A Short History of the Anglican Church in Meru, Kenya (1969-2009)

Abstract

This paper traces the history of the Anglican Church (AC) in Meru since its inception in 1969 to 2009, forty years of evangelization. Although the AC is the oldest Christian denomination in Kenya having been started in 1844 by the Church Missionary Society (CMS(Anglican)), where it was able to reach to most parts of Kenya, it took a long time (125 years) to reach Meru region(What is today Meru and Tharaka Nithi Counties). During the subdivision of Kenya into ‘missionary spheres of influence’ this region had been given to CMS but for various reasons the CMS failed to occupy it prompting the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM) (Presbyterian), Consolata Catholic Mission (CCM)((Roman Catholic), United Free Methodist Churches (UFMC) and others to desire to evangelize there. Thus by the time the AC was introduced in Meru from Embu after independence, other denominations including the Catholic Church, Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church and Pentecostals were already thriving in Meru where they had many followers. The AC began in Southern Meru in 1969 and within a short time it was able to spread to almost all parts of Meru region. This paper looks at its history and development for the first forty years. In these years, this Church experienced a tremendous numerical growth but not without challenges which have sometimes been very detrimental to evangelization. The paper concludes that the AC has a promising future in Meru if priorities are set right especially in the area of leadership and pastoral care.

Key Words: Anglican Church, History, Kenya, Meru.