Role Of Small Christian Communities In Evangelization In Tabaka Catholic Parish, Kisii Diocese, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of small Christian communities is engaged in the church mission, which is evangelization. They are able to reach others by visiting the sick, poor, helping the church financially and by spiritual nourishment. This work cannot be done by a few. It needs active participation so that they can help in evangelization. However, there is low attendance in weekly meetings and members seem not to take their evangelization role seriously. The aim of this thesis was to assess the role of small Christian communities in evangelization in Tabaka Parish, Kisii Diocese. The study was guided by the following study objectives: To examine the consistency of members to small Christian community meetings in evangelization, to evaluate the commitment to charitable activities by small Christian community members in evangelization and to analyze the dedication to church contribution in evangelization among members of small Christian communities. Participatory church theory and mission dei theory were used. The study used a descriptive research design to describe the role of small Christian communities in evangelization. The study targeted a population of 776 with the sample size of 237 respondents. This was according to Mugenda & Mugenda (2003) who said that a sample size of 30% is appropriate for a population of less than 1000. Simple random method, purposive method and censors was used to collect data. Prior to the main study, a pilot study was conducted. Data collection was done through questionnaires, interview schedules and participant observation was done in selected small Christian communities. Data was analyzed using thematic and narrative approach. Data was presented through tables, verbatim reports, graphs and pie charts. The study found out that active participation is needed more in small Christian communities. The results showed that members lag behind because of poverty 97(43.7%), lack of interest 91 (41%), lack of commitment 85 (38.3%), work 88 (39.7%), ignorance 83 (37.4), hard economic times 99 (41.9%) and lack of transparency in financial matters 81 (36.5). The study recommends that the church and SCC leaders should put a lot of emphasis on the importance of joining SCC and actively participating in the weekly meetings, activities and programmes. The study findings may be instrumental in the Catholic Church in Tabaka Parish on the importance of active participation of members in SCC.