Stewardship/Service groups remind us that Church work is about stewardship – therefore our Parish spares time, resources and talents to serve the Church. Key priorities include:
- Providing opportunities for all Groups to demonstrate faith in action
- Providing an environment in which the youth (three categories) explore their potential and have a sense of belonging
- Providing an environment in which the Sunday School Children feel connected and are eager to deepen their relationship with God
Stewardship/Service
The stewardship groups at the Parish include the following:
The association is made up of catholic women aged 18 years and above and with good ethical conduct. It seeks to bring together all catholic women in the parish to uplift their faith so that they have the strength, love and togetherness in serving those who do not know about Christianity by preaching the word of God to them. The CWA’s objectives will be realized through:
- Reading the bible at home.
- Guiding the youth by counseling them about their life now and after.
- Helping the women in doing activities for the welfare of the church.
- Helping the women on how to take care of their families in the Christian way and also everywhere.
- Helping the less fortunate and the sick by praying with them and material support.
- Bringing up ideas which can help the women, spiritually and materially by creating projects.
- Finally, is to change the face of the world to be better as you live in it.
The Youth
The Parish has three youth categories to cater for all age groups. These include:
They began at the Parish as young adults between the ages of 25 – 35. Most recently this group has grown into the Young Christian Workers (YCW), covering youth of the age of 27- 40. YCW is an apostolic movement founded for young people who are in different fields of work.
The movement was formed/ founded in 1924 by Fr. Cardijn Joseph who was from Belgium and later become a Bishop in Brussels. It was introduced in Kenya by Fr. John Buers in 1964. It was first introduced in Kisumu and granted probationer recognition in Kenya in 1968
The first and immediate apostle to young person is another young person, so the movement was created for young people to take responsibility for themselves and to evangelize and educate young people in the world of work. YCW call all young people to evangelize more youths to join Christianity and the church despite all the challenges they face and to find ways in which they can overcome them to achieve their goals.
YCW membership is open to all Catholic Christians between the ages of 27-40. Other requirements are registration fee of Kshs 200 and Kshs 550 for the group t-shirt. Membership recruitment is ongoing throughout the year. YCW meetings are scheduled for every Sunday after the first mass at the Mary Mother of God Church, Embulbul.
YCW’s patron Saint is St. Joseph the Worker.
The Catholic Youth Association (CYA) comprises youths within the 15 – 26 age group. The CYA was formed in 1997 at the parish inception. The group’s purpose is holistic empowerment of the youth. There are 33 registered members at Embulbul. They mainly encourage each other as they go through their schooling. They support each other as they transit through adolescence and young adulthood. They address their emotional, physical as well as their spiritual growth. They participate in youth seminars and workshops. Through these gatherings, they learn from each other.
Meetings are held once every month.
They are between 9 – 14 years. At Embulbul parish, they are known for liturgical dances. They spend time together over weekends socializing in a healthy and controlled environment. They also share from each other through play and dancing. They have leaders from the young adults who organize and see to their spiritual growth.
The children are supposed to engage with all the children of the whole world so as to enhance the missionary work of Jesus: to educate the universal love and save the children of the world. We welcome all children up to the age of 9 years and even those who are older to join PMC.
The children are supposed to engage with all the children of the whole world so as to enhance the missionary work of Jesus: to educate the universal love and save the children of the world. We welcome all children up to the age of 9 years and even those who are older to join PMC.
The Marriage Encounter is open to all married couples. In Married Encounter, we believe our marriages can get better and it takes hard work to have a great marriage, and it worth it.
In Kenya, the Late Archbishop of Nairobi, His Eminence Maurice Cardinal Otunga started Marriage Encounter in 1978. Twenty years later (1998) the Marriage Encounter found its way to Embulbul Parish through Rev. Fr. Kevin McGarry efforts. There are 23 encountered couples in the Parish (16 couples from Embulbul and 7 couples from Kerarapon).
Key activities include monthly meetings, retreats, recollections, seminars, promotion talk & luncheons, Acts of Mercy, visitations to non-active encountered couples and counselling to couples.
The Catholic Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee (CJPIC) was established at the Embulbul Catholic Parish in 2015 with commissioning of the first commissioners. In 2017 another group of commissioners was commissioned. Its purpose is to promote justice and peace in our communities in the light of the gospel and of the social teaching of the Church. The focus being concerns with social and political problems tied to justice, human rights, integrity of creation and peace.
There 35 members of CJPIC within the Parish distributed as follows: Mary Mother of God Church, Embulbul, 26 members; Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Olepolos, 4 members and, Corpus Christi Church, Kerarapon, 5 members. The membership of CJPIC is drawn from Small Christian Communities. However Catholic lay movements, association and institution within the church are encouraged to join. Joining CJPIC is continuous for promoters but commissioners are trained after every two years. There two categories of members:
- CJPIC promoters –those who have interest & participate in CJPIC activities
- CJPIC commissioners -trained promoters who have been commissioned
The CJPIC members are guided by “Catholic Justice and Peace Commission; Catholic Diocese of Ngong Policy”. The CJPIC Embulbul parish has 7 committee with each committee tasked with key activities in the following themes:
- Liturgical committee of CJPIC:
- Guides CJPIC in liturgical activities
- Prepares, involves and encourages CJPIC in their activities to full, conscious and active participation in liturgical rites that are noble in their simplicity yet powerful in their expression of the sacred mysteries
- Represents CJPIC in Church Liturgical Committee
2. Children and Youth Affairs committee of CJPIC activities
- Advises the CJPIC on all matters related to child and youth programs
- Develops and coordinates safe environment programs for children and youth designed to ensure victim assistance, necessary safety and security for all children as they participate in church and religious activities.
- Suggests training and development of parish personnel responsible for child and youth protection programs.
- Devolution and Citizen Participation committee of CJPIC activities
- Creates awareness amongst both duty bearers and citizens on what citizen participation is and its importance.
- Concerns of refugee
- Encourages citizen participation in the management of local affairs and projects, and to hold duty bearers accountable
Encourages citizen capacity building in planning, implementation, monitoring & feedback reporting mechanisms and participation in Citizen Engagement Forums
- Dispute, reconciliation victim assistance committee of CJPIC activities
- Investigates, analyses, and reports on conflicts in the community, faithful and within CJPIC.
- Assists victims of injustices
- Mediates peaceful settlement and reconciliation within CJPIC members.
2. Outreach committee of CJPIC activities
- Creates awareness on CJPIC activities to other church groups and Small Christian Communities
- Provides training to Church groups on Catholic Social teaching
- Organises trainings, community support visits, retreats, recollections and outreach visits for CJPIC members
- Environment, safety and public health committee of CJPIC activities
- Monitors & advises the CJPIC on all matters related to environmental, safety, and public health issues
- Develops, implements and coordinates environmental, safety, and public health issues programs.
3. Gender and social affairs Committee of CJPIC activities
- Promotes awareness of gender issues in the community of the faithful
- Recognises and advise CJPIC on needs of vulnerable people in community
- Liaises with other church groups tasked with social welfare activities
CJPC holds meeting once a month on the first Sunday of the month. The meetings are held on rotational bases with the outstations. In a year it is expected that each outstation will hold four CJPC meetings
The Patron saint of CJPIC is St. Francis of Assisi
St Francis of Assisi is Catholic Church’s patron of Justice, Animals and Environment. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history. He is remembered for his generosity to the poor, his willingness to minister to the lepers and for his love for animals and nature.
Parish Officials
Chaplain: Rev. Fr Thaddeus Mokaya, SMA
Chairperson: Simon Kihu
Vice Chairperson: Alexander Kyalo
Secretary: Alexander Mwangi
Vice secretary: Evangeline Mugo
Treasurer: Pamela Owiti
Coordinator: Carey Francis Ogalo
This is a devotional Prayer group that puts emphasis on the third person of the Holy Trinity i.e. The Holy Spirit and His Charisms as per the Catechism of the Catholic Church e.g. Articles 799-801; 2003-2005. Article 80 says “Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them by all members of the Church….
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a structured movement with leadership (core group) in each prayer group in a Church. This is made up of the coordinator, assistant coordinator, secretary, assistant secretary and the treasurer. In addition each ministry is represented by a member e.g. praise and worship, Hospitality, Intercession, Healing and deliverance etc.
The above is replicated in the parish where we have the Parish Service Team (PST), the Diocese Service Team (DST), the National Service Team (NST) and the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service (ICCRS). These teams are a service team not overseers and are responsible for their area of operation.
Proclaiming, witnessing in deeds and serving others are our core values. Our core objectives include the following:
- Conversion: – To foster mature and continuous personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
- Sanctification: – To foster a decisive Personal relationship with the person, presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
- Edification: – To foster the reception and use of Spiritual gifts (Charisms); not only in the Charismatic Renewal Movement, but also in the broader organ of Church. These gifts: (ordinary and extraordinary) are found among the laity, religious and Clergy.
- Evangelization: – To foster the work of evangelization on the power of the Holy Spirit to those outside the Church and re-evangelize the nominal Christian through our culture and social structures i.e. sharing in the church’s mission to evangelize by proclaiming the gospel in word and deed and being witness to Jesus Christ (through personal testimony, through works of faith and Justice to which each one is called).
- Integration: – To foster the ongoing growth in holiness through participation in rich sacramental and liturgical life. Appreciation of the tradition of the Catholic prayer and Spirituality ongoing formation in the Catholic Doctrine guided by the Church’s magisterium. Participation in the pastoral plan of the church
Scheduled prayer meetings are held every Sunday after Mass where we study the Word of God, pray for each other’s needs and support members spiritually, materially, emotionally and psychologically (counselling).
The Saint Vincent De Paul (SVP) group undertakes a number of activities within the parish including but not limited to the following:
- Feeding the poor/the needy
- Caring for the sick and the dying
- Clothing the poor/needy
- Burying the dead
- Conducting home visits
- Constructing houses for the needy
- Comforting the sick/needy and do catechism for them
- Unite with other parishes SVP and form area council
Currently we are assisting more than 100 persons Christians and non-Christians within the parish area of Embulbul, Kerarapon and Olepolos