The PCEA Woman’s Guild began in 1981 with a small group of women — some from PCEA Bahati, others from PCEA St. Andrew’s — who had settled in a new area and started their own fellowship under St. Andrew’s Parish. As congregations multiplied across what is now PCEA Milimani South Presbytery, so did the Guild: Muteero’s founding branch went on to help start the Woman’s Guild at Namanga, at PCEA Embul Bul, and, later, at PCEA Karen. Today the Guild in our parishes counts hundreds of members, guided by the motto “That far the Lord has helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12) and organized around worship, fellowship, and the empowerment of women and girls.
Few ministries in PCEA Milimani South Presbytery can trace their growth across as many congregations as the Woman’s Guild. What began with a handful of women meeting in a new part of Nairobi in 1981 has, over four decades, planted itself in nearly every parish the Presbytery now counts — not by grand design, but by members simply carrying the ministry with them wherever the church sent them next.
A Guild Before There Was a Parish
The Woman’s Guild that would eventually anchor PCEA Muteero Church started in 1981, before Muteero itself existed as a separate congregation. A few women who had settled in the area — some from PCEA Bahati, others from PCEA St. Andrew’s — found each other, and began meeting under St. Andrew’s Parish in what was then Ngong Hills Presbytery. The founding office bearers were Mrs. Gladys M. Kariuki (Chairlady), Mrs. Elizabeth W. Riunga (Secretary), Mrs. Anne W. Maina (Treasurer), Mrs. Naomi Gatere, Mrs. Grace N. Kimondo (Church School Superintendent), Mrs. Eunice K. M’Barine, Mrs. Mary W. Gitahi, Mrs. Gladys W. Muriithi, and Mrs. Rahab W. Gatu.
On 10th June 1983, four more women were dedicated at PCEA St. Andrew’s by Rev. Timothy Njoya — Isabella M. Muturi, Lillian G. Kanaiya, Naomi W. Murigu, and Susan M. Kiragu — and with that, the group qualified to become a full Guild Congregation. Soon after, Muteero, Lang’ata, and Nairobi West churches were brought together as Lang’ata Parish, and the Guild grew within it.
One Guild Becomes Several
What happened next is the same pattern that shaped so much of the Presbytery’s congregational growth: as new congregations were planted, the Woman’s Guild went with them. When PCEA Kuwinda Church was started, its members continued for a time under Lang’ata Parish’s Woman’s Guild. Muteero’s own Guild went on to start the Woman’s Guild at Namanga, part of the mission work we’ve told the story of in our history of the Namanga Nendeni Mission Area. Some years later, members left Muteero to help start the Woman’s Guild at PCEA Embul Bul. And when some members of Muteero joined members from St. Andrew’s to establish PCEA Karen Church, they carried the Guild there too — today it operates as the Karen Parish Woman’s Guild.
By its 40th anniversary, Muteero’s own Guild alone stood at 57 full members and 11 followers — one branch among many descended from that first meeting of settled women in 1981.
What the Guild Is For
Across the Presbytery, the Woman’s Guild organizes itself around a shared vision and mission: “To be an inclusive Christian Women organization that empowers women to transform society,” and “To holistically empower Christian Women enabling them to effectively transform the society through worship, fellowship, networking, partnerships, advocacy, communication, mobilization of resources, research and training based on Christian values.” Its stated core values are fellowship, honesty, compassion, partnership, and accountability, worked out through four practical objectives: deepening women’s spiritual maturity, empowering women and girls for their roles in family, church, and society, developing leadership skills — including mentoring girls — and building capacity through training.
At Lang’ata Parish, the Guild’s work is described in similarly concrete terms: physical care of the church (cleaning, furnishing, maintaining church utensils), mentoring young people, caring for the needy in the community, education and counselling of the young, and outreach and evangelism. As of July 2024, Lang’ata’s Woman’s Guild alone counted 160 full members and 23 followers — open to women aged 20 and above.
A Motto Worth Keeping
Muteero’s Woman’s Guild closes its own written history with a verse it has adopted as a kind of motto: “That far the Lord has helped us” (Ebenezer) — 1 Samuel 7:12, the stone Samuel raised to mark God’s help against the Philistines. It is an apt choice for a ministry that has spread, generation by generation, from one small group of newly settled women into a network spanning parishes: at every branching point — Namanga, Embul Bul, Karen — the same conviction has carried forward. Not our doing; the Lord’s help, this far and further.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the Woman’s Guild started in our parishes?
In 1981, when a small group of women who had recently settled in the area — from PCEA Bahati and PCEA St. Andrew’s — began meeting together under St. Andrew’s Parish, later formalizing into a full Guild Congregation on 10th June 1983.
Who can join the Woman’s Guild?
Congregations across the Presbytery generally welcome women aged 20 and above who wish to serve God through worship, fellowship, and community service, though exact requirements vary by congregation — contact your local parish to join.
What does the Woman’s Guild actually do?
Its work spans spiritual formation, mentoring young people and girls, caring for the needy, outreach and evangelism, and practical care of the church itself — furnishings, cleaning, and hospitality — organized under a shared Presbytery-wide vision of empowering women to transform society.
Final Thoughts
From one meeting of women who had simply found each other in a new neighbourhood in 1981, the Woman’s Guild has become one of the most quietly consequential ministries in PCEA Milimani South Presbytery — planting itself in congregation after congregation not through any grand strategy, but because faithful women kept carrying it with them. Ebenezer: this far the Lord has helped us. The Guild’s own history suggests He is not finished yet.
Interested in Joining a Woman’s Guild Near You?
Every parish in our Presbytery has its own Woman’s Guild chapter. Reach out and we’ll connect you.
Historical details in this article are drawn from PCEA Milimani South Presbytery’s own published ministry records. Compiled by the Editorial Desk.