On 9th July 2023, with the blessing of Metropolitan Leonid of Klin, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa, a meeting of Kenyan deans took place in Nairobi.
The meeting was preceded by the Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating it were 16 priests.
The day before the divine service, the Kenyan clergy went to confession to the diocesan father confessor. It marked yet another step in introducing the practice of confessions into the African Orthodoxy, for there is almost no such practice in the Church of Alexandria. The priests were grateful for such valuable and much needed spiritual experience.
After the Liturgy, Priest George Maximov, chairman of the Exarchate’s Missionary Department, handed over antimensions, holy chrism, incense and sets of liturgical utensils donated by the Russian clergy and laity to the priests who had joined the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Before the meeting, the priests offered prayers for deceased Rev. John Chasya.
The participants in the meeting discussed results of the work carried out over the first six months of 2023, which included:
- receiving official registration of the Church in Kenya;
- organizing lectures of a Russian missionary at 22 parishes in all 9 deaneries for 53 clergymen and 864 parishioners, that is for 933 Orthodox Kenyans altogether;
- organizing a four months long Orthodox drawing contest for Sunday schools; forty-five children from 37 Kenyan parishes became winners and received honorary certificates and prizes;
- holding meetings of Orthodox youth in the Central deanery and the Nandi deanery, as well as meetings of Orthodox sisterhoods in the Migori and Homa Bay deaneries;
- translating the Orthodox prayer book into the Swahili, Kikuyu and Tiriki languages;
- sending three Kenyan students to Russian seminaries (ten more applicants are to be enrolled);
- choosing four Kenyans for taking pastoral courses in Moscow; two people are already studying, and two more are about to join them;
- encouraging Kenyan priests to take online theological courses at the Moscow Theological Academy; many of them have successfully completed them;
- purchasing 13 tents for communities which lost their church buildings; four more such communities received assistance in completing construction works;
- taking care of two orphanages, where work is under way to improve and develop infrastructure;
- thanks to sponsor’s support, helping to pay school fees for children from poor Orthodox families; full fees were paid for 19 children, part payments were made for 28 children; all in all, 47 children, including orphans, received help.
- making a decision to open a mission in eastern Kenya.
Father George Maximov conveyed blessings from Metropolitan Leonid, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa, to the priests and thanked them for their work.
In a brotherly manner the participants in the meeting discussed various issues pertaining to church life in the country.
Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa
