All major faiths in Kenya – Islam, Christianity, Judaism, traditional African religions – have a strong component of giving to the poor, addressing social issues, and building strong and healthy relationships in the community. It’s evident from literature and people's testimonies that whenever the faith communities have been most alive, they have propagated the tradition of valuing the presence of the vulnerable. In the recent past, it’s evident that faith communities have forsaken the weak for the strong, the poor for the rich, the unknown for the popular and the movement has stagnated and lost its way (Levy, 2020).
In view of the above, St. Martin CSA is convening a symposium to help in attempting to answer the question,” how can we regain the values and engage the resources of faith communities in caring and empowering the vulnerable and the marginalized?”. The overall objective of this symposium is to highlight the place of the vulnerable in faith communities and the contributions of these communities in achieving meaningful change in the lives of vulnerable groups of people. We want to enhance the understanding of the challenges and opportunities faith communities face in caring for vulnerable and marginalized people in post-modern society. And we want to draw practical lessons on how to reenergize faith communities in caring for vulnerable and marginalized people.
- Dr. Judith Pete is a Lecturer and Regional Coordinator for Service Learning Hub for Africa at Tangaza University College, Nairobi Kenya.
- Fr. Nduatiwho is the Chaplaincy of Prisons and Director of Spiritual wellbeing of uniformed and disciplined forces within the Diocese of Nyahururu.
- Professor Halimu Shauri a Full Professor of Sociology and the Dean; School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Pwani University.
- (Venerable) Professor Ndung’u John Brown Ikenye theProgram Leader in Counseling Psychology and Pastoral Theology at St. Paul’s University (Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Theology).
- Dr. John Michael Kiboi a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Theology at St. Paul’s University and leader of PhD Programme in Theology at St. Paul’s University. He is an ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Kenya –Bungoma Diocese.
A detailed report will be published on these pages as soon as available.