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Megachurch Members Must Stop Seeing Leaders As Perfect - Professor Of Religion by UBER99Sam: 12:37pm On Sep 28, 2021 |
US-based Maxwell Upson Professor of Religion and Society, Princeton Theological Seminary, Afe Adogame, speaks to TUNDE AJAJA about the need for checks and balances in Nigerian megachurches and their contribution to economic development. YOU WERE PART OF THE MEGACHURCHES PROJECT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE THAT HELD IN NIGERIA RECENTLY, WHAT INSPIRED IT? The project is funded by the Templeton Foundation, USA and was designed to run for two years in the first instance. One of the intended outputs is to create opportunity, through a conference, to work with other researchers doing studies on megachurches or similar kinds of churches. So, we received a grant of $2m. It’s a project that involves 10 countries; I lead the African project, which involves Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. That brought about the collaboration I initiated with the Redeemed Christian Bible College through the Provost, Prof Babatunde Adedibu; I presented the proposal that we should have a joint conference to talk about megachurches in the Global South. I have two researchers working with me, one Prof Dodeye Williams from University of Calabar and another lady, Olanike Ogunnowo, from University of Ibadan. WHAT DISTINGUISHES A MEGACHURCH FROM A REGULAR CHURCH? A megachurch, the way scholars have defined it, has basic characteristics, including number of members at any given weekly Sunday service, which in the USA is pegged at 2,000, but that might not be appropriate in the African context. It also includes a huge auditorium and a lot of facilities within the same sacred space. So, on the one hand, it’s about the membership, but on the other hand, it’s about the way the church caters for members or visitors’ issues and problems. In the US and Europe for example, Christianity is dwindling; churches are closing down and the reason is secularisation, but in Africa, it’s totally different – we are witnessing huge proliferation of churches. One other important characteristic is the composition of the churches. In the West, it’s so easy to say it’s the middle class and rich who attend these churches, but in Nigeria, for instance, it’s much more complex. These churches attract people from various strata of society; middle class, rich and poor. IS THERE AN EXPLANATION FOR THAT? Of course, there is. You would find that their special programmmes attract members from other churches; it draws even Muslims and members of indigenous religions. So, the question is, ‘What is the attraction? If we take the RCCG or Winners Chapel as examples, I think one thing that draws people, first and foremost, is the charisma of these church leaders; they are prophetic figures who are seen to have exceptional powers in terms of healing, prophecy and so on. That spiritual capital attracts people across social classes. You would also see that apart having huge real estate, the sites of the churches are emerging cities, creating jobs as well as providing social services. In addition to the names of the churches being synonymous with the leaders, these are all indicators of megachurches here. Recently, I did an article trying to look at how the Redemption Camp, particularly, has largely shaped its immediate environment. A few years ago, there were no houses around the camp, but now a new town has emerged. What does this mean for real estate and businesspeople? When they have a programme, a lot of business activities take place around the camp, so it’s important to see how these churches may be contributing to the economy, not just through real estate, but they generate a lot of capital and, no doubt, this capital contributes to the economy because they put the money in the banks. The RCCG camp, for instance, has more than 11 banks at the moment. So, you can ask yourself, ‘What are 11 banks doing in a church vicinity?’ It is therefore very interesting to see these diverse ways in which these churches impact society. But this is not a one-way process; it’s a two-way process because society in turn shapes the church. This is one very important aspect of our project. TO WHAT EXTENT HAVE THE MEGACHURCHES BEEN ABLE TO IMPACT THEIR COMMUNITIES? Their social, religious and even political impact on their immediate environment and the country are actually part of what our research is looking at, not only their theology or how they are spreading. For instance, the Vice-President (Prof Yemi Osinbajo) is a pastor in RCCG, so what does it mean for the pastor of a church to also have political power? In terms of the social services, what is very important is the Christian Social Responsibility, which is a bit similar to the Corporate Social Responsibility in the business world. These churches have schools, some have hospitals and they provide facilities for correctional centres. Now, we are in a pandemic, we are interested in seeing how the church is helping to navigate the crisis, like making donations, working and partnering the government to alleviate effects of the pandemic. SOME PEOPLE HAVE ACCUSED THE CHURCHES OF FOCUSING TOO MUCH ON EXPANSION, LIKE BUYING WAREHOUSES THAT COULD CREATE JOBS, WHAT ’S YOUR VIEW ON THAT? When we look at megachurches, we are looking at the positive and negative sides and we should not see them as totally separate from society. Church vicinities are not simply religious sites; they are also political, economic and cultural sites. If we take that point of view, I think there is a sense in which, as scholars, we are looking at how churches are functional or dysfunctional. In that regard, we must not see finance as separate from what the church does. This is also because the church is not simply religious; it is also an economic enterprise. But of course, it becomes very problematic when there is a pursuit of the economic dimension more than the religious and I think this is where the critique is coming from; that a number of these churches are just money-seeking and actually do not pay much attention to welfare of their members. This is salient criticism, so we cannot overlook that. But I would also say we should be careful not to generalise. This is what our research kind of does. We are looking more concretely at these dynamics. There is a lot of controversy around. There are churches that just extort money from people and then they (their leaders) live very luxurious lives. One example could be that some leaders of these churches own private jets. The question is where do they raise money to buy private jets? This is money coming from members. Sometimes, it’s a bit of extortion where they are made to pay offerings, tithes and donations and they don’t get so much in return. So, this is one critical point about the megachurches. But having said that, I think we should also look at what they are doing concretely, because they also offer a lot of social services. They build human capital, some of them have several scholarship programmes and a lot of projects to alleviate poverty. Sometimes however, I think there is that imbalance; whether they are focusing more on programmes that are exploitative or programmes that are empowering. THESE CHURCHES ARE SEEN AS ONE-MAN BUSINESSES AND THERE IS THE ISSUE OF ACCOUNTABILITY, WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON THAT? I think the issue of leadership that is accountable is one critical point for many megachurches in Africa. A critical point is also that most of their constitutions are silent about leadership succession. This is what portrays them as a bit authoritarian because it becomes sometimes like a family business. They don’t have any kind of guidelines that show ‘what happens when you die? Who is going to be the next?’ I have raised this in my work that this is a very critical point and these megachurches and other churches where there is this dynamic of a father figure or a family business can result in a major crisis when there is no constitutional provision for leadership succession. This is a common problem and it is a potential crisis for some of these churches. When compared to older mission churches, what we call the ‘routinisation of charisma’ is missing, and we are only waiting to see what happens in the future. DO YOU THINK THERE IS TOO MUCH EMPHASIS PLACED ON SIGNS AND WONDERS IN THESE MEGACHURCHES, AS SOME CRITICS HAVE SAID? Yes, I think so, to a large extent. In a context where we are experiencing acute socio-economic and political crisis, many people see religion as the last bus stop and this is why they want miracles, signs and wonders, sometimes in a way that makes them lazy because rather than work hard and depend on their talent and expertise, they think there’s a magical way these problems can easily be solved. I don’t have problems with signs and wonders or miracles, but this can be misleading where people just believe that everything can be dealt with only through this methodology. SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC STARTED, SOME MEGACHURCH LEADERS HAVE MADE CONTROVERSIAL, UNSCIENTIFIC CLAIMS, INCLUDING THAT THE VACCINES ARE SATANIC AND SOME CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUT THE VIRUS BEING USED TO INTRODUCE 5G TECHNOLOGY. WHAT IS THE IMPLICATION OF THIS? Those kinds of conspiracy theories are not limited to pastors in Nigeria or Africa. Even in the US, conspiracy theories are rife. I think it’s very misleading when religious or political leaders who have a huge following prevail on members to deny science. I think the consequences of conspiracy theories are very dire. I also think it is totally irresponsible for both religious and political leaders who attract a large following to mislead them by telling them COVID-19 is not real. There are a lot of conspiracy theories that have been instigated and it is very unfortunate that people lose their lives as a result of these denials and theories. However, some church leaders take this very seriously. DO YOU THINK IT IS POSSIBLE FOR AFRICAN CHURCHES TO GO THE WAY OF THOSE IN THE WEST, IN TERMS OF DWINDLING MEMBERSHIP? You raise a valid point. Like I said, the case in the US and other parts of the West is a product of secularisation. In Africa, our spirituality is embedded in all aspects of society and that is why the secularisation process will take a long time, if it will ever happen in Africa. People explain everything about their existence and everyday living along the contours of religion. That is why in many banks, which are economic enterprises, they pray before business starts. In hospitals, you see doctors and nurses organising bible study sessions. You cannot do that in the West; it is totally unprofessional. You are not even allowed to pray with a patient. But here, some doctors before doing a surgery will first ask if you believe in miracles or if you believe in God for healing? Some even advise patients to seek a spiritual solution if tests conducted do not reveal anything. That would be unethical practice in any part of the western world. So, I think our spirituality is tied to all aspects of life. Yes, there will be people who don’t feel happy, or who feel maltreated or totally upset with how some churches, sometimes, manipulate them, and some would leave but I see the average African leaving a church and going to another church, or even leaving the church and going to the mosque, or leaving the mosque and going to the diviner, because we are almost always trying to explain our life experiences along the contours of religion. This is the basic difference I see, having lived in Europe and the US for 26 years. A POPULAR MEGACHURCH RECENTLY SACKED SEVERAL OF ITS PASTORS FOR ALLEGED FAILURE TO DELIVER GROWTH INDEX AND UNFRUITFULNESS. IS THE CHURCH ’s OVERSEER RIGHT IN USING MEMBERSHIP INCREASE AS A KEY PERFORMANCE INDEX? I think this kind of behaviour is what I might call excesses of leadership. Growth in terms of membership strength is not magical, especially with the way people maintain multiple religious affiliations. What happens in the different megachurches is that people are engaged in what one might call religious shopping in the spiritual marketplace. People go to one church today and then if they don’t find solution to their problems, they move to the next. That actually makes nonsense of membership because you have those who are permanent members, temporary members and what one might call freelance membership. It helps us to think about the fluidity of membership. THERE IS AN UNENDING DEBATE ABOUT MANY NIGERIAN MEGACHURCHES HAVING UNIVERSITIES THAT MANY OF THEIR MEMBERS CANNOT AFFORD. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU HAVE ALSO LOOKED INTO? Yes, I have written about that as well and when I was addressing some pastors and they raised it, I said it’s because they don’t confront their leaders about it. One of the problems with these churches is that because members have trust, they believe in the pastor and that he is infallible. That becomes a problem. So, you put all your trust in the pastor and we don’t remember that pastors are also human beings; they also have problems like we do. So, when there are those issues that come up in church, people become so brainwashed in a way. They say, ‘You cannot challenge your leadership….’ ‘Touch not my anointed’ is one of the most common ones. Yes, those kinds of biblical concepts are often misconstrued and misinterpreted. So, on the basis of that, you are silent. I think that is one of the problems that a lot of our churches are facing: people don’t advise the leaders. They think that it is only the leaders who can advise them. Any church where members don’t advise the leadership is in crisis. So, yes, there are many of those universities where the fees are outrageously high that many members cannot afford, but I think it is the duty of the members to make their voices heard and say, ‘no, this is not right.’ But of course, I do also know that in such institutions, members have some rights. If the child of a member is admitted, they could either apply for a scholarship or there is a special rate they are given. Whether this is so effective is a different question. So, there is a kind of lopsidedness and I think this is partly what I was talking about – empowerment. Members should be empowered. There are ways you have to put your matters before the leaders. The pastor is human, but members often deify their leaders. They believe their leaders cannot go wrong and are always right. This is part of the problem. SOME CHURCH MEMBERS DEFEND THEIR PASTORS EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF CERTAIN MISDEMEANORS, WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN FOR THESE MEMBERS TO ACCEPT THAT THEIR PASTORS ARE ALSO HUMAN? I think members need to break free from that syndrome where they think that ‘this is the man of God, he is so holy and he cannot do anything wrong.’ They need to be critical about the church and be devoted at the same time and I think most of our churches are not doing that, which is unfortunate. A pastor can be wrong because they are human, so you should be able to have a committee or a group of people who go to the pastor and say, ‘Pastor, we love and respect you, but we think this is not right.’ When we talk about leadership that is accountable, it takes two to tango. It can be leadership failure and it can be followership failure. In most of these churches, both are present. Where that happens, a major crisis erupts. So, I find that any church where members cannot rise up and provide constructive criticism, there is a problem there. BUT THERE HAVE BEEN CASES OF MEMBERS WHO WERE PUSHED OUT FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THEIR CHARISMATIC CHARISMATIC PASTORS, WHAT ABOUT THAT? This is where members have to take that responsibility of putting in place checks and balances. The leadership structure needs to put that in place. Where the pastor or the wife makes all the decisions and they are untouchable, that gives a lot of problems in the end because it leads to a lot of disenchantment by the members. Of course, some who are not patient enough would leave but it can also lead to a kind of authoritarianism where it’s just the pastor taking the decisions and you either accept or reject it. Once you raise anything critical, you are disloyal and then they deal with you. To be quite honest, that is not really Christian, I would argue. I think we need to see that governing structures get more complex as these churches become bigger. Decentralisation and bureaucratisation need to take place because, as it becomes bigger, the pastor cannot be everywhere. He needs to delegate power and functions. THE COMPANIES & ALLIED ALLIED MATTERS ACT 2020 GENERATED A LOT OF BACKLASH PARTICULARLY FROM PENTECOSTAL MEGACHURCHES, WHICH ARGUED THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WAS ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL CHURCHES, WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON IT? I think it was a step in the right direction. The only problem is that it became politicised. I think what happens with these churches is that, to ensure there is what we might call routinisation of charisma, it’s very important that civil society organisations and churches must have structures and these structures need to be enshrined in their constitution. It’s quite incredible that in Nigeria, non-profit organisations don’t submit financial reports at the end of the year. Ideally, each of them needs to submit financial reports to the CAC. Elsewhere, that is what happens. This is where they can check excesses and that was why a popular Nigerian pastor ran into a crisis in London a few years ago. Once there is no transparency in your financial administration, there is a problem. So, what happens in Nigeria is that churches want to have their cake and eat it. One of the benefits of being a non-profit organisation is that you are exempted from taxation. In Nigeria, churches are not taxed but they also pose as business organisations, making profit. This is incompatible for not-for-profit organisations, the category under which churches fall. So, I would say the government took an important decision but it was politicised. That made it problematic because before now, a number of these churches actually didn’t have a structure in terms of leadership. I think more measures need to be put in place to curb the excesses of some of these megachurches, otherwise, what they are doing right now is to have their cake and eat it. WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE POLITICISATION, THE CHURCHES OR THE GOVERNMENT? I think both. SOURCE: https://punchng.com/megachurch-members-must-break-free-stop-seeing-leaders-as-perfect-adogame-professor-of-religion/
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