The Role of the Church in Combating Negative Ethnicity in Kenya: A Survey of Mainline Churches in Eldoret, Kenya

Abstract

It is neither possible nor valuable to eradicate ethnicity from our lives or from our churches. Attempts to do so merely end up privileging one ethnicity over the others. This highlights the need and importance of an appropriate model approach that incorporates ethnicity and embraces its benefits, while also ensuring that the church remains unshaken. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of negative ethnicity on the church in Kenya. The specific objectives of this study was to: find out the manifestations of negative ethnicity with specific references to churches in Kenya, find out the role of the church in combating negative ethnicity in Kenya, to establish the hindrances towards ethnic cohesion in Kenya and to give possible recommendations aimed at mitigating effects of negative ethnicity in the church with an aim of promoting inter-ethnic cohesiveness. The study utilized qualitative approaches, one hundred respondents were selected using purposive and simple random and interviewed. The findings of the study revealed that the church plays an important role in eliminating the negative effects of ethnicity within the church and country by extension. The study recommends that the church should deliberately integrate different ethnic groups in its organizational structures bearing in mind that we live in a multi-ethnic society.