The changing roles of the Church since independence

Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the Church trajectory and that of the country has been intertwined.

The Church on many fronts has been a mirror of development, especially in regard to nation building. Something the political class might have to learn and relearn.

However, the proliferation of religious centres across the country in some way has not helped in deepening the narrative of the Church Movement in Nigeria. This is so because the proliferation of religious centres has failed to align with nation building.

For many religious leaders, the primary goal and calling into ministry is to touch the people within the four walls of the church.

But national development goes beyond that myopic thinking into a broader mindset of reaching people outside the Church.

In 1842, the church movement in Nigeria characterised with the arrival of the Protestant missionaries from the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and the Wesleyan Methodists in Badagry, Nigeria, to establish missions and spread Christianity.

This marked the beginning of a significant era of Christian evangelism, with the establishment of churches and schools that played a vital role in the growth and indigenisation of Christianity in Nigeria, particularly in the southern and western regions.

At independence in 1960, the Nigeria Church was largely dominated by missionaries from the ‘global north’. However, that narrative has given way to a growing number of indigenous churches, who are shifting the missionary trajectory from the ‘global south to north’.

The question has been what role has religious centres played since the colonial masters left Nigeria? Over the years, there has been a proliferation of churches and mosques that are run by indigenous people of Nigeria.

Today, even churches that were established by the colonial masters are now being run by Nigerians, pointing to the rule of the Church in nation building on the back of the church-state development narrative,

“And you will agree with me that since 1842 that the Church Missionary Society in Nigeria came, which happened to be the first church, they came with education, they came with health care facilities,” Stephen Adegbite, executive secretary, Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), said.

Adegbite said that the Church has done a lot in Nigeria, even before independence. According to him, many of those in the ruling class since independence attended missionary schools.

He added that the Church has been able to shape the moral of Nigerians through religious studies, and Bible knowledge, being taught in schools both at the primary and secondary level of education.

“And that is why Nigerians are saying today, the Church is saying, it should not be removed from the curriculum of our education system,” Adegbite said.

According to him, the Church provided infrastructural facilities from schools, hospitals, and also provided leadership in many areas of the country. “So when we look back today, we can say, the Lord has been able to help the church in shaping the Nigerian system since independence.”

However, Adegbite believes there is a need for the leadership of the Church to revisit the history of the Church by going back to the roots to learn from the founding fathers the technique of nation building beyond rhetoric.

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“It’s not to be a church that matters, but the attitude of people that go and attend churches; their lives must be changed. And they must be Christian. Nobody should be forced to be Christian. Don’t pretend to be Christian.”

Joseph Ojo, the presiding Archbishop of Calvary Kingdom Church (CKC) said the Nigerian narrative cannot be complete without the Church movement, which predated the country’s independence in 1960.

According to him, the ‘Pentecostal Movement’ of the post-independence era gave life to what many now refer to as the proliferation of churches in Nigeria. He said that the Nigerian story will not be complete without the church – same way the church cannot exist without Nigeria.

Emmanuel Udofia, the former primate of The African Church, said the post-independence proliferation of churches in Nigeria is in response to the commandment of Jesus Christ to his disciples, which says “go into the world and make disciples of me.”

“We have new churches being established almost every week or month. The mandate Jesus Christ gave to us. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations,” Udofia said.

According to him, the role of the Church is not to sit down at a particular place; rather, it is to go out and spread the gospel. “So in an attempt to do that, then there is bound to be many churches.”

Udofia is also of the view that having churches everywhere has helped in shaping and building the moral compass of the people within the vicinity where they operate. “And it’s instrumental to many churches that we have established everywhere. Although we have some challenges around us.

“But, if the churches were not to be there; what would have happened? Because there are so many people who are involved in different types of crimes,” Udofia said.

While the narrative is beginning to shift from building within, many of the Church leaders have understood the essence of reaching a greater audience outside the walls of the church.

Today, it is commonplace to see churches host conferences on political and economic development with themes that were hard sales during the early days of the church movement.

Similarly, the Church has fully embraced technology as a driver of the gospel message – adopting and adapting technology for impact, and not as a destructive or satanic tool of the world.

Today, Nigerian churches are building multi-purpose cathedral to serve both religious and empowerment needs of the worshipers. In many instances, these cathedrals are self-sustaining because of their multi-purpose nature.