Worship and Church Growth: A Single Case Study of Nairobi Chapel
| dc.contributor.author | Long, Kendra W. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-03-20T11:24:19Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-03-20T11:24:19Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1996 | |
| dc.description | Master of Arts Degree | |
| dc.description.abstract | White (1992) and Wardle (1992) have proposed a link between worship and church growth but their treatment of the issues are prescriptive and bound by the North American culture. In this study I develop a communications model for worship, propose multicultural principles, and derive hypotheses to examine the model in a single case study. The rapid growth of Nairobi Chapel in the past six years hag paralleled in its worship practices. A survey of the church congregation demonstrated that the worship experience of the church was in fact linked to its rapid growth. Not only did the worship rank high in importance as a reason to begin attending but it increased in importance as a reason to continue attending. In-depth interviews with the pastor and worship leader plus three focus groups with the congregation supported the explanatory value of the model. The findings complement the insights of King's (1989b) research in Cote d'Ivoire. I concluded that: the worship leader and team are a key to the worship experience, the worship experience must be encoded in the cultural media and understanding of the congregation, that worshippers deepen their spiritual understandings as they communicate with God, and that unbelievers drawn by the form of the worship are also attracted by the authenticity of its substance. I suggest implications for church growth that may be applied multiculturally. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Daystar University | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Long, K. W. (1996). Worship and Church Growth: A Single Case Study of Nairobi Chapel. Daystar University, School of Arts and Social Sciences | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repository.daystar.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6533 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Daystar University, School of Arts and Social Sciences | |
| dc.title | Worship and Church Growth: A Single Case Study of Nairobi Chapel | |
| dc.type | Thesis |