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Church
contact information and statistics
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Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church
(KELC) was formerly the Kenya Synod
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, but became an independent church in 1992.
The Kenya Synod of the ELCT was begun in 1956 in order to care for the large number of
ELCT members who had migrated to the cities of Nairobi and Mombasa. Later, the work
expanded into two rural areas, one of which includes a significant outreach to nomadic
Maasai people in the area between Nairobi and the Tanzanian border. Small congregations
were established in a Muslim area along the Tana River. The KELC currently has 15,000
members in nine multipoint parishes and five mission areas.
Leadership development is a high priority for the KELC. New pastors are
being trained at Lutheran Theological College, Makumira (Tanzania), and evangelists are
trained at Mwika Bible School (also Tanzania). Seminars for elders, Sunday School
teachers, women, and youth are scheduled regularly.
The KELC also emphasizes good church management. The church sends general
secretaries and treasurers to courses on church administration and financial management
which are held in Nairobi. These courses are taught by CORAT, which has been assisting
African churches in these arenas for years and has invaluable experience to share.
In the past, most of the mission work in Kenya was conducted by British
societies, and the Lutheran churches in Kenya are relatively small. The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Kenya was established in 1958 following mission work by an independent
Swedish mission. The ELCK, with 45,000 members, and the KELC continue to look for ways to
cooperate and perhaps evenually merge into one church.
The political and economic situation in Kenya has been very difficult in
recent years, with protests, violence, increasing crime and increasing gaps between the
rich and poor. Churches struggle to know how to live out the Gospel message in the context
of uncertainty and poverty.
Parish women =s groups are actively involved in income generating and
development. In Mombasa, a small restaurant provides jobs and additional income for women.
In Kongowea, a well-drilling project (funded by the Women of the ELCA) has brought good
water to hundreds of women in the neighborhood. KELC women in Ukambani, assisted by
Swedish women, designed and built the Ukambani Women=s Center, a house-sized
retreat center for KELC women. In all cases, the KELC women first gave their own money to
start the project fund.
Street children in Nairobi are an enormous challenge. The Women of the
KELC sponsor Pangani Lutheran Children =s Center, a program for forty young street women aged 10-13. This
faith-based program includes literacy, singing, games, counseling, health -- the sharing
of God=s
love in word and deed. The goal is to re-unite the children with their families or with
guardians, and to find schools which meet the needs of the participants.
KELC youth have responded to the increase in the incidence of AIDS by
developing a very effective drama which they enact all over the country. A national youth
committee has been formed, youth leadership training events are being planned, and an
outstanding national rally was held.
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