Factors Influencing Sustainability of Church Initiated Income-generating Projects: a Case of Kihumbui-ini Presbytery in Kandara Sub-county, Kenya
Abstract
Church-initiated income-generating projects are important in mitigating the daily challenges
of livelihood which confront members of church and society at large. However, sustainability
of church projects has not been without its fair share of shortcomings. Thus, the purpose of
this study was to examine factors influencing sustainability of church-initiated incomegenerating
projects in Kihumbu-ini Presbytery in Kandara Sub-county, Kenya. The objectives
included; influence of stakeholders’ training, church leadership support, availability of
resources and monitoring and evaluation strategies on sustainability of church-initiated
projects. The study was guided by the Resource Based Theory. The study applied mixed
methods approach. The study employed explanatory sequential research design. The target
population comprised of 70 members of the Youth Department Committees, 90 in Women’s
Guild Committees, 55 in Men’s Fellowship Committees, 30 members of Church Committees
and 92 members in the Pastor’s Office all totaling to 337. Using The Central Limit Theorem,
100 respondents, that is, 30% of 337, were sampled. Stratified sampling was applied to create
5 strata based on the number of departments within Kihumbu-ini Presbytery. From each
department, between 10% and 30% of the targeted population were sampled using simple
random sampling to eliminate bias. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the Youth
and Members in Pastors’ Office whereas focus group discussions for Women’s Guild
Committees, Church Committee Members and Men’s Fellowship who were divided into 5
convenient groups each consisting of 10 respondents. Piloting was conducted to establish
validity and reliability of the research instruments. Data analysis began by identifying
common themes. Irrelevant information was discarded whereas relevant information was
assigned codes and labels. Frequency counts of the responses were obtained to generate
descriptive information about the respondents and to illustrate the general trend of findings
on the various variables that were under investigation. Qualitative data was analyzed
thematically along the specific objectives and presented in narrative forms whereas the
quantitative data was analyzed descriptively using Statistical Packages for Social Science
(SPSS 23) and presented using tables. The study may benefit the church members in gaining
insights on how churches can partner with local communities in identifying, implementing
and managing projects to ensure sustainability. The study established that church
stakeholders’ training, leadership support, availability of resources and monitoring and
evaluation influence sustainability of church-initiated projects. The study thus recommends
that the churches should organize for suitable, relevant, appropriate and quality training
before initiating projects. Church leadership, members and other stakeholders should accord
the necessary support to the projects. Churches should ensure prudent use of the availability
resources aimed towards sustainability of such projects. The churches should also seek other
sources of financing to guarantee sustainability of church projects. Churches should adopt
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms which are effective in guaranteeing further funding
and eventual sustainability.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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