Bishop

Bishop Salesius Mugambi is the third bishop of Meru Diocese, Kenya.  He was born in 1951 and ordained a priest on 10 December 1977 in the Catholic Diocese of Meru, Kenya. Appointed Coadjutor bishop of Meru, Kenya in December 2001 and later ordained bishop on 19 March 2002. He took over the Diocese of Meru, Kenya on 18 March 2004.

Bishop Mugambi created the office of small Christian communities in the Diocese of Meru in the year 2013 and appointed Reverend Fr. Lawrence Murori the first Diocesan coordinator in the office of small Christian communities to coordinate the activities of SCCs throughout the Diocese.

In his effort to promote evangelization through easy access to the pastoral services, bishop Mugambi created several new parishes, and of course, small Christian communities played a key role in this process.

Diocese of Meru has 80 parishes as of 2018 and the administration of these parishes is done by Diocesan and religious priests.  The bishop’s support to the office of small Christian communities has an immense impact, such as the promotion and the involvement of the laity in the parish leadership and organization, which is in conformity with the spirit of Vatican II.

An example is, during his formal opening of the SCCs workshop in November 2016 with the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist, he emphasized that Small Christian Communities are significantly important in the Catholic Church, especially in his Diocese of Meru. He further noted that with the good coordination from the parishes, and the Diocesan coordinator, they can foster communion of Christians in the diocese, human relationships, interconnections with the environment that stimulate ecological conversion, and become centers of deepening the Word of God while nurturing the true missionary disciples of God’s love and mercy.

He also noted that the central coordination of Small Christian Communities in Meru Diocese would promote that spirit of forming missionary disciples, as the church strives to reach out to the marginated of the society.  He challenged the Small Christian Communities in the Diocese to remain in communion with their pastors and the universal Church.

He thanked the participants for their attendance and encouraged them to own these groups and make them avenues of sharing the challenges they go through in their Christian life. He also acknowledged the role of SCCs office to serve and strengthen Catholic families in the Diocese of Meru through pastoral programs for families. However, he discouraged the misconception of the Small Christian Community as clan-based or social class-based, but said, it should be a neighborhood church from the families.