Nigerian Pentecostal Churches and Social Responsibility: A Focus on Social Ministry of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Nigeria

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Religion and social services in Nigeria has always been the subject of academic interest. Scholars have differing views about the Christian social ministry, giving special attention to the Pentecostal churches and on a narrower scale, the mega churches, as they are often accused of not sufficiently tackling the socio-economic and development challenges facing their members and the communities at large in this economically challenging times. These observations have created a lot of controversy in the school of thought, with various Pentecostal mega churches being accused of adopting economic-driven intentions, exploiting followers and commercializing the Christian faith. On the other hand, some of the mega churches in Nigeria can be described as progressive Pentecostal, whose adherence to community building development in terms of social services is germane. This paper explores the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), a Pentecostal mega church, hence, illustrating the crucial role of faith-based organisations in promoting the welfare and development of the community. To reinforce these results, the research utilized secondary sources of data and implemented the theory of the mission to explore the notion of mega churches and their social intervention in the spiritual and social aspects of their community at this critical time in Nigeria. As a result, the paper uncovered that the problems of Nigeria are too daunting, so that not even one or even a few Pentecostal churches can adequately handle them. Thus, the devotion of Nigerian Pentecostal churches should not be confined to building fancy structures or leading luxurious lives, but by making significant changes to their host communities in terms of social services, new religious practices, innovations and developments. It can be recommended that every church should learn what the Redeemed Christian Church did and come up with workable strategies that can help them reach more people in their communities thus changing the lives of more people in the face of the present difficult situations in the country.

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