IMAGINE a diocese that
grows from 12 parishes to 150 parishes in only 25 years. This is
not a dream, but has actually happened in Mara, Tanzania. Its
Bishop, the Rt Revd Hilkiah Omindo, was recently in Wakefield,
celebrating the 25th anniversary of the link between Wakefield and
Mara dioceses. He preached at a service attended by 300
parishioners in Wakefield Ca-thedral, and told the story of this
extraordinary growth.
In 1985, when Mara was
carved out of the diocese of Victoria Nyanza in north-west
Tanzania, it had 12 parishes and a large section of the Serengeti
National Park (home to one million wildebeest). By 2010, when the
number of parishes had reached 150, the diocese was divided into
three (Mara, Rorya, and Tarime). The Bishop reports that growth is
continuing, and four or five new parishes are being created every
year.
Bishop Omindo is very
clear about the reason for this growth: people are attracted to the
Anglican Church because it proclaims a holistic salvation, of the
body as well as the soul. In particular, they see Anglican churches
engaged in community and development projects, as well as Sunday
worship, and this is very appealing.
He tells of wells that
have been dug, of a goat "library" that lends animals goats to
families with HIV/AIDS, who benefit from the nutritious milk, of
school classrooms that have been built, of children's nurseries
that have been opened, of subsistence farmers trained in irrigation
and drought-resistance, of trees planted, and of theological
education extended.
Yet there is another
ingredient, too. Wakefield parishioners could feel proud at the
cathedral service because many of these projects had been started
with support from them. Indeed, Bishop Omindo said that Anglicans
in Mara had a sense of confidence that was engendered by the
backing of Wakefield parishes.
Mara Anglicans have felt
able to reach into new villages and to create new churches and
projects because they knew that they had the continuing backing of
prayer and financial support from their friends in England.
THE outreach into
villages is often a two-fold process. To begin with, an
already-established church would send a group of recently baptised
and enthusiastic Christians to a new place. They would tell the
villagers about their new-found faith. When there was a positive
reception, the central diocesan team would arrive, and encourage
this response, but ask the question: "What is your community
project going to be?"
They might suggest
rearing chickens, or an irrigation scheme, or a children's nursery,
or even gathering the wider community together to discuss digging a
well. Each village would have its own needs and opportunities, and
the new church would decide how its development project would go
ahead. Local ownership of the project was the key to its long-term
success.
The diocesan team would
then offer technical advice and training in the chosen project,
giving it every chance of success. Such projects also provide the
new church with a shared aim and some practical objectives, which
in turn help to consolidate the life of the congregation.
THIS inspiring story
issues an invitation and a challenge to churches in Britain: follow
Mara's example, combine community development with evangelism in
equal measure, and look to the wider community as the place to put
this into practice.
While the culture of
Britain is obviously very different from that of Mara, there are
still transferable principles at work that can be applied here. The
focus on the whole person, with physical and social, as well as
spiritual, needs, is clearly an example. The emphasis on local
ownership, where central diocesan structures are there to assist
and enhance rather than direct or control, is another.
One more of these is a
shift away from preoccupation with church-growth as an end in
itself: the goal in Mara has never been to increase
church-attendance for its own sake, but to bring a broader
salvation to the wider community. In Brit- ain, the success or
failure of ministry is often measured by church-attendance
statistics. In Mara, success or failure is as much about improving
the conditions in which the village community lives as it is about
the numbers who gather for worship each Sunday.
Christians will see the
needs around them, and any opportunities that might exist to
address those needs; and they will try to embrace those
opportunities. Then, as they carry this out, others see what is
happening, and begin to take an interest in church; people start
coming to worship out of curiosity and an inkling that something
good is on offer.
Behind everything,
however, and apparent from Bishop Omindo's manner and approach, is
a conviction that the whole endeavour does not belong to the
Church, but is part of something bigger. He states that the
extraordinary growth in discipleship and development in Mara has
not come about through the Church's own power and authority, but
from God and his mission in the world. This is the real secret of
church growth in Mara.
The Revd Stephen Spencer is the Tanzania link officer for
the diocese of Wakefield, and the Vicar of Brighouse and
Clifton.