A Proposal on Church Planting in Nigeria: Issues and Prospects. Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of this study:
- To examine the issues and prospects of church planting in Nigeria.
- To determine the merits and demerits of massive church planting in Nigeria.
- To examine the factors encouraging the proliferation of churches in Nigeria.
Reviewed of related literature
Establishment, Growth and Development of Churches
Hollenweger (1997), Vahakangas and Kyomo (2003), Mwaura (2005), Kalu (2005), point out that, Churches arose after the apostles received the Holy Spirit which manifested itself in glossolalia. This filling of the Holy Spirit emboldened them to preach the gospel. Their teachings enabled them to bring about 3000 new believers into the early Church in one day. From then on, the apostles gained the zeal which enabled them to spread the Christian faith to different cities of their time. Once Christians receive baptism of the Holy Spirit, they became zealous and more vigorous in preaching the gospel as demonstrated in the early church in Acts 1:8 (Vahakangas and Kyomo 2003). This has remained a key factor that contributes to the establishment and spread of modern Churches. Another factor that leads to the establishment of Churches is the desire to fulfill the great commission given by Jesus Christ, (Matt 28:19). The commission is to go out to all parts of the world, preaching the „Good News‟ and baptizing all those who believe in Christ. In the New Testament the early apostles had a great desire to fulfill the great commission despite the persecutions they faced. Barnes quotes one of the early Christian authors Tertullian, from carthage in the Roman Province of Africa, who asserted that “the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Gospel”. This is a replica to the manner in which Churches are established today. Kalu (2005) asserts that, in the process of fulfilling the Great Commission, many Churches are established to serve those who join the Christian faith. Bonk (1991) observes that, it was out of the Great Commission that the Christian missionaries from Europe and USA came to Africa in the early 20th century.
In other studies, Gifford (1992) and Samita (2004) attribute the establishment, growth and development of Churches to the Christian crusades, conventions, conferences, revival meetings, Bible workshops and the availability of Christian literature. Such occasions and meetings draw many people into the Churches. These scholars, further, assert that churches which rose due to these factors are presently active in urban areas such as Nairobi, Kinshasa and Lagos. Samita (2004) further observes that urban Churches heavily rely on crusades for numerical growth. This has led to the establishment and growth of mega Churches in Nairobi and its environs. However, according to this study, these factors are not limited to urban areas. They have also been identified as contributors of the establishment and growth of the Churches in the rural areas. The factors therefore provided guidance to this study as the researcher assessed the growth and the development of CCI Kiria-ini.
The establishment, growth and development of Churches according to Gifford (1992), Sanders (1994), Samita (2003) and Steadman (2006) is due to the cheerful and lively atmosphere characterizing Churches. The spiritually charged environment, energetic singing, dancing and passionate prayers attract followers to these churches. Mahoney (1993) agrees with this assertion when he posits that, sermons in these churches are delivered charismatically and intelligently. They are also highly influenced by works of televangelists who demonstrate charisma and richness in oratory skills. Some of these televangelists include; T. D. Jakes, Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer from the USA. Examples from Kenya include Wilfred Lai, Mark Kariuki and TeresiaWairimu among others. Taking a different view, Ludwig (2004) observes that, the establishment of Churches is driven by sheer greed for money and power. He goes on to point out that Pentecostal Preachers craft their sermons along popular themes such as financial breakthroughs. The Preachers then use these themes to whip the emotions of the congregation into generous giving. The need to control the congregation, with the resulting benefits of offerings and power leads the churches into struggles and splits. He further points out that, the divisions and subsequent splits are occasioned by the materialistic desires among the church leaders. Since greed is never satisfied, leaders in the new churches formed, face the same challenges. This chain reaction gains momentum by the day given the frequency of divisions and splits in Churches.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work. The choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to Church planting in Nigeria issues and prospect. A study of REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD (RCCG)
METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
The data will be collected and analyzed using simple percentage method for the analyze of demographic information which is section A and the Chi-square will be used for the research questions which section B.
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