Influence of Spiritual-economic Projects on Growth of the Methodist Church in Kenya. A case of Kaaga Synod, Kenya

Abstract

A church is not only an assembly of believers where people meet for spiritual nourishment from the Word of God but a place of spiritual empowerment in all aspects of life. It has been observed that majority of the religious faithful in Kenya live below the poverty line to an extent of inability to meet even basic needs. The study’s main purpose was to assess the influence of spiritual-economic projects on the growth of the MCK. A case of Kaaga synod, Kenya. The objectives were to examine the influence of communal training in spiritual-economic projects on the growth of MCK; To assess the influence of sustainability of spiritual-economic projects on the growth of MCK; To determine the influence of financial literacy of spiritual-economic projects on the growth of MCK; and to investigate the moderating influence of involvement of communities in projects and the growth of MCK in Kenya. The two theories used were resource-based theory and Stewardship theory. The philosophy of the study was positive paradigm whereas the research design was descriptive which was applied in Kaag synod, Meru, County Kenya. The target population was 25 circuits in Kaaga synod, Meru County. The respondents were 25 superintendent ministers, 53 managers of church projects and 652 community project members that participate and are registered members in the projects. The study used purposive sampling technique to select all the 25 superintendent ministers and 53 project heads. The study selected 196 project members through simple random sampling method across diverse circuits. Interview guides and questionnaires were used to collect data. The study conducted a pre-test study in Methodist church in Nairobi synod. A pre-test study was conducted on 3 superintendent ministers, 5 projects heads and 20 community project members. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as median, frequencies and percentage. SPSS version 24 was used to analyze the data which was presented using tables. The interview responses were analyzed using content analysis method after which the explanations were issued. The findings on communal training were that, there was resistance from some of the leaders whereby they felt that the timing of the implementation of communal training operations was wrong since other things needed priority. Further on, sustainability, the schools and financial institutions which were main sources of income for the church, were negative impacted by Covid-19 hence low income. The findings on financial literacy were that, there was general lack of interest by some members whereby most of them were not ready to attend the training sessions. The study also established that in the involvement of communities in spiritual-economic project variable, members were still struggling to ensure that they followed biblical teachings to the letter. The recommendation on communal training is that the clergy should organize frequent meetings with project leaders so as to develop goals and their timelines to minimize resistance. On sustainability, the church council should develop strategies that would enable the church projects recover more quickly from the adverse effects of Covid-19 pandemic. On financial literacy, the clergy should use their influence on members to uptake the initiative of sensitizing members on the importance of the trainings. On involvement of community members variable, the clergy should advance their Biblical teaching and explanation skills so as to convince their members more on following them.