THE CHURCH AS FAMILY OF GOD IN ENUGU DIOCESE:

EXPERIENCES IN SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

A paper presented to the Enugu Diocesan Synod,
at Sacred Heart Seminary, Nsude, on October 11th, 2001.
By Rose Uchem, MSHR.

Introduction
The Synod on Africa adopted the model, ‘“Church as God’s Family’ as its
guiding idea for the evangelization of Africa” (Ecclesia in Africa, no. 63). This image
suggests “care for others, solidarity, warmth in human relationships, acceptance,
dialogue and trust” (no.63). Seen as “an expression of the Church’s nature particularly
appropriate for Africa” (no.63), this model of Church was a practical implementation
of inculturation. During this august period, when the Church in Enugu Diocese is
gathered as one family in this Synod, one cannot help recalling the first Synod when
the earliest disciples of Christ gathered in the Upper Room with Mary, the Mother of
Jesus, as they waited to be clothed with power from on high (Acts 1: 14; Luke 24:
49).
The theme of “Church as the Family God” is one that appears repeatedly in the
document of the 1994 Synod on Africa, Ecclesia in Africa. My task is to speak on
“The Church as Family of God in Enugu Diocese: Experiences in Small Christian
Communities.” My intention is to first situate the Church in the Nigerian context and
then highlight a few things, which militate against experiencing Church as God’s
Family. I will then go on to suggest some practical measures that will promote
experiencing the Church as Family of God in Enugu Diocese. This is where the
second aspect of the topic will come in, namely, “Experiences in Small Christian
Communities.” My approach will be theological and very much experiential.

Our Context:
Ecclesia in Africa had this to say: “In Africa, the need to apply the Gospel to
concrete life is felt very strongly” (no.51). This concrete life situation is marked by a
collective fact of misery resulting from: injustices; inequality; a general sense of
insecurity and risk of meeting violence; the increasing poverty of many; the blindness
of the rich and privileged; tensions and struggle for power without service; the

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absence of war, which is easily mistaken for peace and is, therefore, graveyard-peace.
Furthermore, our context is characterized by ethnic divisions, even in “God’s own
household on earth.”
On the other hand, our positive cultural values include a sense of solidarity,
family and community, respect for life and for the gift of children. We have this
wealth of cultural values and priceless human qualities, which have the potential to
effect a reversal of our condition of misery listed above and can be harnessed and
offered to the Global Church and humanity as a whole. Above all, as Africans, we
have a strong sense of the Sacred, of the Creator, and of the spiritual world. We live
in a cultural milieu in which people’s hunger and thirst for God know no bounds. This
has had its shadow side in the proliferation and commercialization of Church sects.
Related to this are some manifestations of Catholic fundamentalism, and even a false
spirituality, which emphasizs a vertical relationship with God to the exclusion or
down-playing of the horizontal relationship with humans. Some of these spiritualities
pre-date the Council of Trent and Vatican I, and are certainly untouched by the
renewal that came in the wake of Vatican II Ecumenical Council. They vehemently
resist change and renewal. On the whole, our context, is one marked by lights and
shadows, and it is for us to decide which of these aspects apply to us and to what
degree in Enugu Diocese. One may then ask: to what extent is Church experienced as
“Family of God in Enugu Diocese?”

What promotes experiencing the Church in Enugu Diocese as God’s Family?

 On what instances have you have felt a sense of belonging. What contributed to
that, engendered or mediated that feeling?
 Could it be: when you have experienced being included, when your opinion
counted, your feelings respected: and when you have seen similar positive things
happening to someone who is like you in gender, class or ethnicity, for example?
What militates against experiencing the Church in Enugu Diocese as God’s
Family?
 On what occasions have you felt alienated, and what made you feel that way?
 Could it have been engendered by derogatory statements, discriminatory attitudes
and actions against one’s own group, class or gender?
 Could it also be due to imposed limits on your capabilities: Being restricted in
what you can do or are not allowed to do, especially, when there is a freer scope
for other people in the same or other locality?
 What will it take to heal such alienation?

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 I suggest that we put our energies not into defensiveness and denials but into
an honest examination and correction of any imbalances where they exist. Otherwise,
it may be that we are, actually, resisting change or even sometimes paying lip service
to justice and peace. As the prophet Micah tells us: “this is what Yahwah asks of you:
to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
I also posit that the common thread running through most experiences of
marginalization and not feeling included hinge around the principle of subordination
of persons. There are two expressions of subordination, which I particularly, wish to
single out very briefly. These are the historical legacy of colonialism in Africa in
terms of social class stratification and the issue of women’s subordination.

Social class stratification

One of the causes of division in God’s Family is a subtle social class
stratification, which I think, we inherited from the colonial era and is a scandal that
we snuggly accommodate into our Christian psyche. One can easily recall stories of
the colonial days, when Africans were not invited nor allowed to enter the house of
Europeans, to sit down or to share table fellowship with them. The relationship was,
and to some extent is still, that of patronage, and not mutuality, equality and
friendship. Having no other models of mutual human and Christian relations, many
African Christian elite imbibed this mentality of class distinctions and still live by it
till date. I think this subtle un-Christ-like attitude and behaviour are among the
challenges of the new evangelization in Igboland. Similarly, there is the historical,
cultural and theological legacy of women’s subordination.

Women’s subordination
In recent times, it has become very fashionable for Igbo Christians to deplore
the plight of widows, while at the same time leaving untouched its root cause in
women’s devaluation by both Igbo culture and our inherited Christianity. However, in
light of its systemic nature, the problem of widows cannot be adequately treated in
isolation of the general problem of the mistreatment of women by Church and society,
for which the present Pope, John Paul II, has profusely apologized to women on
several occasions (1995, Letter to Women, no. 3). The latest apology to women was

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that enshrined in the penitential petition read by Francis Cardinal Arinze, during the
ceremony marking the opening of the Jubilee Door at the Vatican, March 15th 2000.
One would hope that Christians in this part of the world would copy the
example of the Holy Father and perhaps even go further by taking the necessary
practical steps towards implementing the implications of those apologies. Among the
most stringent injustices against women needing urgent attention are the exclusion of
women’s voices from decision-making in families, communities and Church. In
addition, there are cultural practices in Church and society, which undermine
women’s human dignity when they relegate women to secondary positions giving
even three year-old men more recognition than grown-up women. Happily, we note
that some of these customs are gradually beginning to change in some parts of
Igboland.
Yet, we might for example reflect: “How many parishes in Enugu Diocese
have women as Catechists, Parish Council Chairpersons, and Girls as Mass Servers?
In how many parishes do Women Religious distribute Holy Communion?” We might
also consider the proportion of women representation in committees and appointments
as heads of committees vis a vis women’s population in the Church and Vatican II
definition of Church as People of God.
Ironically, women's participation and inclusion in both civil and Church
leadership in the northern parts of the country, where women are believed to be more
subjugated stands in great contrast to the way it is in the predominantly Christian
south, where women seemingly enjoy more freedom of movement and integration. In
Kaduna metropolis alone, the number of Catholic parishes that have women as
chairpersons is on the increase. Queen of Apostles, Kakuri has a woman council
chairperson for the second time running. St John's Tafawa Balewa, Our Lady's
Independence Way, St Joseph's Cathedral (assistant) and others, by a deliberate policy
of inclusion have had, and currently have women as chairpersons of their parish
councils. Girls as well as boys serve Mass in these parishes; likewise in St Monica's
Malali, St Augustine's Tudun Wada, St Patrick’s Kawo, St David's Rigasa and so on.
Some have women Catechists. Besides, Women Religious and Catechists give Holy
Communion in most of the parishes.
These are some of the thoughts that ground my reflections on “the Church as
Family of God in Enugu Diocese.” They call for serious attention, for in the words of

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the Synod Bishops, “all men and women bear God’s image and belong to the same
family redeemed by Christ’s blood” (Ecclesia in Africa,, no.114).

The imperative of renewal

“There cannot be renewal in the Church without a renewal of theology and the
implementation of the same,” says Vincent Strudwick, a famous English theologian.
Emmanuel Martey, an African theologian, also has this to say: “Today, it is
impossible for African theology to emerge and bloom unless both African churches
and African theology start out from, and develop around the situation of women in
Africa” (African Theology, p.84).

RESPONSE TO THE REALITY

In our situation as Africans, and especially here in Enugu Diocese, it seems to
me that our way forward lies in inculturation coupled with liberation in the context of
Small Christian Communities.

1. INCULTURATION
Inculturation is very necessary in order for the Church to be experienced as the
Family of God in Enugu Diocese. As a process by which the gospel of Jesus Christ is
incarnated in a given cultural context, it represents “a movement towards full
evangelization” (Ecclessia in Africa, no. 62), whereby a particular cultural expression
is brought into harmony with the Good News of Jesus Christ. However, inculturation
must go beyond the cosmetic changes we have made in the area of liturgy and get to
the deeper cultural issues such as issues of gender, caste and class occasioned by the
African culture, Christianity and colonialism. This is extremely important because
these realities threaten Christianity's self-definition whereby "in Christ there is no
more Jew or gentile, slave or free, male and female; all are one in Christ" (Galatians
3: 28; Lineamenta, p.27). The event of this Synod is indeed a kairos moment to
address these deeper cultural issues, which undermine human dignity both in the
people affected and in those who resist change of the status quo.
Many of the negative attitudes towards women mentioned earlier are often
justified on the basis of culture and tradition, both Igbo and western Christian. Thus
they ignore the full import of the Good News enacted when Christ challenged the

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"purity system" of Israel [and in deed of the Igbo culture as well as all cultures and
sacred traditions of the world], by making public the physical contact between Christ's
Self and the woman who suffered from the flow of blood for twelve years (Mark 5:
25-34).
Those discriminatory Igbo traditional and Church customs also ignore the
Pope's re-interpretation of Ephesians 5: 21-33 on which women's subordination rests.
"All the reasons in favor of the 'subjection' of woman to man in marriage must be
understood in the sense of 'mutual subjection' of both out of reverence for Christ"
(Pope John Paul II, 1988, Mulieris Dignitatem, no. 24). Moreover, the Pope's Letter to
Women on the eve of the 1995 International Women’s Conference in Beijing urges
for the full implementation of equality of opportunities and equality of participation of
women and men in decision-making at all levels and in all aspects of life.
Inculturation must go hand in hand with a consciousness of gender justice and
social justice. The theological rationale for this derives from the Church's growing
social consciousness about issues of social justice, as reflected in the Catholic Social
Teachings; a long departure from Ephesians chapter 5: 21-6: 9 and Colossians 3: 18-
4: 1, which following a cosmology of a hierarchical social order [symbolized by the
firmament resting on a flat earth] had urged the subordination of women, [some men]
slaves and children, as a way of pleasing Christ. Today, with a different cosmology of
a spherical earth in an ever expanding universe, engendering a different social
consciousness of equality of opportunities, mutuality and partnerships, slavery and its
attendant racism have been outlawed [though their repercussions still linger] and child
abuse is increasingly gaining attention for condemnation.
Thus, in order to facilitate the dynamic encounter of the Igbo culture with the
Good News of Jesus Christ, the process of inculturation must also embrace the
challenge of liberation, which is integral to the Good News.

Inculturation and biblical hermeneutics: A sifting of Cultures

In light of the sinful/unjust social structures built into all human societies [and
Igbo Christianity is not immune to these], and of a general tendency to tolerate and
rationalize oppression of women by proof-texts from the Bible, it is important to find a
way of determining what is Good News vis-a-vis the received Christian message with
its cultural coatings from the Judaic, Greek, Roman and Igbo cultures.

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 Since sacred Scriptures, both New and Old Testaments, are tinged with
cultural elements (See Dei Verbum, no. 12, Vatican II Documents), which also happen
to be largely male-centered and patriarchal in favouring men and disadvantaging
women, there is need to process them in order to get at the real Good News of God
contained in them. The suggested criterion for determining what is Good News and
therefore liberating is what is liberating and life-giving for all, women and men alike.
In this sense of inculturation, all customs, traditions and cultures, whether sacred or
secular, biblical or otherwise, are to be sifted in the light of Christ’s Good News,
liberating all women and men from "all oppressive situations" (1971 Justice in the
World, no. 6).

2. LIBERATION
The synod on Africa affirmed that the difficulties we experience in our
situation can be overcome. “[The Church] must inspire in all Africans hope of
genuine liberation” (Ecclesia in Africa, no. 16). In order to implement this, it will be
helpful to look at examples from other situations and Churches, which in some
respects, have had similar problems as ours. There are at least, three examples: the
African-Americans’ struggle against slavery, the Latin American people’s struggle for
land reforms in South America and the struggle against the apartheid in South Africa.
In all three examples of struggle against oppression, there is the recurrent
theme of the God of Exodus as a motivating symbol of liberation. Incidentally, all
three situations operate on the model of the Small Christian Communities.

3. EXPERIENCES IN SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

At the mention of Small Christian Communities [SCCs], our natural reaction
may be: “but we have them already. What of our zones, our out stations and religious
societies”? At any rate, may be we have SCCs already, may be not. I do not know, but
what I do know is that there are certain things that mark the SCCs world-wide and
make them a very effective forum for evangelization. For instance, they are composed
of people living in the same area or neighbourhood who come together regularly, for
Gospel Sharing/Prayer and Action. When the people come together for their weekly
meetings, they talk about their situation and their sufferings. Then they turn to the
Bible for inspiration and then they act. Sometimes too, they begin with the word of

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God and then they go on to search for the problems in their situation or context. As
they reflect together on a Scripture passage, they are thereby energized to undertake
specific social actions for justice and to solve particular problems, which affect their
lives negatively as a community. It may be the lack of some basic amenities or
infrastructures. Or some injustice they are suffering. The inspirations from their
Gospel Sharing and prayers pull the people into action and they solve their problems
corporately.
Whereas some of the structures we have already tend to be limited to spiritual
exercises, the SCCs go beyond that to include concerted social and political actions
for justice and transformation. The SCCs very much echo the concerns of the Catholic
Social Teachings as expressed in Justice in the World.
Action on behalf of social justice promotes change in institutions, policies and
systems. Social justice is central to being Catholic. It is not new, nor is it
optional. It is an essential … dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, of, in
other words, the Church's mission for the redemption of the human race and
its liberation from every oppressive situation (1971, no. 6).

The rationale for establishing and fostering Small Christian Communities

Through Small Christian Communities, Christians of our time try to recapture
something of the spirit of the early Christian communities. In them, people get a sense
of belonging as they care for other people and are cared for as well. They derive
mutual support in the effort to end injustice. As mentioned earlier, this new upsurge
has come from places like South America, East Africa, South Africa and other places
where people have struggled and are still struggling to overcome injustices such as
not having rights to vote or to own land – all of these being residues of past and
ongoing neo-slavery and racism. Thus, the formation of SCCs in Enugu Diocese will
surely serve to address the socio-economic and political problems in our context.

Concluding remarks
From all that has been highlighted, it seems to me that fostering the small
Christian communities is the way forward for realizing the Church as God’s Family in
Africa, in Nigeria and in Enugu Diocese in particular. Already, we have zones in
some if not all the parishes in the diocese. My question is: Can we develop these
zones more into full fledged Small Christian Communities along the lines of the SCCs
as just described?

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 First, we must be convinced that political action is right. Secondly, we must be
clear about what we mean by politics. In my usage of the word, I am talking about the
shape and shaping of the city; that is, the polis. Thirdly, we must understand the basis
and inspiration for the kind of political engagement I am advocating, namely, our
discipleship of Christ. We must make no mistake about it. The life and mission of
Christ was very political. Jesus shook the very foundations of his society by the way
he transgressed its social customs. He broke the boundaries of the holiness system in
Israel, epitomized by the Levitical injunction: “Be holy, for I the Lord am holy”
(Leviticus 19: 2). Jesus reconstructed it into compassion and social justice. “Be
compassionate as the Most High is compassionate” (Luke 6: 36). Jesus gathered
around him all that his society deemed unworthy, impure and therefore, outside the
kingdom and outside the reach of salvation. Jesus opened the kingdom to those who
in the sight of the law were permanently unclean: the poor, women on account of
periodic flow of blood, anyone with any sort of deformity, people who keep animals,
including shepherds and the fishing people. These people of whom the top
theologians of his day spoke and said: “this rabble, … they are damned” (John 7: 49).
These were the ones that Jesus called blessed. Thus, Jesus turned their system upside
down and did not respect their traditions in so far as they excluded some people
permanently. Jesus, however, respected their life-giving traditions of social justice,
love and caring, as urged by the prophets of Israel. Therefore, we must go back to the
inclusive spirit of Jesus and of resisting injustice.
In response to the most recent Communique of the Catholic Bishop’s
Conference of Nigeria, [September, 2001], we call ourselves:
To promote the basic education in civic rights and other Social Teachings of
the Church, as well as embark on programmes, which will improve [our]
people’s condition of living and awaken their civic responsibility.
Let us invoke Mary, our mother, the Mother of Jesus and Star of
evangelization, in the company of all the holy women and men disciples of Jesus in
the Upper Room, to pray with us that we too like them may be revitalized with the
power from on high as we try to work towards realizing the Church as Family of God
in Enugu Diocese.

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Selected documents, books and articles
Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria (2001). Communique.
Bishop's Synod Document. (1971). Justice in the World
Borg, M., J. (1995). Meeting Jesus again for the first time: The historical Jesus and
the heart of contemporary faith. NY: HarperCollins.
Dei Verbum, Vatican II Document
Holy Trinity Parish Sub-committee on Inculturation. (2001). Evangelization as
inculturation: Report on the Lineamenta. Enugu Diocesan Synod.
John Paul II (1988). Mulieris Dignitatem.
John Paul II. (1995). Ecclesia in Africa
John Paul II. (1995) Letter to Women,
Johnson, E. (1990). Liberation Christology. In Consider Jesus: Waves of renewal in
Christology. NY: Crossroad.
Uchem, R., N. (2001). Overcoming women’s subordination. Florida:
Dissertation.com.

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