Impact of Social Media on Church Ministry in the Methodist Church, Nyambene Synod

Abstract

This article aims to examine the impact of social media on church ministry in the Methodist Church of Kenya (MCK), Nyambene Synod. Religious institutions are increasingly challenged by declining youth participation and shifting patterns of congregational engagement, which threaten the effectiveness of traditional ministry approaches. A descriptive survey design integrating quantitative and qualitative methods was employed. From a target population of 25,463 members across 24 circuits, a sample of 412 respondents was drawn using proportionate random and purposive sampling. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews, and analysed using descriptive statistics, thematic analysis, and binary logistic regression in SPSS version 28. Findings showed that 95.1 per cent of respondents agreed that social media extended church outreach beyond the physical congregation. The main online activities included teaching and preaching (20.1%), youth engagement (20.0%), evangelism and outreach (17.3%), and announcements (18.0%). Regression analysis revealed that diversity of ministry activities (p = .031) and frequency of social media use (p = .001) significantly predicted perceived impact, jointly explaining 42 per cent of the variance. The study concludes that social media is a vital tool for strengthening ministry and recommends digital capacity building, infrastructure investment, and policy development for responsible online engagement.