Efficacy of Youth Seminars, Camps and Conferences in Inculcating Moral Values among the Youth in the Methodist Church in Kenya, Meru, Region

Abstract

This study examined the efficacy of youth seminars, camps and conferences in inculcating moral values among the youth in the Methodist Church in Kenya, Meru Region. The study was guided by the moral development theory developed by Lawrence Kohlberg in 1958 and falls in the category of cognitive-moral-reasoning theories. The theory was suitable for this study because it clarified what influences the moral decisions at each level of moral development, something that the church can take advantage of to ensure the inculcation of moral values among the youth. The study targeted youth and the clergy of the six synods of the Methodist church in Kenya, Meru Region. A descriptive survey research design was used. Stratified random sampling was used to attain the study sample size. The instruments for data collection included a questionnaire for the youth and an interview schedule for the clergy. Data analysis was done through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 27 and presented through descriptions, tables and pie charts. The study revealed that many youth take part in the various church programmes, while some do not. Youth programmes are effective in inculcating moral values such as peace, respect, obedience, love, honesty and cooperation. It was observable that the value of sexual purity was lowly rated in most programmes. The study is significant as a contribution to the body of knowledge in the discipline of Religious Studies in the area of ecclesiology and psychology of religion.