Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

By Joyce Mwangi Documentation & Communication Officer, Anglican Church of Kenya

The social transformation work of the Anglican Church of Kenya is in the process of rebranding from Christian Community Services (CCS) to Anglican Development Services, Kenya (ADSK).

Regional directors, programme managers and other staff of the Anglican Church of Kenya development arm attended a workshop to discuss the way forward of the proposed identity.

The workshop held on 25th and 26th Septem-ber 2012 in Nakuru, was facilitated by Dr. William Ogara from Christian Organizations Research and Advisory Trust of Africa (CORAT).

In plenary, brainstorming on strategic direction and resource mobilization for ADSK was done, culminating to documents that will be refined to inform policy formulation.

Local resource mobilization through ACK congregations giving to support the work is one of the considerations for sustainability. “People give when they find a worthy cause,” commented Dr. Ogara as he facilitated a session on resource mobilization.

The need for rebranding was prompted by the changing context in development work, county dispensation, provisions in the 2012 Constitution, dynamics in funding, emerging development priorities as well as increasing need for mitigation against disasters.

Work processes, approaches and procedures are being reviewed benchmarking on global best practices in church based community development practice.

In the proposed brand, ADSK, the structures will maintain relationships with supporting partners, development agencies, and govern-ment. Linkages and networks both locally and internationally will be created.

The secretariat, will ensure that ACK maintains effective development information systems and data base, facilitate research on social development, and maintain systems that support effective dissemination of information.

The establishment of ADSK will build an agency that operates on effective monitoring and evaluation standards for quality assurance. This will enhance the image of the Anglican Church and lend further support to its mission.

The regional development units will share situational reports that will inform strategic response by the Anglican Church of Kenya to national development issues such as advocacy, disaster response, livelihoods and capacity building.

The identity seeks to give a national outlook to the development work of ACK without losing the grassroot contact with the community.

The rebranding process begun during a idea a development consultation in September last year for ACK church leaders. Much is yet to be done to accomplish the desired identity but steady progress has been realized.

The essence for rebranding is to form a consortium of the nine development regions in the country for resource pooling and experience sharing.