A Growing Church

Christianity continues to spread in Kenya, and in particular, the PCEA (Presbyterian Church of East Africa) in the Maasai community. Today in my host-parent’s church, a young Maasai man Emmanuel was licensed or ordained into the PCEA. About 20 Maasai family members and friends came to this Nairobi suburban church to celebrate the successful completion of his studies.

With 43 presbyteries spanning Kenyan, Uganda and Tanzania, the PCEA is already larger than the PC(USA) with over 3 million members, and continues to grow rapidly. A few months ago I met a pastor in Nakuru who has 17 congregations, meaning they see him about 3 times a year in the pulpit.

The PCEA currently has only one accredited seminary, St. Paul's School of Theology, and works hard to train pastors in a 3-4 year degree that's roughly equivalent to a bachelor's degree in the US. I believe they graduate about 60 students each year from a consortium of denominations, including Presbyterian, Methodist and Anglican.

These ordinations refect the growing number of African Christians (some estimates as high as 23,000 PER DAY! according to the book The Next Christendom), even as mainline denominations diminish in America. The beliefs of these new converts are quite interesting, melding with the morals of conservative evangelicals in the US and the global social justice of the more liberally-minded. The result is a unique blend of Christianity that has hints of Western culture, and yet is distinctly African.

With such a shortage of preachers, more need to be trained to disciple the masses and deepen the roots of faith. So many evangelical preachers come and go. I’m thankful for the ones who stay, joining the people side-by-side, hand-in-hand, on the journey of faith.