ESSENTIAL YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CONTEMPORARY CHURCHES
| Format: Ms Word | 1-5 Chapters | Table of Content|
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Nigeria remains one of the most religious nation and is a clear fact that is beyond debate in order to authenticate the validity of this position. This is seen in every facet of the society, both in private and public life of the citizens. Yet, most people still wonder whether Nigeria’s reputation as a religious nation is something to be proud of (Cardinal John, 2010). Historically, the church has always operated beyond the pulpit, given the need to transform and develop the society. This makes Christianity a double edge religion for both spiritual and social development. Jesus as the founder of Christianity did not only engage in evangelism, he was also concerned about the welfare of the people during his earthly ministry. This is one of the areas of operation of the contemporary church. Apart from spirituality today, religion is also a social phenomenon influencing every institution in the society.
The Nigerian government efforts alone cannot suffice to address the challenges of illiteracy in the society. The 21st century church is expected to act as an agent of transformation in the society through creating affordable educational institutions and training facilities for the teaming youths. Youths are the citizens, leaders, parents, and workers of Nigeria global future. Youth is the time of life when one is young, and often means the time between childhood and adulthood (maturity). It is also defined as “the appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit. The above definition showcases the characteristic of one who is young”. Biblically, God often used young people to do great things. For example in the cases of David, Joshua, Joseph, Daniel and many other youths as recorded in the Old Testaments. In the New Testaments, God used a youth name “Timothy” to pastor and lead the Ephesian church when he was a teenager (1 Timothy 4:12).
Developing the youth through education and entrepreneur skills will shape economic and social wellbeing of the society and the country at large. Providing them with basic skills will impact worldwide poverty rate and regional political stability (McGrath, 1995). Education in Nigeria is linked with Christianity as the Nigerian educational system was monopolized by Christian missionaries in the early years. Education in the 21st century is no doubt a vehicle that drives every society towards development and healthy living. Therefore, essential youth development is an added advantage to contemporary churches in Nigeria. Serving young people cannot only prepare them to become future leaders, but also allow them to contribute to the church. Investing in today’s youth is necessary in growing the body of Christ. Teaching young people in the church to grow in their relationship with the Lord prepares them to serve Christ in all they do. As a result, this nurtures the congregation and allows the church to flourish.
Successful youth development necessitates the involvement of the entire church leadership. Empowerment programs targeting Christian youths must acknowledge that a vital support system must be engaged to eradicate the 21st century challenges. This implies that the church leaders must give direction, support, encourage and develops a set objective along with pastors and resolves the youth ministry needs within the church. This is perceived as the only way towards contemporary church growth. In the New Testament it was more often used as Christological title for the exalted Jesus. The results of semasiological and lexicographical investigation of secular Greek indicate an extremely polyvalent spectrum of meaning for the word “church leader”, the basis being he who is the first, who stands at the head of, or he who leads. This implies that church leaders plays a key role in essential youth development in contemporary churches.
The youth ministry is an important department in the church community. As there can be no complete church without the youths. This is why the church must see to it that the youths find their rightful places in every facets of the church organization. And this can only be achieved through a functional and effective youth ministry that has the full backings of the church leadership. For any tangible development to take place in any society, the youth must be significant in that process of growth (Nielson, 2016). This is the more reason why wise nations, countries, groups and organization focus more on the development of youths so that the future of such investments would never be improvised or blind (Nel, 2015). It is therefore of vital importance in today’s Church to prepare assiduously youths for the tasks they would naturally face in the coming future. The sole aim of the church is not only for the edification of believers and its congregants but to take part in what the triune God is doing in the world. The church has a responsibility towards society, and such responsibility should not exclude the youth’s ministry, which forms part of the church participating in God’s mission on earth. This research intends to present how youth development can boost church growth in a contemporary society.
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1.2 The Problem Statement
Nigeria is still seen as the most religious and yet most corrupt country in Africa. The bad omen of religion is that instead of serving as a resource for education, peace and stability, it has become a veritable resource for conflict and war and easy tool for youth’s manipulation by some politicians, elites and religious charlatans and bigots. Education that was supposed to be the key to youth development and transformation has be abused in the region. The decline in the quality and standard of education in Nigeria is alarming. Poor management is one of the problems affecting the success of schools established by churches in Nigeria. The numerous established schools from the early missionaries which has been set as a legacy are gradually fading away due to poor management. Presently, most churches always neglect their youths when it comes to the aspect of development, they believe it is their family’s responsibility to cater for their development and needs. According to (Chiegboka and Nwadialor, 2010), despite the importance attached to the youth and the fact that there cannot be a happy society without the youths, the Nigerian Christian youths have themselves become victims of neglect, and as such have been exposed to certain untold predicaments resulting in difficulties in managing the affairs of the youth. It is regretted that this group identified by the general public as both the life wire in the church and society are besieged by myriads of predicaments ranging from crisis in faith, problems of unemployment, choice of career, peer group influence and cult membership. Notable among the youth are poor family background, financial constraints in pursuit of education, illiteracy and uncommitted attention to learning (e.g. examination misconduct), and a getting rich quickly syndrome through armed robbery, kidnapping, openness to exploitation in schools by lecturers and becoming thugs and agents of crime by politicians. In the light of these predicaments, one wonders whether the youth can at all realize their potential as leaders in a country where they are subjected to such deplorable situations. These challenges led to a study on essential youth development and its influence on contemporary churches in Nigeria.
1.3 The purpose of Study
The primary aim of this study is to examine essential youth development and its influence on contemporary churches. Specifically, the study intends to:
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