Liturgical Dancing Styles in Selected Postmodern Churches in Kenya

Abstract

Postmodern society has been amalgamated with the western lifestyle. Many young people see celebrities as their role models. Their cultures and beliefs are strongly influenced by social media. Their way of thinking and approach to reality is based on the kind of experience they encounter on day-to-day lifestyles. In this world of individualism, people work with their religious impulses by selecting the bits of various spiritualities that 'speak to them' and create their own internal spiritual world. By doing so, the truth that is contained in the Biblical teachings gets another dimension of approach and it becomes quite challenging for the postmodernists to participate effectively in their application for a right living. Secularism is also within the realm of postmodern spirit of individualism that has affected the culture and human lifestyle and in turn has affected the concept of morality among young people. Christianity being one of the religions that is widely adopted by many believers in the world lays its emphasis on the teachings of the Bible. It is in the Holy Bible where definite doctrines that are aimed at creating an ideal society for human existence are found for the Christian believers. These Biblical doctrines in their understanding and application in postmodern culture has both positive and negative effects on the entire human race and especially social morals of youth. A phenomenological study that was aimed at giving an evaluation on concept of morality among Christian youth in postmodern time was conducted in August 2014 on the Catholic Church, Pentecostal Churches, Anglican Church of Kenya and African Inland church as selected church denominations in Machakos town, Kenya. The researcher looked intently on liturgical dance as a devotional practice in praise and worship and issues of dressing styles as viewed by postmodern contemporaries in line with Biblical teachings on morality. Data was collected from participants through the use of questionnaires, observation guides. Interview guides, photographs and audio recorders were included in order to enhance the study. Collected data was analyzed using tables, pie charts and histograms in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. Reports, summaries, conclusions and recommendations were provided in order to enhance dissemination of the findings to potential users.