The Triple Bottom Line and Church Sustainability in Kenya

Abstract

The religion of Christianity was firmly established in Kenya by European missionaries in AD 1844 and since then, it has grown to be the religion for 85.5% of the population. After Kenya gained political independence in AD 1964, numerous Christian denominations have established church congregations in all parts of the country and the competition for congregation members is high. The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) and other mainline churches are experiencing declining congregations due to the entry of the Pentecostal churches but the earlier Pentecostal churches are also experiencing the same phenomenon due to the new denominations which are being established in all parts of the country. This paper examines how the church can retain its relevance and sustainability in the country by operationalizing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) model to gain and retain its congregations. The model approaches sustainability by considering an organization’s social, economic, and environmental strategies. These are what made the early missionaries to penetrate the African market as they established schools, technical and agriculture training institutions and health centers. At their schools and churches, they taught about the need to live in a clean environment and set an example with their church compounds. This paper discusses how the TBL is operationalized in the ACK to resolve the declining phenomenon.