Information And Communication Technology Uptake And Use In Religious Institutions In Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated the role of Information and Communication Technologies in Christ Is The Answer Ministries and how the church was coping with the cutting-edge technology. The objectives of this study were to find out the technologies that the church use to reach its respective audience, to investigate the consumption patterns, to establish factors necessitating the use of technologies in the church and to examine their outcome on conventional evangelism. The study used descriptive research design to seek information from registered members of the church. The study adopted mixed methods research approach. Interview guides and questionnaires were used to collect data. Purposive sampling technique was used to select key informants. Stratified random sampling was used to select respondents who were issued with questionnaires. Observation technique of data collection was also applied. Qualitative data was analysed using descriptive analysis and presented in a narrative form. Descriptive statistical was used to analyse quantitative data. The data was presented using percentages, bar charts and pie charts. The ministries utilises intranet for internal communication and the internet to reach wider audience. Findings show that, majority of the respondents used WhatsApp when communicating with other church members. Most of the respondents (80.7%) use soft copy Bible, while 26.9% indicated that they were influenced by ICTs to join CITAM. Technologies improved efficiency in evangelism compared to orthodox evangelism. The study recommends that Christ Is The Answer Ministries should invest in modern ICT infrastructure, good bandwidth for speed and employ technology experts. The government should also invest in Information and Communication Technologies education to create jobs for the youth for economic growth.