Contribution of Information and Communication Technology in Enhancing Worship Services: A case of Deliverance Church, Nyamira County, Kenya

The study explored how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can enhance worship services in Deliverance Church in Nyamira County, Kenya. It concentrated on three aspects which were: social media platforms, online streaming, broadcasting and digital communication tools and how these relate to social participation in worship, accessibility, communication, spiritual engagement and outreach of the community. The study was descriptive, cross sectional with a mixed method approach. 145 respondents, who are a representative sample of the church population, congregants and church leaders were surveyed. Structured questionnaires were used to get quantitative data and interviews of selected church leaders to get qualitative data. Quantitative data were analysed using frequencies, percentages mean and standard deviations followed by the correlation/regression analysis as appropriate. Thematic analysis of interview data was carried out. For statistical results it, was seen that the top three social media platforms that were used were WhatsApp (44.8%), YouTube (26.2%) and Facebook (20.7%). Additionally, 75.9% of the interviewees responded that they agree that online worship was enhanced when in-person worship was not possible and 27.5% reported that online worship was equivalent to in-person worship. The implications of this research point to the fact that ICT can play a role in communication, accessibility, sharing religious information and community outreach in the church. Yet, it is not a necessary premise that digital access means worship engagement, or greater spiritual engagement. The study recommends for churches to adopt digital platforms in conjunction with physical worship, improve two-way communication and overcome physical issues with the internet including cost of access, the strength of signal connections and the lack of digital skills.