| dc.description.abstract | The regulation of church finances has proven to be difficult for governments and their
respective regulatory bodies all over the world. The same is notable in Kenya as regulators
and policymakers struggle to draw the line between the nature of religious organizations
and their evident financial operations that keep growing as the number of believers’
increase. The fact is that policies and regulations are based on the infrastructures provided
by the academic levels of knowledge within a specific field. Whereby, to financially
regulate churches, there must be a screening to determine which levels of academic literacy
can be considered the base line for the creation of adequate structures for policies for this
purpose. Therefore, the study sought to investigate the effects of the different levels of
financial literacy on fund management of start-up churches. The study was guided by three
specific objectives: firstly, to analyze how the advanced levels of financial literacy affect
fund management of start-up churches in Kasarani Constituency. Secondly, to evaluate the
efficiency of the intermediate levels of financial literacy church leaders fund management
of start-up churches and finally to access the extent to which the beginner levels of financial
literacy church leaders affect the fund management of start-up churches. The researcher
adopted the descriptive design. Through the multistage sampling approach, the
respondents—church leaders—were taken from 20 different and distinct churches within
the same county. Then Strata groups were used to categorize respondents. The first strata
group consisted of the 3 levels of the organization’s management (Table 3.5.1), the sub-
strata groups consisted of the 3 levels of financial literacy (Table 3.5.2) which provided the
actual respondents. The number of respondents was of 139 church leaders who manage
and oversee church organizations that have less than 5 years of operation since conception.
Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire, while secondary data was
collected through journals, articles, internet searches and censuses. The data collected was
processed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences application, and the
findings were analyzed and presented using figures and tables. The findings revealed that
advanced levels of financial literacy among church leaders positively influenced fund
management for start-up churches, whereas the intermediate or the beginner levels showed
no significant impact. The study was grounded in the theory that behaviors and practices,
rather than academic knowledge alone, shape leadership effectiveness. Despite the
importance of financial education, the findings underscored the significance of contextual
factors. the study suggested further examination of the intermediate level's influence on
fund management, given the potential sampling errors. Recommendations included
prioritizing advanced financial education for church leaders, advocating for tailored
financial management courses, and emphasizing the importance of behaviors and practices
in fund management. It was also suggested that future research should focus on refining
measures of financial literacy and exploring the role of academic qualifications in the
enhancement fund management accountability. | en_US |
