Blantyre, 06 July, 2023 / 9:52 pm (ACI Africa).
Members of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) are calling for “reflective moments” during the yearlong Golden Jubilee celebrations of the model of being church through Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) region.
“As we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of SCCs, I invite everyone to engage in reflective moments," ECM Secretary General, Fr. Alfred Chaima, says in a statement about the event to be launched on August 20 in all Catholic Dioceses of Malawi, and conclude in July 2024.
In the statement dated Wednesday, July 5, Fr. Chaima calls upon Catholics to "evaluate the impact, successes and challenges facing SCCs in Malawi, review the guidelines for SCCs, considering the current signs of the times and take a census of how many SCCs we have and its population in each Parish and Diocese.”
“The celebration will be accompanied by two significant items available for sale: a commemorative cloth and a booklet,” he says about the event to be celebrated under the theme, “Small Christian Communities: 50 Years of Building the Church as the Family of God in the AMECEA region.”
The SCCs Golden Jubilee celebrations, ECM Secretary General says, aim to highlight four fundamental characteristics of the model of being church, which include Bible-centeredness, the communion of the people, having outreach to the people, and promoting the principle of subsidiarity.
