Abstract:
Howard Snyder recommends "All Para-church structures should be subjected to
continuous, vigorous sociological and theological analysis to determine their fidelity to
the biblical concept of the church and their effectiveness as instruments of the church"
(Snyder 1977, 168). This research investigates ways in which the ministry of Scripture
Union in Kenya as a Para-church organization has contributed to the equipping of the
Church in Kenya so as to fulfill the great commission of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The aim of this study is to help Scripture Union in Kenya and other similar Para-church
groups to discover and emphasize their unique roles in equipping the local churches for
missions.
It is a case study and field-based research using a descriptive method of study to
investigate the role of Scripture Union Kenya in equipping the local churches for
missions.
The population of study was the staff and voluntary workers of the Scripture Union of
Kenya. The researcher adopted questionnaires and documents from archives as an
instrument to facilitate the collection of data. In addition, he carried out face-to-face
interviews of three key role players in Scripture Union of Kenya
The researcher used the decision rule with a Likert-Type Scale to obtain a dichotomy of
opinion or decision on whether to accept or reject an issue raised in the closed-ended
question items/categories.
Two major findings in this study were: Local churches in Kenya need external
resources and the complementary role of Para-church groups like Scripture Union
Kenya. Para-church groups like Scripture Union of Kenya are autonomous; however,
local churches could be influencing their roles in missions.
It was recommended that Para-church groups like Scripture Union of Kenya be doing
social anthropological research of the local churches in their fields of operations. In
addition they should be doing regular research evaluation of their ministry activities
with respect to the local churches they intend to serve.
