This study centres on Church involvement in community development. The study seeks to demonstrate that the model adopted by the Christian Community Services is a fruitful experiment of church involvement in community development - one that has a tremendous potential to shed theological as well as practical light on church involvement in community development. After offering the statement of the problem and a brief geographical and social analysis of Kirinyaga Diocese, the study traces the genesis, vision and the modus operandi of the Christian Community Services. It then discusses the CCS 'Food Increase Programme' through the organisation's Rural Development Department. The Community Health and Social Services Programmes are presented as some of the CCS's interventions to reduce poverty in the community. The impact of these interventions was evident after the data collection, analysis and interpretation. The study then offers a theological evaluation and reflection of the work of the CCS as a model of church involvement in development activities in the community.The study argues that Christian theology has a particularly significant contribution to make to the debates about community development. In a pluralistic society in a secular age, a special responsibility is laid on the Church to present its distinctive understanding and insights to address the abject poverty among the vast majority of her followers. Without this, her public life is impoverished. Theology of development is the tool of the Church to achieve this vision. Although difficult to define, development is seen as the process of transforming the conditions of life of the people referred to as 'the poor' such that they can lead a more holistic life. The main objective of the CCS development activities is to allow the poor to become the subject, not the object, of development strategies. Given the opportunity to do so, they have shown themselves to be capable of making rational choices regarding their own destinies. In this context, it is hoped that this dissertation will help to contribute to an increased understanding of Church involvement in development from within for, by and with the poor. As a result, therefore, new optimism for the role of the Church in development may emerge from the current pessimism. The study has concluded that the Church's involvement in development is not an 'extra' but a bona fide function of the Church. / Thesis (M.Th)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

In Kenya as elsewhere in Africa, women are economically deprived. This situation is exacerbated when a husband, who has been the sole bread winner, dies leaving his wife with no financial support to look after herself and the children. Traditionally, these women were cared for by levirate marriage. With the coming of modernization, care of widows has dramatically changed. It is in this understanding this study was undertaken to examine how the ACK Diocese of Nairobi, can explore some practical ways and means of dealing with issues affecting widows and address the cultural regulations that oppress, dehumanize and victimize them in the society and in the church. This thesis further examines how an African woman, living in a changing world can continue with her life once widowed. This is considering the fact that she is living in a male dominated society. After the first chapter, which provides background information, motivation and the research focus, the study proceeds with an investigation of what widows experience after their husband's death. Through the formal interviews the study asserts that widows undergo cultural marginalisation, emotional stress, financial insecurity and lack of meaning, control and purpose oflife. Then the study proceeds to a theological reflection on this experience in light of the word of God and the church. It points that it was a biblical tradition in the Old Testament and the New Testament to care for widows. The church is challenged to continue with this and redefine its original goal, at same the time rebuking the injustices in the society. In response to the experience of widows and the theological reflection, the thesis argues that there is need for a holistic four-fold ministry to widows in the ACK Diocese of Nairobi. It is argued that the church should be involved in the role of advocacy, counselling, empowerment and job creation. This is to help them regain their dignity, self-esteem, and become self-reliant. The thesis concludes with a set of practical proposals for the Anglican Diocese of Nairobi. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Using the “four-selves” Mission Strategy of self-governance, self-support, self-propagation and self-theologizing as an analytical tool, this study assesses the theological training of church leaders (clergy and laity) in the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) with regard to context, relevance and viability. Though the ACK has been in Kenya since 1844, and has been involved in vigorous evangelization, it has not grown to be fully self-governing, self-supporting, self-propagating and self-theologizing. This is evidenced mainly by its flawed theological training system which is neither relevant nor viable. The study is in ten Chapters. The first Chapter contains the introductory material, while the second Chapter gives the general overview of the ACK focusing on its growth and training needs. The ACK is a rapidly growing Church experiencing a growth of about 6.7 per cent per annum, yet she is not necessarily happy as she is not able to produce sufficient and well-trained personnel to match this growth. The third Chapter traces the history of pastoral training in the ACK, while Chapter four assesses the curriculum used to prepare church leaders in the ACK. This curriculum is uncontextualised hence irrelevant to the current Kenyan society. Chapter five evaluates the six ACK Provincial Theological Colleges. These colleges are inadequate and economically under-utilized hence not viable. The sixth Chapter underscores the importance of training Lay Church Leaders in the ACK through Theological Education by Extension (TEE), an effective training model which has failed because the ACK leadership has failed to prioritize it. The seventh Chapter discusses the main challenges encountered by the ACK in her leadership training and shows that these challenges are vital measures for improving theological training in the ACK. Chapter Eight examines the relationship between Christian Mission and Theological Training and it comes out clearly that Mission and Theology are inseparable entities. In the ninth Chapter, the author basing his arguments on the various findings in this study suggests some possible ways through which the ACK can improve her training systems. Chapter Ten concludes that if the ACK has to succeed in her mission she has to prioritize the training of her leaders. / Church Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Using the “four-selves” Mission Strategy of self-governance, self-support, self-propagation and self-theologizing as an analytical tool, this study assesses the theological training of church leaders (clergy and laity) in the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) with regard to context, relevance and viability. Though the ACK has been in Kenya since 1844, and has been involved in vigorous evangelization, it has not grown to be fully self-governing, self-supporting, self-propagating and self-theologizing. This is evidenced mainly by its flawed theological training system which is neither relevant nor viable. The study is in ten Chapters. The first Chapter contains the introductory material, while the second Chapter gives the general overview of the ACK focusing on its growth and training needs. The ACK is a rapidly growing Church experiencing a growth of about 6.7 per cent per annum, yet she is not necessarily happy as she is not able to produce sufficient and well-trained personnel to match this growth. The third Chapter traces the history of pastoral training in the ACK, while Chapter four assesses the curriculum used to prepare church leaders in the ACK. This curriculum is uncontextualised hence irrelevant to the current Kenyan society. Chapter five evaluates the six ACK Provincial Theological Colleges. These colleges are inadequate and economically under-utilized hence not viable. The sixth Chapter underscores the importance of training Lay Church Leaders in the ACK through Theological Education by Extension (TEE), an effective training model which has failed because the ACK leadership has failed to prioritize it. The seventh Chapter discusses the main challenges encountered by the ACK in her leadership training and shows that these challenges are vital measures for improving theological training in the ACK. Chapter Eight examines the relationship between Christian Mission and Theological Training and it comes out clearly that Mission and Theology are inseparable entities. In the ninth Chapter, the author basing his arguments on the various findings in this study suggests some possible ways through which the ACK can improve her training systems. Chapter Ten concludes that if the ACK has to succeed in her mission she has to prioritize the training of her leaders. / Church Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

The objective of this research study is to investigate the problems of the divorced Christians within the Anglican Diocese of Kirinyaga in Kenya. A selection was made of some the divorced Christians in this diocese who even after their separation and divorce remained in the Church. The divorced Christians in this study were observed to have many more problems than ordinary Christian people. Their failure to survive their marriage made them feel desperate, tending towards a sense of personal failure. It was hypothesized that divorcees experience being sidelined in the Church, thus causing them physical and psychological emotions which affect them and label them as people who are unpardonable. Jack Dominian (1979), in search of information leading to the breakdown of marriages, has observed that the Christian Churches' teaching on sexuality and marriage has been a factor contributing indirectly to the breakdown of marriages and specifically to divorce. He also confirmed that another important contributing factor is the background of the partners. With this in mind the Christian Churches will want to do everything possible to save marriages. Therefore, the Churches have to be properly prepared and equipped for undertaking the challenges involving in building a worthy marriage. At the end of this research study the emphasis on marriage counselling is appealed to as a worthy tool to guide people towards a stable marriage. The dissertation commences with chapter one as an introduction which defines the objectives, motivation and the hypothesis to be tested. The literature review is tabled and is followed by definition of the terms so as to make the reader familiar with their usage. Finally, the chapter closes with the structure of the study. Chapter two deals with the methodology, explaining the sample and the development of the tool. The survey and all procedures are explained. Chapter three is divided into three parts. Part one introduces Agikuyu marriage and divorce, part two brings a theological review of divorce problems in the scriptures and part three brings a challenge to the missionary endeavours in the Anglican Diocese of Kirinyaga. It deals with the tensions created by the efforts of the Western missionaries and the Church as they came up against the African traditional heritage. Chapter four brings out the results of the methodological work. Hypothesis analysis is done and the interpretation given. The findings are given for and against the hypothesis. Discussion of the findings is done and then a conclusion is made. Chapter five is divided into three parts. First, a few ideas arising from the findings are discussed at length.The second part is the way forward which suggests possible ways in dealing with divorcees and enhancing a stable marriage. The final part carries the concluding remarks as a summary of the research study. / Thesis (M.Th. ; School of Theology)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998

This thesis deals with the Harambee as an indigenous lived philosophy and its capacity of empowering the poor in the Kenyan Anglican Church. From a historical perspective, it explores and scrutinises the origins, the definition and the philosophy behind Harambee. The thesis shows how Harambee was incorporated in the Kenyan Anglican Church and how it has been used as a survival strategy in the midst of the dominant development models which have failed to address the social-economic and political issues in Kenya. The thesis notes that even though Harambee is promoted in Kenya as a cultural, socio-economic and political philosophy its basic orientation is in harmony with the Christian theology. In this regard, the thesis offers a theological understanding of Harambee in the light of themes such as creation, imago Dei, incarnation, justice, redemption, love and solidarity. In undertaking this task, the thesis attempts to shed more light on how Harambee is in harmony with the principles and values of the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) model. It argues that Harambee shares many concerns with ABCD even though Harambee has a Kenyan cultural flavour. Therefore, it affirms that Harambee as a lived philosophy is likely to empower the poor in the community, and the Kenyan Anglican Church should consider enhancing Harambee to mobilise the local resources. In view of this, the study highlights various projects initiated by the church through Harambee and it concludes by proposing that the Church needs to go beyond humanitarian programmes and initiate sustainable projects that can address the causes of poverty thus striving to make the twenty-first century a century of hope for millions of people who are walking through the valley of the shadow of death. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Many books and articles have been written about the role of women in the Church by both local and foreign authors but I note with special interest, that the factors behind the preponderance of women over men in the Church have not been adequately highlighted. To me this is very important at this moment when we are celebrating 'a demographic shift in the centre of gravity of the Christian world with African Christianity being regarded as potentially the representative Christianity of the twenty-first Century'. The growth of Christianity in Africa as represented by the Church reflects a great disparity. Men dominate in leadership while women dominate in membership. Therefore the study seeks to investigate , examine and critically analyze the reasons for their conversion in order to build a balanced Christianity both in Church membership and leadership. The study was undertaken in the ACK diocese of Mt. Kenya Central and concentrated mainly on Murang'a district in the period between 1906-2000. Among other things the study was undertaken as a contribution to the emancipation of women in our African Churches. Chapter one is an introduction to the whole thesis . Included is the statement of the problem, the methodology used to collect data and the literature review. Chapter two examines Gikuyu myth of origin plus the place of women in traditional society. Chapter three investigates the role of women in the development of the ACK Diocese of Mt. Kenya Central with a special interest in the work of the CMS women missionaries and the MU. Chapter four is the major work of the study. Here we look at the dynamics of women converting into Christianity. A sample of four case histories have been analysed giving reasons as to why women embraced Christianity. This is followed successfully by a critical analysis of the specific reasons for women entering Church. It has singled out several reasons: first in the list is the quest for salvation and eternal life, pursuit for peace and search for identity among others. In Chapter five we have analysed our research findings using the feminist theretical framework of Carolyn Osiek. Chapter six is the summary and concluding remarks which sums up the main findings of the study. This chapter has concluded that Gikuyu women are attracted to Christianity mainly because of the Gikuyu patriarchal culture and the promise of emancipation preached by the Church. The same chapter has given several recommendations, which if followed can help bring equilibrium in the Church's leadership and membership. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002. / African Theological Fellowship.

This evaluation study was conducted to determine whether or not the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) Programme, of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a suitable means of training lay church workers for pastoral ministry. The research was carried out to asses the TEE Programme already in progress. As the Anglican Church of Kenya continues to grow, there is need for training of church workers, using a cost effective programme, without compromising the quality of the church workers. The research sampled five out of the twenty-nine ACK Dioceses, in which the TEE Programme is vibrant. In the five dioceses, the research further sampled lay leaders already in the church ministry. The research took the form of cycles in which implementation stages were conducted. The result of the research was interpreted to draw the conclusion of the purpose of evaluation of the programme. / Open Distance Learning / M. Ed. (Open and Distance Learning

This evaluation study was conducted to determine whether or not the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) Programme, of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a suitable means of training lay church workers for pastoral ministry. The research was carried out to asses the TEE Programme already in progress. As the Anglican Church of Kenya continues to grow, there is need for training of church workers, using a cost effective programme, without compromising the quality of the church workers. The research sampled five out of the twenty-nine ACK Dioceses, in which the TEE Programme is vibrant. In the five dioceses, the research further sampled lay leaders already in the church ministry. The research took the form of cycles in which implementation stages were conducted. The result of the research was interpreted to draw the conclusion of the purpose of evaluation of the programme. / Open Distance Learning / M. Ed. (Open and Distance Learning