Impact of social media on youth ministry in selected mainstream churches in Vihiga County, Kenya

Serah Kitsiiri Madiiga; Janet Kassilly; Angeline Savala

doi:10.51867/ajernet.7.2.68

Autores

Serah Kitsiiri Madiiga Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology, Kenya https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4660-7671
Janet Kassilly Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology, Kenya https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7721-3604
Angeline Savala Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology, Kenya https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9914-1975

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51867/ajernet.7.2.68

Palavras-chave:

Social Media, Technology, Vihiga County, YouTube, Youth Ministry

Resumo

Mainstream churches across the globe have deployed technology in some specific areas, like communication, record-keeping, and information sharing. However, youth play an integral role in ensuring that the technology adopted works as needed. The main aim of this study was to examine the impact of social media on youth ministry in selected mainstream churches in Vihiga County. The study was anchored in secularisation theory, which depicts the decline of traditional religious practices due to modernisation, as exemplified by technology. The study deployed a descriptive survey research design. The study targeted youth, ordinary elderly members, clergy, and departmental leaders from selected mainstream churches in Vihiga County, totalling about 4,503 congregants. The study sample comprised 404 respondents from selected mainstream churches. Out of this, 140 youth and 130 elderly members were randomly sampled, while 24 clerics and 90 departmental leaders were purposively sampled. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews, and observation. Data was analysed using descriptive data analysis techniques and presented in narratives and tables. Findings indicate that social media can impact youth ministry by enhancing evangelisation, prayers, Bible study, and communication. Furthermore, the study established that technology in mainstream churches has not been fully embraced due to tension between the leadership, the elderly, and the youth. The study concluded that social media has the potential to advance youth ministry, but the tension experienced acts as a drawback, calling upon key players to re-evaluate the need for social media adoption. The study thus recommended that church leaders should change their perception and stop perceiving the negative side of technology on the youth and focus on its positive side as well in order to help the youth ministry build on its strengths and grow.

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