THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND EMPOWERMENT: A Case Study of the Christian Community Services (CCS), Wangige Zone, ACK Diocese of Mt. Kenya South

Abstract

Christian community services in the Anglican Church Diocese of Mt. Kenya South has been engaging in community development and empowerment in various activities which have helped many people to be self-reliant and engage in income generating activities. The CCS has its own programs and projects. The purpose of the study is to highlight some of these programs and projects by looking into the vision and mission statements of the CCS. The study also highlights the challenges of the CCS and how involved the stakeholders are in the projects and programs of the CCS. A qualitative case study was used to interpret the data. The case study relied on both the primary and secondary data collection which was provided through the following: one-on-one interviews, focus group discussions, direct observation and document analysis. Data were analyzed through tables, percentage and bar graphs. The findings indicated that the CCS , Wangige zone, ACK Diocese of Mt. Kenya South is empowering the community and in particular the Mai-Mahiu water for peace initiatives. But there are needs to have more programs within other parts of the Diocese. It was also clear the stakeholders within the diocese are not involved in the programs of the CCS. For the CCS to be more effective and its influence to be felt, there is a need to have programs to create and raise awareness of its programs and projects. The study also reveals that there is a need to conduct a similar study on the impact of the CCS before and after its regionalization.