Cross-cultural agenda in a theological institution: A review of St. Andrew’s Kabare, Kenya

Abstract

This research article sets out to understand the extent to which a cross-cultural agenda of inclusivity and the appreciation for the ‘other’ (ubuntu) was addressed at St. Andrew’s College of Theology and Development, Kabare, Kenya, which has been viewed as a conglomeration of diverse ethnic groups, races, and nations. Despite her leadership’s acknowledgement of her rich cross-cultural diversity, as they celebrated 40 years’ of institutional existence, from 1977 to 2017, its execution was not spelled out explicitly. While appreciating the barriers of cross-cultural engagements as including, but not limited to: language, conflicting values, irrelevant studies and knowledge for diverse assemblages, geographical distance, ethnocentrism, bad-mouthing and character assassinations, and stereotypes, our main concern remains: what were the deliberate steps that were employed at St Andrew’s Kabare to promote a cross-cultural agenda? In its methodology, it employs hybridity in data gathering. That is, it utilised an in-depth interview (IDI), the use of key informant interviews (KIIs), the use of unpublished Church Synod reports, and a review of relevant literature in order to unveil the problem under consideration.

Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research article contributes to the intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications by demonstrating how cross-cultural agenda is a matter whose interplay goes across the disciplines of theology, communication, culture, oral history and church history, among others.