Approaches applied by church organisations in management of real property in Nairobi

Abstract

This study has been devoted to assessing the property management approaches practiced by the church organizations with special reference to the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, Anglican Church of Kenya, All Africa Conference of Churches and Nairobi Baptist Church Ngong Road. The study deals in detail with the history of the four church organizations and how they got their property and how they are currently managing them. There are five chapters in the study. Each of the four case studies portrays unique problems and attributes related to the size of the Church organisation in terms of represented congregations, the numbers of commercial properties owned, policy of the organisation and to some extent the age of the organisation. The first introductory chapter covers the general introduction to the study, the problem statement, study objectives, significance of the study, the research methodology and the scope of the study. Chapter two consist of a review of literature related to study of management, the management theories, organisation structures, their development and the management aspects as applied in real property management. A study of estate management practice and recorded literature in view to property owned by other churches is also part of chapter two, which then develops a model relating management concepts with real estate management functions.

Chapter three describes the Church view to real property, the Biblical teachings on property, history of the four church organizations, the property owned and their organization structures, which reflects on the management on decision making concerning the properties and therefore effectiveness in management. Chapter four deals with data analysis or the findings of the study. The data collected in the field was analysed in relation to the principles of management discussed in chapter two, thus the researcher was able to evaluate the management approaches how effective they are and what their weaknesses are. Finally chapter five gives the study conclusions and recommendations for further research.