EFFECT OF DISCIPLESHIP TEACHING STRATEGIES ON THE SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION OF REDEEMED GOSPEL CHURCH MEMBERS IN KANGUNDO SUBCOUNTY, MACHAKOS COUNTY

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of certain discipleship teaching strategies on the spiritual transformation of the members, as measured by Spiritual Assessment Inventory, in selected Redeemed Gospel Churches in Kangundo Sub County, Machakos County. The design was a descriptive survey which used the cross-sectional approach to data collection. The target population was all the 70 churches in Kangundo District, approximately 10,500 members. A sample of 945 participants was selected using systematic random sampling and questionnaires were consequently distributed to the 945 members. Overall, 538 questionnaires were returned and analyzed to provide information of strategies used in the teaching ministry of the church and information on spiritual transformation. The researcher used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze the data and performed t– tests for independent samples to look for possible differences between the means of the members who have been discipled through exposure to the four discipleship strategies believed to enhance spiritual transformation and those that have not been exposed to those strategies. This was required to provide the basis for rejection or failure to reject the null hypotheses. The study found out that majority (60.8%) of Redeemed Gospel Church members was spiritually mature based on the analyses of all the subscales of Spiritual Assessment Inventory (SAI): Awareness of God, Disappointment with God, Grandiosity, Instability, Impression Management and Realistic Acceptance. The study findings revealed that majority (70.1%) of the Redeemed Gospel Church members have been discipled using discipleship strategies believed to enhance spiritual transformation. Based on the findings, the study concluded that mentoring relationship program, teacher role modeled Christlikeness, formal discipleship curriculum and small group fellowship were likely to enhance the spiritual transformation of Church members. Further, the study found out that there were significant differences in spiritual transformation between members who had gone through discipleship strategies, and those who had not. This means that members who had been exposed to the discipleship strategies displayed greater spiritual transformation compared to those who had not.