Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Boubakar Sanou

Second Advisor

Bruce Bauer

Third Advisor

Wagner Kuhn

Abstract

Problem

The South Kenya Conference (SKC) was the first to gain conference status in Kenya in 1981. Unfortunately it continues to struggle financially to the point of receiving subsidies from other conferences for its day-to-day operations. The annual stewardship statistical reports for the last 10 years show that the tithe is slightly higher than the offerings. While 14 % of the members return their tithes; only 8 % of them give offerings. This was one of the challenges I was faced with when I was elected as the conference Stewardship Director. This indicates that there is a weak commitment to systematic benevolence and Christian stewardship.

Methods

A logical framework and Gantt chart were used to organize the project and describes the linkage of activities in the development and implementation of the project. Implementation involved the collection of local church treasurer’s reports and conference treasury reports, conducting seminars, monitoring, and evaluations. Finally, a report on the progress, lesson learned, conclusion, and recommendations was drafted.

Results

The SKC, after the implementation of the project, reached the goal of a 20% increase in giving. Both tithes and offerings increased. Tithe increased by 39.99% and offerings increased by 13.42%. This was achieved by sorting out some of the issues that have been pending for many years in the conference. Some districts were divided and additional pastors were employed, which revived the spirit of the members. The project also succeeded in holding seminars and stewardship promotions throughout the conference to teach, motivate, and encourage the members to practice biblical stewardship. The project resulted in 75% of the homes of members being visited and people prayed for.

Conclusion

Presently biblical principles and teaching stewardship principles are important. However, the research found that house-to-house visitation was the one thing that had the most impact on the giving patterns of the SKC. Without regular visitation many issues that affect giving are not addressed. When issues are not addressed on a one-to-one basis, giving of tithe and offerings decline.

Subject Area

Christian stewardship, Christian giving, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. East-Central Africa Division. East Kenya Union Conference. South Kenya Conference.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/261/

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