My church is not a university: Why educated flock in Kenya are led by school dropouts in church

The traditional churches, like the Catholic Church require their priests to be educated. They study church history, theology and philosophy because intellectual formation contributes to spiritual formation.

But for the new evangelical churches, more so the prosperity gospel variety, education is nothing, but charisma is everything. Charisma can’t be taught. Is this the reason why many heads of evangelical churches are semi-illiterate?

In the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran or Anglican Church, a man or woman can’t stand behind the pulpit and preach to the faithful without formal theological training. In stark contrast, many evangelical churches in Kenya are led by leaders whose theological qualifications are questionable, sketchy or simply pin weight since most are primary school drop outs.

What drives thousands of highly educated Kenyans to flock to these prosperity gospel churches led by these uneducated men and women, to whom they give millions in tithe?

In the Catholic Church, priests must have graduate-level seminary formation in theology leading to a   university degree after seven years besides the one year they serve as deacons, before they can be given a parish to minister.

Pastor Michael Waweru of New Life Church in Kasarani, Nairobi, says even if a pastor is educated in another discipline, it is very important to have some education in theology. “In Kenya, to become a pastor, all you need is a bible, and proficiency in one language,” says Waweru who is doing a Masters in Communications at the University of Nairobi and will enroll for a Masters in Divinity. “Being  a pastor is a calling, but once you have been called, its important to try and get more education in theology, it help with better interpretation of the bible.”

 Barrack Muluka, a social issues commentator says the church has reached its third stage of preaching the gospel, and that is the gospel of prosperity. “The early church, in the time of Paul and Peter, preached the gospel of salvation. The church in the time of Bishop Henry Okullu, Anglican Archbishop Manasses Kuria and Rev Timothy Njoya preached the gospel of liberation. The current church, simply preaches about making money,” says Muluka who reveals that he studied divinity, and philosophy of religion at graduate level.

“We live in desperate times, people go to church not to thank God, but to ask God for something, probably money,” says Muluka adding: “Con artists know this, so they have started churches and preach the gospel that appeal to human greed.”

Muluka says nowadays, God is an inconvenience that people have to put up with.

“Obeying the commandments is hectic, so people flee from the churches that demand accountability, and flock to churches that only focus on praying for you to make money. Money is made through hard work and prayers, not prayers alone,” blasts Muluka.

He says by people wanting to deny accountability of being a Christian, they will go for anyone who can give them a sense of worship but without the many rules tradition churches have. “That’s why in 1986, the likes of Alice Auma Lakwena had university professors quitting their jobs to join her cult. Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army is an offshoot of Lakwena’s madness.”

He says traditional churches are still teaching the gospel of salvation and that’s why there are so many church schools and hospitals. “The evangelical church, if they establish a school, it will be a high cost school that pours more money in the church leaders pockets. People follow such preachers because they want to be rich like the preachers.”

University of Nairobi sociologist Ken Ouko says the “evangelical pastors” come from a grass roots movement, much like their predecessors in the protestant revolution. “They come from poor backgrounds, and they aren’t comfortable when the traditional church says ‘blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth’. They aren’t well educated so they concoct the Bible to suit their short term visions and needs, and that money.”

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