"Just as it is among ripe fruits the constant fear of falling, so it is among mortals the constant fear of Death"


I had heard long ago time ago that The Four Square Gospel Church in Nigeria does not announce the death of church members.

Recently, I have heard it too that The Redeem Church neither announces nor actively participates in the burial of it's rank and file church members.
To be fair, I do no know whether these are true or not, so I hope someone would either confirm or refute these allegations.

However, in my own case,
Not too long ago an elder relative who was a church elder and very active high table member of one of the popular churches in Ogba passed away.
When notified, aside from a condolence visit from few medium-ranked pastors, the church refused a request for a funeral service in their church premises.
The only thing they requested for was the funeral date so that they could send a pastor to officiate.
They contributed zero to the funeral rites. At the funeral, one expected a large turnout of church members, but only a pastor and a companion were present.
Even the loud-mouthed CEO or GO of the church never showed his face despite the fact the deceased was close to him.

Now, the funny twist was that when the family decided to do a thanksgiving( ) a week after the funeral, the same church welcomed them with open arms.

No doubt, yours truly was totally disgusted.
Thinking of all the years of active and steadfast participation in church matters, offerings, tithes, contribution for this and contribution for that, I saw it as just another tragedy of a misplaced trust.

But before I hastily jump to conclusions, I would love to understand how the various churches approach the inevitable circumstances of death of church members, and most importantly,
Why?

@Lord Obadiah776,
Wink wink! or I will continue to substract from your 777. lol

Offertory

can we all donate willingly fo help mrs ......... Bury her dead mother

each parrishoner should pay 500 to the church wellfare arm to assist members with issues such as burial

You know that many of these places of worship that people call "churches" do not like to accept suffering and death as a part of our humanity. It is contrary to their strategy to get and keep members by telling them all will go well and nothing bad is their portion. Its bad publicity for business to announce the death of a member. To be frank, I never knew they had become so bad as to abandon their fallen members.

Well, the Catholic Church is a world apart from that attitude. First, we dont necessarily see death as a bad thing because we know that true Christians never die. They only relocate to a far better place. We treat the bodies of the deceased as sacred. It is practically compulsory that we perform requiem mass and funeral rites to usher the one who has fallen asleep into the bosom of our Lord.

italo: You know that many of these places of worship that people call "churches" do not like to accept suffering and death as a part of our humanity. It is contrary to their strategy to get and keep members by telling them all will go well and nothing bad is their portion. Its bad publicity for business to announce the death of a member. To be frank, I never knew they had become so bad as to abandon their fallen members.

Well, the Catholic Church is a world apart from that attitude. First, we dont necessarily see death as a bad thing because we know that true Christians never die. They only relocate to a far better place. We treat the bodies of the deceased as sacred. It is practically compulsory that we perform requiem mass and funeral rites to usher the one who has fallen asleep into the bosom of our Lord.

Yes Italo.
I agree with you 100%.
The catholic church is unrivaled when it comes to taking care of her children.

I am quite surprised that Nl Christians are running far away from this thread.
I was sincerely expecting Nl Christians from the various evangelical churches to contribute to this thread to clarify these rumours about the churches and their hypocrisy when their rank and file members pass away.
The fact that everyone is running away from this thread may indicate that the rumours may be true.

For Redeem church, winners chapel, Christ embassy and all the other money center churches, a person in only useful to them alive. When death occurs,they quickly abandon the family, because, to them, death is a public relations nightmare for them and for god, and also, there is no money to be made from death.
They also fear that they might be expected or be called upon to spend some of their ill-gotten loot.

Now, with this in mind, does anyone want to convince Nigerians that Pentecostal movement in Nigeria is nothing but an organized fraud syndicate?

That is the reality of today's churches. They deny that suffering is a part of life so why should they be associated with death, the ultimate leveller?

Its the practice in every so called pentecostal church of today baring maybe DLBC, Apostolic Faith and some very few others.

People that refuse to acknowledge common malaria attack so as not to appear faithless, how will they announce death? Then the greed, avarice and covetousness in these gatherings prevent them from being honest about death. A Christian conscious of death will surely walk circumspectly and will not be bogged down by material things when you know your life on earth is temporal.

Announcing death or being associated with death is very bad for business. Church for them is one big party and death is sobering. They need the members far from being sober so they can't do any introspection. Everybody jumps up, feels high and goes back home to prepare for the following Sunday's fix. No opportunity for any reflection.

I agree with @Candour's post, but ehm, no be following Sunday o.. Some get Monday service, Tuesday service, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday night vigil, Saturday rehearsals.. Lol

aManFromMars: I agree with @Candour's post, but ehm, no be following Sunday o.. Some get Monday service, Tuesday service, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday night vigil, Saturday rehearsals.. Lol

Pastor Skeeto from the red planet. You even sabi our fellowship days pass me.....after you go say make I carry you go church

Don't worry, God is showing my people the light.

Candour: That is the reality of today's churches. They deny that suffering is a part of life so why should they be associated with death, the ultimate leveller?

Its the practice in every so called pentecostal church of today baring maybe DLBC, Apostolic Faith and some very few others.

People that refuse to acknowledge common malaria attack so as not to appear faithless, how will they announce death? Then the greed, avarice and covetousness in these gatherings prevent them from being honest about death. A Christian conscious of death will surely walk circumspectly and will not be bogged down by material things when you know your life on earth is temporal.

Announcing death or being associated with death is very bad for business. Church for them is one big party and death is sobering. They need the members far from being sober so they can't do any introspection. Everybody jumps up, feels high and goes back home to prepare for the following Sunday's fix. No opportunity for any reflection.

I was once invited for a service by my friend, he was a worker in the church and before we left home, he was telling me that they lost some members who were on their way back from a yearly program of their church in an accident the previous day and that some of the survivals are still in the hospital. To my surprise nothing of such was mentioned during the whole service, the pastor carried on as if nothing happened the previous day. I looked at my friend after the service and told him exactly how I felt.

greaterlove: I was once invited for a service by my friend, he was a worker in the church and before we left home, he was telling me that they lost some members who were on their way back from a yearly program of their church in an accident the previous day and that some of the survivals are still in the hospital. To my surprise nothing of such was mentioned during the whole service, the pastor carried on as if nothing happened the previous day. I looked at my friend after the service and told him exactly how I felt.

Its packaging. They must package an aura of invincibility when Christ even said in this world, we'll have tribulation but we should be of good cheer because we'll overcome at last.

That is how one keeps screaming how tithing is working for him only for me to discover he was even begging to be employed as a driver with dangote group. Seeking the employment wasn't the bad thing but why paint a picture of great success just to convince people that tithe works?

Candour: That is the reality of today's churches. They deny that suffering is a part of life so why should they be associated with death, the ultimate leveller?

Its the practice in every so called pentecostal church of today baring maybe DLBC, Apostolic Faith and some very few others.

People that refuse to acknowledge common malaria attack so as not to appear faithless, how will they announce death? Then the greed, avarice and covetousness in these gatherings prevent them from being honest about death. A Christian conscious of death will surely walk circumspectly and will not be bogged down by material things when you know your life on earth is temporal.

Announcing death or being associated with death is very bad for business. Church for them is one big party and death is sobering. They need the members far from being sober so they can't do any introspection. Everybody jumps up, feels high and goes back home to prepare for the following Sunday's fix. No opportunity for any reflection.

I could not have said better.

@mods.
This thread is screaming for front page.
It is a serious but non-controversial issue that needs contributions from a wide spectrum of people, both religious and non-religious, eveangelical and non-evangelical.

It screams of extreme hypocrisy the Churches in Nigeria that have, and enjoy great power and influences over people's lives, deliberately and selfishly sidestep the very relevant issues of inevitable death.

plaetton:


Yes Italo.
I agree with you 100%.
The catholic church is unrivaled when it comes to taking care of her children.

both dead and living.

Death is very ugly hence saying anything about death is very ugly and might frighting the members. And when the members are frightend they might run away.
At this junctiön Let us continue to decive our selves that death is not inevitable. And if you attend certain churches you will not die no mather the amount of sins commited.

In Nigeria, death seems to come en masse in recent times.
Death will always there.
From the mass killings of innocent school children ny religious god-lovers, to boat drownings, road accidents to plane crashes, it does appear that god and Jesus are failing to save some faithfuls from catastrophic deaths.

My question still remain for NL devotees of Pentecostal Christianity,
How does your church deal with the issues of death among members?
Or, is that a silent , no-go area of Pentecostal Christianity?

So others have noticed this happening as well, I REALLY wanted to bring up this issue sometime ago when a friend's elder brother died and his death got no mention in the Christ embassy church he attended, but i thought people will accuse me of being crazy and telling lies. . I was like what the hell when the late guys brother told me how his church acted after he died, his young wife was left all alone by the church. He was an active member. . .I know the traditional churches don't do this, they provide support and even contribute to the burial process in many cases. . .But these new generation churches na wah sha. . .

^^^
Bros, it must be true.
You can see that no Pentecostal Christian has responded to this thread to refute the allegations.
Are they all hypocrites?
Is Pentecostalism really Christianity or just the worst form of medieval churchianity?
Just an organized fraud syndicate?

You know them by their acts, not their words.

Candour:

Its packaging. They must package an aura of invincibility when Christ even said in this world, we'll have tribulation but we should be of good cheer because we'll overcome at last.

That is how one keeps screaming how tithing is working for him only for me to discover he was even begging to be employed as a driver with dangote group. Seeking the employment wasn't the bad thing but why paint a picture of great success just to convince people that tithe works?

I am also noticing these madness among some people I know, they will never let their church members know their true financial situation. They don't report or share any information about sickness or financial problems. . .They keep telling their church members that things are at their best, who exactly are they fooling?. . .Na wah for some people sha. . .

plaetton: I am quite surprised that Nl Christians are running far away from this thread.
I actually sincerely expecting Nl Christians from the various evangelical churchs to contribute to this thread to clarify these rumours about the churches and their hypocrisy when their rank and file members pass away.
The fact that everyone is running away from thread may indicate that the rumours may be true.
For Redeem church, winners chapel, Christ embassy and all the other money center churches, s person in only useful to them alive. When death occurs,they quickly abandon the family because, to them, death is public relations nightmare for them and for god, and also, no money to be made from death.
They also fear that they might be expected or called upon to spend some of their ill-gotten loot.

Now, with this in mind, does anyone want to convince Nigeriams that Pentecostal movement in Nigeria is nothing but an organized fraud syndicate?

what do you want us to say? Stop dividing Christs body. Denominations are not Gods church. True members of Christs church are brothers who share in joys and sorrows. Grief and pain. We are brethren who stand by each other in God's love. We stand together on Christ Jesus the rock.
I do not believe the denomination acted in brotherly love by not burying their brethren. But this does not suggest that burying is the priority. This does not also suggest that one should consider it a matter of bitter judgement.

Take it easy abeg. Your anger may be justified, but do not let bitterness and sentiments rule your heart.

eeyyyyaaahhhh!!!!!!!

@ post


You've raised very valid points.

This is one issue you cannot fault the Anglican Church on.

They bury their dead members, allow the casket to be brought into the church and provide support to the deceased family.

It is well known that some of the older generation who are members of the new generation churches still maintain ties with their Anglican Church roots because they trust the Anglican Church to give them a befitting funeral mass (inside the church) when they pass on.

@op, I guess you have an ulterior motive.

Your case study doesn't represent majority of churches.

anyway, anglican is doing well in that aspect.

in catholic church we always perform a wake and requiem mass for dead parishioners

The great thing about social media is the it exposes fraud wherever they may exist whether in politics, religion or what have you and this thread is one of them. I've heard that some churches don't announce death but I never knew it's this widespread anyway God is watching.
I don't intend to derail this thread but I want to say this for all those who feels tithes still apply to Christians to read the book of Hebrews 7 carefully. verse 5 says that the children of Israel are required to pay tithes according to the law but vs 18 & 19 clearly states without ambiguity that the former regulation is SET ASIDE and a better hope is introduced. God bless us all

.

We play active part abt it,pray for d death n pay condelence the family

I'm 100% behind you. Those criminal churches you listed there are part of the evils holding the country back.

Candour: That is the reality of today's churches. They deny that suffering is a part of life so why should they be associated with death, the ultimate leveller?
Its the practice in every so called pentecostal church of today baring maybe DLBC, Apostolic Faith and some very few others.

People that refuse to acknowledge common malaria attack so as not to appear faithless, how will they announce death? Then the greed, avarice and covetousness in these gatherings prevent them from being honest about death. A Christian conscious of death will surely walk circumspectly and will not be bogged down by material things when you know your life on earth is temporal.

Announcing death or being associated with death is very bad for business. Church for them is one big party and death is sobering. They need the members far from being sober so they can't do any introspection. Everybody jumps up, feels high and goes back home to prepare for the following Sunday's fix. No opportunity for any reflection.

ask Agagu if all his Church members were not in his burial ceremony

Gud evening...m jon champion alongside jim beglin....these names r constantly in my head

Anglican church too will announce and do all the necessary things needed.

In Deeper christian life ministry, popularily known as Deeper Life Bible Church, we care and love our living as well as those that died in the Lord. Because our hope is not only in dis world. We contribute,come out in mass and condole as when needed. Death is not the end of life, cos we still have life in Heaven.