AN ASSESSMENT OF GROWTH OF THE ACK FROM 1900 TO

The first Anglican congregation was started at Mombasa in 1844 by Rev.Dr. Ludwig Krapf, a CMS missionary who two years later (1846), was joined by another CMS missionary Rev. Johannes Rebman and both of them continued to evangelize East Africa. The Church which we have today is as a result of these early missionaries and the many others who followed later and were assisted by the local African evangelists who vigorously and tirelessly spread the gospel of Christ in Kenya.

Prior to the year 1900, there was no Anglican diocese covering Kenya only.

However, in 1897, the Diocese of Mombasa which covered the whole of Kenya and the northern part of Tanganyika had been formed (CPBD 2007). In 1899, according to the statistics conducted by Bishop Peel, there were about 1,199 Christians in the Diocese of Mombasa and three (3) African clergy (Peel 1900). By then (1899), there were five Mission stations that is, Mombasa, Frere Town, Rabai, Sagalla and Jirole (Peel 1900).

By 1900, there were about 2000 Anglican Christians in Kenya (Barrett 1982:432 & PUR 1994:11) and the only three African clergy (CPK 1980:7). This represented a 0.1 % of the total population which according to Barrett was 2.9 million (1982:432). By 1910, there were 15 Anglican Mission Stations in Kenya namely Mombasa, Rabai, Frere Town, Sagilla, Jirole, Mbale, Kabete, Weithaga, Kaloleni, Wusi, Maseno, Nairobi, Kahuhia, Kisumu and Kigari (See CPK 1980:2). There were also about 4,275 Anglican Christians (ACK Archives MR=membership register 1910) and the number of Anglican African clergy remained only three (CPK 1980:7). It is interesting to note that the church membership was increasing yet the number of clergy remained stagnant. Was the CMS keen on creating a self-governing Church in Kenya or does it mean that Africans did not want to serve as clergy? Murianki (2007) argues that most of the Africans trained at the Divinity School opted to work at the Railway Construction Company where the pay was higher than in the Mission Stations and at the same time the European missionaries wanted to retain power in the African Church.

By 1920, there were seventeen (17) Anglican Mission Stations (CPK 1980:2), eight (8) African clergy (:7) and about 6,594 Anglican Christians in Kenya (ACK Archives, MR 1920). By 1930, there was one Anglican diocese called the Diocese of Mombasa which covered the whole of Kenya. In 1927, the Diocese of Central Tanganyika had become independent leaving the Diocese of Mombasa which covered Kenya only (PUR 1994:22). The number of Anglican Mission Stations (by 1930) was twenty (20) and the African Anglican clergy totalled twenty-eight (28). There were about 21,962 Anglican Christians in Kenya (ACK Archives, MR 1930).By 1940, there were thirty eight (38) African Anglican clergy, one diocese (Mombasa), one Divinity

School, two secondary schools (Alliance and Buxton), and about 69,212 Anglican Christians in Kenya (MR 1920-1940). This growth was not only experienced in the general Church membership, but also in the number of baptisms and confirmations conducted. For instance, in 1945, the statistics for the Highlands Rural Deanery (present Mt. Kenya region) alone showed that there were 2,312 baptisms in the year and 6,197 communicants (Karanja 1999:253). In Maseno there were 1,865 baptisms and 3,742 communicants in 1945 (CMS 1945).

By 1950, there were sixty (60) African Anglican clergy (CPK 1980:7) and about 315,000 Anglican Christians in Kenya (ACK archives MR 1920-1950). By 1960, there were 109 African Anglican clergy (PUR 1994:26) and about 432,000 Anglican Christians in Kenya (ACK archives MR 1920-1960).

By mid 1970, there were about two hundred (200) African Anglican clergy (CPK 1980:7) and about 742,300 Anglican Christians in Kenya (Barrett 1982:432). In the same year (1970), there were six (6) Anglican dioceses in Kenya namely Mombasa, Fort Hall (later Mt. Kenya), Nakuru, Nairobi, Maseno North and Maseno South (PUR 1994:106-119& CPBD 2007). In the same year, the Anglican Church in Kenya became a Province under the name Church of the Province of Kenya (CPK). In 1980, there were 390 African Anglican clergy (CPK 1980:7) and 1,129,500 Anglican Christians in Kenya (:19).The communicants were 350,000 while the baptized Anglicans were 910,000. The total parishes were 253 and the congregations were 2,344. The total dioceses were seven (7) (:19). During that year, the total Archdeaconries were fourteen (14) while the Deaneries were fifty two (52).The total Anglican sponsored Primary and Secondary schools were 1,034 and 293 respectively (CPK 1980:19). The CPK students in theological colleges were 125 (:19). The number of theological colleges in CPK by the end of 1980 was eight (8) excluding St. Paul’s United Theological College (see chapter 5)

By mid 1990s, there were 1,010 Anglican clergy and about 1,858,200 Anglican Christians in Kenya (PUR 1994:26). The total dioceses were 20, the parishes were 779, the congregations were 3,885, the Archdeaconries were 66 and the Deaneries were 202

(CPBD 1994& PUR 1994:106-129). At the beginning of the year 2000, there were 27 Anglican dioceses, 4,076 congregations, 1,023 parishes, 108 Archdeaconries and 282 Deaneries (CPBD 2000) in Kenya.In the same year (2000), the ACK clergy totalled 1,136. The number of ACK sponsored Primary schools was 1,004, the Secondary schools was 312 and the ACK youth polytechnics were 76. By then the total number of Anglican Christians was about 2,538,240. There were also 97 health centers/clinics and three (3) hospitals in the ACK.^1.

This year (2007), the ACK has a total of 29 dioceses. The other information concerning the total number of Christians in the ACK, the total Congregations, Parishes, Archdeaconries, Deaneries ,Health Centers, Schools, and youth polytechnics in the year 2007 are shown in table A2 below. In the table

The Provincial Theological Colleges were five.

- A Parish refers to more than one congregation usually under a priest who is referred to as the Vicar. In some cases however a congregation can form a Parish by itself.

- A Deanery refers to two or more parishes usually under a Priest referred to as the Rural Dean and in the ACK, he/she plays a pastoral role.

- An Archdeaconry refers to many deaneries that are usually under a Priest referred to as an Archdeacon and he/she plays an administrative role in the area of his/her jurisdiction.

- Active Christians refer to Anglican members who attend the Church services regularly. In the Register of Services’ book they are called ‘Daily attendants’.

- ACK adherents refer to the total number of Anglican Christians in Kenya, adults and children included.

- The column on clergy includes both Priests and Deacons serving in the ACK.

Table A2- ACK provincial statistical information for the year 2007 (Received from the form sent to the ACK Diocesan Offices by the author)

2.3.2 OBSERVATIONS

The discussion about the growth of the Anglican Church in Kenya since the year 1900 to 2007 and the figures given in section 2.3.1 show that the ACK has experienced tremendous growth in the last one century. Since 1900, the Anglican membership population has been increasing. Today the ACK is a large denomination with many Christians (3,711,890), congregations (4,996), parishes (1,352), Archdeaconries (142), Deaneries (333), Sponsored Primary schools (1,782), Sponsored Secondary schools (547), Youth Polytechnics (184), and Health centers (69).This is analyzed in table A2 above. The number of clergy available to serve this rapidly growing Church is however too low as table A2 indicates. Only about 1,555 clergy serve an Anglican population of about 3,711,890 Christians. Table A3 below summarizes the growth of the ACK in successive years since the beginning of the last century (1900).

Currently, Kenya has a total population of about 35 million people (Muthaura 2007). This means that this year (2007), Anglican Christians constitute about 10.6 % of Kenya’s population. This is an increase in percentage of 3.4 from 1980 in relation to 7.2% shown by David Barrett’s statistics of 1982. Barrett had said that in 1980 the Anglican Christians constituted about 7.2 % of Kenya’s total population (1982:432).

The figures in tables A2 and A3 show that the ACK has been growing at a rapid rate since the beginning of 1900. This view is shared by the ACK leadership (see ACK Strategic Plan 2004:5, ACK Synod 2007 & Nzimbi 2007: 6). The rate of growth in membership of the ACK has not been static. In the early years of the Anglican Church in Kenya particularly as from around 1920s, it was growing at a rate of slightly more than 20% per annum (this is calculated from table A3 shown below).

This was quite a high growth rate which could be explained by the fact of the vigorous evangelization programmes of the Church and the desire of the missionaries and the African evangelists to get as many followers as possible. The Kenyan population was also not very high and complex as it is today. Therefore, it was a bit

easier to reach as many people as possible and convince them to accept the gospel. This fact can be confirmed from the statistics of David Barrett. According to Barrett (1982:432), by the year 1900, only 0.1 % of Kenya’s population was Christians and by 1970, the Christians constituted 63.5% of the country’s total population. Another factor could be that the competition between various denominations to win converts was not as high as it is today. From the time of the Berlin Conference of 1884/85, various Missionary Societies in Kenya targeted their own particular areas for mission, and since the Anglican Mission (CMS) was already operating in the fertile highlands of Kenya such as Kabete, areas around Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Embu and Nairobi where population was high, then it (Anglican Church) was able to get many converts and this possibly explains the high growth rate in the first decades of the establishment of the Anglican Church in Kenya.

From 1960 onwards (the time when most of the Missions in Kenya were becoming autonomous Churches in line with the country’s political independence), the Anglican Church was growing at the rate of about 5 to 6 % per annum. This trend continued up to the late 1980s; and from 1990 to 2000 the annual average growth rate in membership in the Anglican Church dropped to only about 2 %. Interestingly, this annual average growth rate went up again to about 6.7% as from the beginning of the twenty-first century [AD 2000] (this is calculated from table A3 as well as from the information given in section 2.2.1). The researcher wanted to find out why there was this disparity in the annual growth rate in these two decades, that is, between 1990 and 2000 and from 2000 to present. To find out the reason as to why this was happening, the researcher took some time between 14^th to 30^th October 2007 (approximately two weeks) interviewing some Anglican members to hear their feeling on this and why they thought it was happening.A population sample of 50 Anglican members was considered for this specific exercise. These included 10 theological students, 11 clergy, 4 bishops, 5 youth (KAYO) leaders, 10 men (KAMA) leaders and, 10 women (MU) leaders. During this period there was a conference of “Sharing of Missions Abroad” (SOMA) held in

Nairobi. The 50 respondents were drawn from the people who had come from various places to attend this conference.

The author’s observation that the ACK was growing at an annual average growth rate of 2% in the years between 1990 and 2000 and 6.7 % as from the beginning of this century (year 2000) to the present was explained to the respondents. They were either supposed to agree or disagree with this observation. If they agreed, they said ‘Yes’ and if they disagreed they said ‘No’. Further, the respondents were required to explain their answers. On explaining these answers, each respondent was supposed to examine the situation in his/her parish or congregation critically. This explains why the researcher had picked church leaders because the assumption was that they were more acquainted with what was happening in their parishes and why.

Out of the 50 respondents, 44 (88 %) agreed with this observation, 2 (4 %) respondents disagreed and the remaining 4(8%) did not understand what was happening.

Eleven (25%) of those who agreed with this observation felt that in the period between 1990 and 2000 the Anglican Church was not very keen in evangelism. Some went further to explain that while the increase in Anglican membership population was low in the said period, this period experienced the highest increase in the number of dioceses than all the other decades since the inception of the ACK. In table A3, this observation is correct because between the years 1990-2000 the dioceses increased from 20 to 27.

No other decade experienced this kind of increase in dioceses. When asked to explain their feeling on this, 39 (88.6 %) of the respondents who had agreed with the observation cited the ‘thirst for power’ as the main contributing factor. As various communities struggled to have ‘their own children as bishops’ more dioceses were created. This may give an impression that in the said period (1990-2000), the Anglican Church’s leaders were not keen on evangelism and most of their energy and time was spent on soliciting for new dioceses. This may also be proved by the fact that in the same period (1990-2000) only 126 clergy (pastors) were recruited and trained to serve in the ACK (see table A3).

Thirty-one (70%) of the respondents who agreed with this observation, however, cited ‘The influence of Pentecostalism’ as the main contributing factor. They felt that in the said period (1990-2000), the Anglican Church was very conservative in its way of worship. Such practices as dancing and clapping of hands were not accepted in the Church, which may further explain the influence of the East African Revival Movement in the Anglican Church. During this period, many Pentecostal churches were mushrooming in Kenya. These allowed their followers to worship God freely without much restriction. They allowed their followers to sing while dancing, clapping their hands, and also praying freely. Together with this, there was a strong belief in miracles (Mwendwa 2007), while the ACK did not emphasize the importance of miracles at all (Kibaara 2007). The result of this was that the ACK lost some of its members, particularly the youth to these Pentecostal churches. In these churches the young Anglicans felt more secure and free to worship God as a living God in their own context (Mwendwa 2007). The respondents felt that as from the beginning of the twenty-first century, this trend of the ACK changed. The ACK became more open to reality and started to allow its members to worship freely. While following the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) order, Anglican Christians were allowed to worship God in an African context, which means that such practices as dancing and clapping of hands were not necessary viewed as evil. Murianki (2007) argues that African worship cannot be separated from emotional expression. The result of this was that many youths who had gone to the Pentecost churches came back to the ACK and those who had not gone to other churches remained in the ACK as they were satiated by the modes of worship in it.

This is fairly a correct observation because in the ACK Provincial Synod of 1999, the issue of worship in the ACK was seriously deliberated upon (see ACK Synod 1999:21). In this Synod, it was resolved that young people in the ACK be allowed to participate in worship without any discrimination. Young people were also to beallowed to lead worship in the ACK services. This would make them feel that they were full members of the Church. On top of this, the young people were also allowed to fully participate in church leadership. Evangelism was made the major priority of the new

century (21^st

Most of the respondents felt that in this period (2000-2007) the ACK is losing very few young people to other denominations as compared to the previous years. This may explain why as from the year 2000 to present the ACK has recorded a high growth rate in membership population of about 6.7 % per annum (see table A3). Having been called the ‘Decade of evangelism’, we can also not undo the fact that the ACK has been involved in vigorous evangelization since the beginning of this century. These factors may have contributed to the recorded growth rate of 6.7 per cent per annum in the last eight years.The remaining 2(4.5%) respondents cited the issue of the country’s population increase as the factor contributing to this. Their argument cannot just be dismissed because it is an agreeable fact that in this period (2000-present), Kenya is experiencing a higher population growth rate per annum (about 4%), than in the previous years and there is low death rate in infancy, though the issue of HIV/AIDS which is an international disaster threatening human life in this century cannot be underestimated. Therefore, the country’s population increase affects the ACK’s membership population. To verify this argument the researcher as the Chaplain of the largest hospital in Kenya (Kenyatta National Hospital) wanted to find out the denominational affiliations of the children born in the hospital between 13

century) and everybody was to participate fully regardless of his/her age, sex, status, and church position. The then Archbishop of the ACK, Dr. David Gitari suggested that the youths should be given an opportunity to fully participate in realizing the Church’s dream of evangelization (Gitari 1999:6). This completely changed the trend of the ACK in the period between the years 2000 to the present (2007).

th and 16^th August 2007. The mothers with newly born infants were asked to state their denominations or religions. During that period, 88 mothers who had successfully given birth were asked to state their denominational affiliations. Out of these 88 mothers, 39 (44 %) stated that they were Catholics, 28 (32%) confessed to be Anglicans while the remaining 21 (24) were followers of other churches. Therefore, the country’s population increase affects the ACK in that many children are born in the ACK’s families hence Anglicans by birth.

The view that the ACK is in this decade experiencing a higher growth rate than in the previous decades is also expressed in the ACK strategic Plan (2004:16) where it is estimated that currently the ACK has a total membership of close to four million. The strategic plan also acknowledges that over the past years prior to 2000, the ACK witnessed an exodus of young people to other churches in search of something new and different, a trend that has changed in the present years since AD 2000. In the ACK Strategic Plan it is thus stated that,

We are delighted to note an interesting turn of events as we see many of them (youths) coming back. This has been a great learning for us as a Church that is committed to growth and change. A key question for the Church is how to sharpen our focus to offer a ministry that will appeal to them. How do we enable the development of a young generation that are not uncertain of their roots as they live in a globalized world where they struggle to belong? We will commit ourselves to developing creative programs and activities that will attract and retain our youth in the Church (:24)

TABLE A3: A SUMMARY OF THE GROWTH OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF KENYA (ACK) FROM 1900 TO 2007.

Year Anglican Christians African Anglican Clergy

Dioceses Parishes/Mission Stations

1900 2000 3 0 0

1910 4,275 3 0 15

1920 6,594 8 0 17

1930 21,962 28 1 20

1940 69,212 38 1 26

1950 315,000 60 1 ?

1960 432,000 109 4 ?

1970 742,300 200 6 197

1980 1,129,500 390 7 253

1990 1,858,200 1,010 20 779

2000 2,258,240 1,136 27 1,023

2007 3,711,890 1,555 29 1,352