THE IMPACT OF CLASS SEPARATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN MINISTRY AND CHURCH GROWTH (A CASE STUDY OF MOROGBO DISTRICT OF FOURSQUARE GOSPEL CHURCH OF NIGERIA)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There is need to revisit our understanding of the place and structure of children ministry in the church. De Vries [1]urges for a new understanding of the place of children within the church community. Similarly, and specifically focussing on children and youth, Strong[2] argues that traditional children Ministry has been practised as “an independent ministry, leading to the isolation of the children from the larger church community”. Knoetze[3] focuses on children and their parents and identifies a need to explore who must reach out to the children within the church family and also what their unique contextual needs are to inform children Ministry practices and teachings. In line with this viewpoint, and with the emphasis on children, Hendriks and Grobbelaar[4] identify the need to develop new paradigms and new ways of doing in terms of serving children. The role of the church in supporting and caring for vulnerable groups, such as children and youth, is, among others, also to alleviate suffering, to empower them with knowledge and skills related to healthy living (including spiritual health) and to practice caring for others.[5] Including children and youth in the theology of the church is needed in order to ensure that they are able to overcome challenges and that they are equipped to become active members of the church and society. Knoetze[6], however, argues that although the largest part of the African population consists of children and youth, the church in Africa still needs to identify a contextual framework for Children ministries to ensure effective services to children. Internationally, King[7] refers to a growing concern regarding children leaving the church in Australia and Voas and Watt[8] also note a concern regarding the fact that the church in the United Kingdom “fails to replace older generations of churchgoers”. The latter authors make specific reference to the fact that approximately 50% of children of church going parents leave the church at some stage. It appears that this trend also occurs in South Africa. Within the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) there has been a steady decline in the number of children who enrol in the junior catechesis. In the period 2000 to 2004 there was a drastic drop in both junior and senior catechists.[9] This day, but specifically the Four Square Gospel Church, over the past decade a tendency of decreasing numbers of children and youth attending and participating in church services and activities were also noted[10] [11]. Based on this situation, the research study will look at the effect of class separation on the development of children ministry and church growth.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This work places the focus on children ministry in a congregational context. The term “children”, refers to the age group 5 to 15 years, which falls in the developmental phase of early adolescence. This developmental period is associated with challenging physical, social and psychological change.[12] [13]Risk factors for children in this developmental stage include substance abuse, low parental monitoring, stressful life events (divorce, death in the family, abuse, etc.) and confusion/stress regarding sexual orientation. It is assumed that participation and involvement in church services and activities can assist children with the following developmental tasks: autonomy from parents/caregivers (i.e. independence), identity formation and internalised morality and as such provide them with support to become able to deal with the mentioned risk factors. The role of the church to assist children could be seen in terms of finding an identity and calling within a Christian value-based peer group. The aim would be to provide a space where a personal relationship with God could develop to assist the children to develop a Christian identity and to address the mentioned challenges.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The major aim of the study is to examine the impact of class separation on the development of children ministry and church growth. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. To provide an historical overview of foursquare Gospel Church in Morogbo District.
2. To examine the possible contributing factors that influenced the development of children ministry in Foursquare Gospel Church.
3. To examine the impact of class separation on the development of children ministry and church growth.
4. To examine effective ways of teaching in the children ministry
5. To examine the relationship between development of children ministry and church growth.
6. To find out ways class separation will help in development of children Ministry and church growth.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY                                                                                

It is the research’s hope that the research findings will help the Christian parents, workers, child advocates in understanding the absolute relationship of parenting and church growth. The findings will be helpful for other researchers in related field of study. The researcher seeks to write a manual based on these findings to be used by the Christian leaders in the church to teach and train Christians about Christian parenting. So, this makes the study very significant.

1.5 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

It will be better to make wide study in all Morogbo District of Foursquare Gospel church. And that will help as to get more reliable information. However because of shortage of time, financial problem and limited equipment’s the researcher has limited his work to investigate whether or not the effect of class separation on the development of children ministry and church growth. The study will incorporate all children ministry leaders and church pastors of Foursquare Gospel church Morogbo District.

1.6 RESEARCH PROCEDURE

Source of Data Collection: Data for this study came from the primary and secondary data. The primary date was generated through the field survey using structured questionnaire as a major research instrument. The secondary data on the other hand were obtained from relevant literatures ranging from textbooks, journals, articles, periodicals, seminar paper dissertation.

Method of Data Collection: In this study, questionnaire and interview is research instrument used. Questionnaire is the main research instrument used for the study to gather necessary data from the sample respondents. The questionnaire is structured in such a way that it provides answers to the research questions.

This instrument is divided and limited into two sections; Section A and B. Section A deals with the personal data of the respondents while Section B contains research statement postulated in line with the research questions and hypotheses in chapter one. Options or alternatives are provided for each respondent to pick or tick one of the options.

Method of Data Analysis: In order to analyze the data collected effectively and efficiently for easy management and accuracy, the simple percentage method was the analytical tools used for this research project and a sample size of one hundred (100) will be represented by 100% for easy analysis of the responses.

Also, Correlation statistical analytical method will be used in the research work. Correlation as a statistical technique is used in testing of hypothesis so as to predict what the relationship between two variables should be. It is used in drawing and reaching conclusion by collecting the observed values from the questionnaire administered to respondents, testing the degree of freedom and carrying out a decision in determining the critical value of the hypothesis.

Where x = independent factor

              y = dependent factor

Having gathered the data through the administration of questionnaire, the collected data will be coded, tabulated, and analyzed according to the research question and hypothesis.

Validity of the Instrument: Onwumere (2005:66), defines validity as “the extent to which a measuring instrument on application performs the function for which it was designed.”  Validity is determined by the degree of provision of correct response from sample objects by the relevant research design or research instrument. To ascertain the validity of the instrument, content validity was adopted, in which the researcher subjected the instrument to face validity by giving it to two executives of Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) Lagos state chapter, who examined the items and made sure they were in line with the objectives of the study. The structure and language of the questionnaire were modified in the light of their corrections. The instrument was structured in such a way as to minimize the effect of errors like inconsistency and ambiguity.

Sampling Procedure: The sample method adopted in this study was the stratified random sampling method. Stratified sampling was used as the population has a sample frame and questionnaire distributed in proportion to the population size of each company that formed the population. According to Ikeagwa (1998:185), this method enables every element of the population to have equal chance of being selected and ensure greater degree of representation.

The population of study was picked from 100 selected children ministry leaders and pastors from selected congregations of Foursquare Gospel church, Morogbo District.

 TABLE OF ILLUSTRATION

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Church: A church is a building in which Christians worship. This place is usually refer to as church when you are talking about the time that people spend there. In classical Greek, the term was used almost exclusively for political gatherings. In particular, in Athens the word signified the assembling of the citizens for the purpose of conducting the affairs of the polis. Moreover, ekklesia [ejkklhsiva] referred only to the actual meeting, not to the citizens themselves. When the people were not assembled, they were not considered to be the ekklesia.

Class Separation: In the context of this study is an attempt made by churches to meet the needs of their congregations, they often separate their members into groups according to age categories. Age-specific groups meet for religious study including Sunday school programs, fellowship, and other activities.