September, 2025 / 9:27 PM

Women continue to play a central role in evangelization in Africa through their membership and participation in Small Christian Communities (SCCs), where they constitute the majority of members and leaders, a Catholic theologian in Kenya has observed.

Speaking during the September 2-6 second African Women Theologian Conference in Nairobi, Prof. Philomena Mwaura recognized the participation of women in SCC as evangelizers describing it as “enormous.”

“In the small Christian communities, which have now become accepted as a new way of being church, women's presence and activities as evangelizers are enormous,” said the member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians  (CCAWT) in her September 2 at Hekima University College (HUC). 

She added, “Women are the majority in the small Christian communities, and most of the leadership is in their hands.”

“These small Christian communities have provided suitable opportunities for women to live their Christian faith in a more involved manner.,” said Prof. Mwaura, noting that a large population of women is also very active in Catholic women associations and in other sodalities throughout the African continent.

These sodalities, she noted, act as essential spiritual, social, and economic support systems for Catholic women and contribute greatly to the life of the Church.

“The associations provide opportunities for women to bear witness to the gospel and to become the living in the door in areas where their presence is felt, and especially in the struggle for women's empowerment, the promotion of human dignity, and the search for justice and peace,” she noted.

Although the phenomenon of women coming together is intended to guide Church action toward renewal and service, fostering the discovery and sharing of women’s professional expertise in interfaith initiatives, Prof. Mwaura observed that “women’s equality” is far from being achieved.

She said, “All these noble achievements notwithstanding, the irony of the situation is that women's equality in the value, in equal value with men, their human dignity and their potential empowerment in the church is still a long way to be achieved.” 

The Church, she said, continues to be shaped by male-defined structures, reinforcing patriarchy through role distinctions and the outright exclusion of women from specific leadership positions.

“Women may be members of Pastoral and Diocesan Councils, but they have little access to participation at the core, where decisions that affect their life and mission of the church are deliberated,” said the Kenyan theologian.

In her keynote address, Prof Mwaura also singled out the participation of female members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL), describing them as “the most visible” within the Church in Africa.

Women Religious are known for their “fidelity and dependability in their public dedication to the cause of Christ,” she said, adding that they embody the mission of the Church, even in the remotest parts of the continent, through their varied commitments.

“They minister to the poor and marginalized in ways that make the church visible, visible and credible; but there are also challenges in the Religious Life of women,” said the Kenyan scholar of theology during the five-day conference set to conclude on September 6.