emerging Christianity in Kenya and its socio-political impact

Abstract

The role of the Kenyan Church in politics is a topic of debate. This study focusses on three churches based in Nairobi, Kenya: Parklands Baptist Church, Daughters of Zion Ministry (which is under Jubilee Christian Church), and Karura Community Chapel. We investigate the impact of these examples of Kenyan Pentecostalism from a socio political standpoint. Paul Gifford, in his book Christianity, Politics, and Public Life in Kenya, charges Kenyan Christianity with abetting corruption and impunity. Churches have been co-opted by the ruling elite and have lost their prophetic voice. In this study, we do not set out to disapprove Gifford’s assertions about Kenyan Christianity and politics. We seek instead to amend his claims by proposing an alternative viewpoint with which to dissect the role of Christianity in politics and Kenya’s public life. This paper uses a neo Augustinian political lens with which to examine Gifford’s thesis and the three cases. Central to neo Augustinian political theology is that conviction that the Church is at its most powerful politically when it lives out its message faithfully. When the Church lives out its mandate in line with the Scriptures, when it mobilizes its congregants to live out Christian ideals, only then is its political potential unlocked.