THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF KENYA TO THE TRANSFORMATION OF KIRINYAGA DISTRICT, 1910-2010

Abstract

Drawing on the theory of social capital, the initial attraction of Kirinyaga people to the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) mission centres were the schools, hospitals, demonstration gardens and artisan skills that imparted by missionaries. The ACK established Christian communities in Kirinyaga that became centres of early Christian converts and change. The Christian communities constituted “the germ of the missionary spirit.” The ‘new’ Christians would take a great deal of pleasure in spreading the “germ” to many communities in Kirinyaga, ‘infecting’the more susceptible of its members. Each Christian community endeavored to have a church, an elementary school, a hospital and a demonstration garden. This in itself was an extraordinary change. This study has presented evidence of Kirinyaga’s cultural, socio-economic and political homogeneity as fundamental part of traditional life. European settlement in Kenya made oppression and injustice virtually inevitable and mission response to African issues ranged from land and labor to taxation and wages. The Anglican CMS almost exclusively provided such public services as schooling, healthcare and agriculture. This study also discussed regionalization of ACK CCS as a concept of community development focusing on CCSMKE serving the whole community in Kirinyaga, with priority on the most disadvantaged parts of the region, whether or not there are any Anglican congregations in that region. One of the discussions advanced in this study, is that the Anglican Church in Kirinyaga should have concern for Kirinyaga people as the concern of her social gospel. The study articulates a “theology of development” which argues that social gospel that is based on exploitation and oppression of Kirinyaga people cannot be genuine social gospel.