After years of conflict and amid an uncertain political transition, South Sudan’s church leaders have committed themselves to an ambitious programme of prayer, reconciliation, peace building and practical accompaniment of their people. Meeting in Limuru, Kenya, they affirmed a distinctive role for the Church: to remain present, independent and hopeful, creating spaces where divided communities can meet, wounds can begin to heal and violence can be prevented.
There is no easy road ahead for South Sudan.
Years of conflict have left communities divided, millions displaced and many people carrying the wounds of violence and loss. The country now faces another period of profound uncertainty as it approaches the proposed end of its long political transition, with its first national elections since independence scheduled for December.
Against this backdrop, senior South Sudanese church leaders gathered in Limuru, Kenya, from 4–7 August. This was deliberately a retreat rather than simply another conference or opportunity to analyse the country’s challenges. Alongside careful reflection on the situation facing South Sudan, participants made space for prayer, worship, scripture and fellowship – engaging heart and mind together as they sought God’s guidance, renewed their shared sense of calling and discerned how the Church should respond in the months ahead. The retreat was convened by The Executive Director of the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA) in collaboration with the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC), with Canon Grace Kaiso, Senior Adviser to the Anglican Alliance, playing a leading role in bringing the gathering together and facilitating its conversations alongside Ms Kinoti Karimi, the regional ecumenical envoy, and Ms Jeannette Uwizeyi, FECCLAHA and Archbishop Emeritus John Baptist Odama, known for his leadership role in addressing the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) conflict in Northern Uganda. The retreat was made possible with the support of Christian Aid.
They came not simply to discuss politics, but to ask a deeper question: what is the particular calling of the Church at a moment such as this?
The spirit in which they approached that question is captured in one striking sentence in the pastoral statement issued at the end of the retreat: “We do not speak from despair.”
Lament – and renewed hope
This deeper space allowed the leaders to acknowledge the extraordinary burden carried by South Sudan’s people and by those who have accompanied them through years of conflict.
Reflecting on biblical themes of lamentation, repentance, restoration and “rebuilding the broken wall”, church leaders lamented the suffering of their people and the destructive consequences of tribalism, greed, violence and selfishness. Lament was not the end of the journey: they described themselves as renewed by God’s forgiving grace and recommitted to the ministry of peace and reconciliation.
That renewed commitment has a strongly outward focus. Prayer will underpin the churches’ work, with weekly prayer in member churches and a monthly national ecumenical programme of prayer and fasting, while their wider plans seek to turn prayer into practical accompaniment: strengthening peace building at community level, supporting reconciliation and healing, identifying emerging threats and helping communities resist violence and division.
A Church woven through the life of the nation
The Church’s distinctive contribution grows from something built over generations: its deep presence in communities and the trust that comes with it.
Across South Sudan, the Church is woven deeply into the fabric of everyday life. Its clergy, congregations, women and youth networks are part of the communities they serve, sharing their suffering, hopes and daily life.
In their pastoral statement, the leaders describe the trust communities continue to place in them as a “sacred responsibility”, pledging to continue to “pray, speak, accompany, reconcile, mediate and act with courage” for their people.
This understanding of the Church’s distinctive role was central to the retreat. Canon Grace Kaiso brought to the gathering decades of experience in ecumenical leadership and peacebuilding. Underlying the conversations was a conviction reflected throughout his ministry: peace is built patiently, through relationships, trust and faithful presence.
The roadmap agreed in Limuru builds on this conviction in practical ways. Church networks will help gather and verify information from communities so that emerging tensions and risks of violence can be identified early. Sermons, radio, community forums and materials in accessible languages will be used for peace and civic education, helping people resist hate speech and divisive narratives and make informed, peaceful choices.
This is peacebuilding at its most local, drawing on trusted relationships to notice tensions, challenge rumours and encourage non-violence before conflict escalates.
Healing relationships, not simply preventing violence
Preventing immediate violence is not enough in a country carrying wounds accumulated over many years.
The church leaders plan to accelerate people-to-people dialogue, trauma healing, truth-telling and forgiveness, building on the South Sudan Council of Churches’ Action Plan for Peace and Church Initiative for National Healing and Reconciliation.
This points to something particularly important about the Church’s role. Its concern is not only whether violence can be prevented in the coming months, but whether neighbours can live together again, whether people carrying trauma can begin to heal and whether broken relationships can be restored.
The churches will build on existing work to train and deploy faith-led mediation teams and to identify trusted religious leaders to carefully undertake pastoral visits and non-violence dialogue with those directly involved in conflict, including in high-risk contexts, to de-escalate tensions and support the resolution of disputes. In this way, the Church is seeking not simply to speak about peace, but to engage directly in situations of conflict where appropriate and to influence duty bearers within the country and the region to prioritise lasting peace.
Women and young people as peacebuilders
Women and young people were not only discussed as essential participants in peace building; the retreat itself sought to ensure that they had a place at the table, bringing their perspectives and experience into the conversations that shaped the way forward.
That commitment is carried through into the roadmap, with women and young people taking meaningful roles in prayer, community dialogue, mediation, civic education, early warning and decision-making, and their leadership intentionally included throughout the structures responsible for taking the work forward. Their participation recognises that women and young people experience conflict and its consequences in particular ways, while also bringing relationships, knowledge and capacities that are vital to healing communities and building peace.
Preparing to protect people
The churches are preparing for the possibility of further displacement, hunger and violence, mapping potential hotspots and existing church capacities, establishing referral pathways for vulnerable people, identifying safe church facilities and agreeing how humanitarian responses can be activated if conditions deteriorate.
Here too, the Church’s deep roots in communities matter. It can hear when people are frightened, notice when families begin to move, identify those most at risk and mobilise networks of care and protection.
A sacred responsibility
Underlying everything agreed in Limuru is a commitment to preserve the unity and independence of the Church itself, with church leaders pledging to act “with one voice and one mind” and to remain spiritually grounded, non-partisan, trauma-sensitive and evidence-based.
The retreat did not produce an easy answer to South Sudan’s future. It produced something perhaps more durable: a renewed understanding of who the Church is called to be in the midst of uncertainty, and a practical plan for living out that calling.
Through prayer and attentive listening, the churches will watch for signs of danger and challenge messages of hatred, while creating spaces for healing, truth-telling and forgiveness and continuing to mediate, accompany and protect. In doing so, they will seek to help communities imagine that a peaceful future together is still possible.
As their pastoral statement puts it: “We accept trust as a sacred responsibility.”
The Anglican Alliance was privileged to accompany this process through Canon Grace’s leadership and participation, working alongside FECCLAHA, the SSCC and the wider ecumenical family. We are grateful to Christian Aid for its partnership in enabling this important work.
For South Sudan’s churches, the task now is neither to retreat in the face of uncertainty nor to pretend they can determine what happens next. It is to remain present: praying, listening, accompanying, reconciling, mediating, protecting – and patiently continuing to build peace.
Read the Limuru Pastoral Statement here.
