I started pastoring a small parish of a big Pentecostal church in Akure in 2012. We used to meet in a small location in a housing estate until 2015 when we relocated to our permanent site, a location that's about 10km farther than our former site.

Most of the worshippers in the former location refused to relocate when we moved because of the distance and associated stress. That means we have to start the parish all over again. So we have been having very low attendance which has been improving since about 4 months now.

The new site is a new community occupied mainly by people who have just moved to their personal houses. More than 60% of the plots remained undeveloped for now.

One major issue here is the rate at which most people that attend the parish sees the church as a place where their needs must be met. They keep coming up with one demand or the other every week. Their demands include food, money and now that school is about to resume, school fees and books. Parents will teach their little children to go and tell stories of how they can't resume at school since they don't have school fees and books, elderly people even come around to ask for money and food, this situation is becoming very disturbing and worrisome.

How can people see a very small church of less than 40 (90% children) in attendance as a source of supply of all their needs? Our parent church don't get involved in funding the small parish, we are the one who returns our tithes and offerings to the national headquarters every month. Offering in the church is small, adults come around to put N10 or N20 in offering bag and later send their children to go and ask for N10k assistance, I got pissed off this evening when a small girl who attends a public secondary school came around to ask for school fees of N10k and books of N10k for herself and same for her 2 siblings making a total of N30k. We bought exercise books and gave 4 to each pupil just last Sunday with pencils and biros and between then and now, they have bombarded the church with demands of well over N100k. Where do they really want the church to meet their demands? The church is operating under a temporary shed we put up in 2015, we've not been able to continue with serious building project due to paucity of funds. We (I, my wife, my assistant and his wife) have been trying in the areas of giving out food items, money, drugs, clothes etc to these people yet its one demand or the other on a daily basis.
I see these attitude as unwholesome, disturbing and unfair.

I need serious suggestions on how to really handle this situation as it is already dampening my morale. Matured and spiritual suggestions welcomed, thanks.

Sorry to doubt ur person. I don't think you are what you claim. If you are, then you are not properly trained. No one here, I mean this platform that can provide you with the help you seek. It's all complain I see here! God guide your path.

Man by nature is greedy

insatiable demands and quest for so many things makes people do the unthinkable.

What u have to do is seek wisdom from God to know how to handle this because this is little compared to what lies ahead as the church grows more in number.

Teach them to look to God for their needs

it is well sir

bro, maturity in Christianity helps and matters in general God is setting you on higher ground Remain blessed

I only read it half way

Pray and ask the Holy Spirit for direction and wisdom... He equips necessarily for His calling on our lives... especially if ure sure ure called...

Pray for wisdom to see the equipments for ur calling...

icon007:
Sorry to doubt ur person. I don't think you are what you claim. If you are, then you are not properly trained. No one here, I mean this platform that can provide you with the help you seek. It's all complain I see here! God guide your path.

Thank God some people are already volunteering suggestions and advises for the op, that you have no suggestion doesn't mean others don't too. How can you draw conclusion that he isn't properly trained just because he bared his mind, thinking he'll get genuine suggestions on the way forward, God guide your mind bro.

The posters above are waxing spiritual for what I believe needs basic common sense.

If I had a church registered as a charity, I will set up a foundation targeted at meeting specific needs in my community. A good way to fund the needs identified by the foundation will be to set up a Gofundme account, aggressively use social media to publicize the Gofundme project via all social media platforms, and network with like-minded NGOs interested in similar projects. I believe religious organisations have a massive role to play in meeting the physical needs of the community they are domiciled in, and this role carries an equal weight as their spiritual roles. The strategy I highlighted above can be implemented without any initial capital, it's all internet based. I have seen quite a few projects funded by Gofundme to the tune of £10,000s.

A hungry man needs food in order to pray, he isn't much use spiritually if he dies of hunger.

Pastor came to vent on nairaland. Its allowed afterall you be human being
Just tell them politely that there is no money anywhere in the church to settle their bills, if there was you would have willingly given to them.
Nobody will take you to jail for that

wwwkaycom:
Thank God some people are already volunteering suggestions and advises for the op, that you have no suggestion doesn't mean others don't too. How can you draw conclusion that he isn't properly trained just because he bared his mind, thinking he'll get genuine suggestions on the way forward, God guide your mind bro.

Amen

Wow.

Shouldn't the HQ try to assist?

If u dnt hv, Tel dem u dnt hv na, na by force

.... Keep helping until you have nothing left.... that's what Jesu would do....

MR PASTOR YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOU PREACHING STRATEGY, YOU WILL BE SURPRISED AS THE SAME PEOPLE WILL BEGIN PROVIDING FOOD AND RAW CASH TO YOUR MINISTRY ONLY IF YOU UNDERSTAND

kennybabs1980:


Our parent church don't get involved in funding the small parish, we are the one who returns our tithes and offerings to the national headquarters every month.

In Nigeria, when the Pastors need money, they task members to contribute. When members need money, the Pastors ask members to pray for divine provision.

Ishilove:
Wow.

Shouldn't the HQ try to assist?

Good point

Ishilove:
Wow.

Shouldn't the HQ try to assist?

In Pentecostal churches, money flows upwards to the GOs and their families not downwards to the members.

Hahaaa..you people should see how it feels to give..all you churches do is collect collect collect.....telling us how the spirit revealed to you that we should give our last penny....thunder fire una

Your gimmicks being thrown back at you. Sheeple are getting wiser. They are getting their money back from the church.

take holy spirit out of dis, b careful

birdsview:
Hahaaa..you people should see how it feels to give..all you churches do is collect collect collect.....telling us how the holy spirit revealed to you that we should give our last penny....thunder fire una

E no go pass RCCG. Buh na MY CHURCH Sha, buh I nor support dat kind way of sending the larger percentage of titles nd offerings to headquarters

Keep doing it, that is what the church is meant for....

If it were to b d other way round, will you complain

In other news, do you know that there is a lake whose water temperature is up to a hundred degrees on earth...

Read about this and a list of other dangerous waterbodies here

www.expressdigger..co.ke/2017/05/there-are-quite-man-cannot-do-without.html?m=1

Proverbs 4:7, "Wisdom is supreme – so acquire wisdom, and whatever you acquire, acquire understanding!"

You brought a spiritual matter into a platform you know too well... You've allowed the infidels to judge what they can't understand because of their folly. May God have mercy on you. If you have a problem with sorting yourself out, seek counsel from the right mind...

Lastly, Proverbs 11:14, "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Shalom!

@OP

What happened to knock and the door shall be opened, ask and you shall receive. Come on! Put your/religious words in action.

God without religion sure pass.

This is serious. I invite StatSocial into this thread.
This is the reason Covenant Uni and the likes don't subsidize education to ridiculous level. People will drain the church with lies. This is why I laugh when I see people asking private church-owned unis to bring down fees for tithe and offering payers. How can a man paying N1,000 tithe be enjoying free benefits of N750,000 ?

Brother Pastor Op, abeg I have one question for you:
When your church eventually blows and you start raking in lots of tithe money and offerings, , and you start to ride the latest SUVs and fly around the globe in business class with designer wears, would you also be humble to come here and ask us how to spend the soo much money that has fallen on you?

This story doesn't look true.. Make una use common sense.. Do u think u can just start up any church and members will just start coming to ask for money like that? If that be the case, he should tell them that the church doesn't have d capacity as at then to foot their bills.. would they slap him for this? So its now a must for a church to foot the bill of every member shey?This is not wat he claims abeg

Quiet interesting. You need to work out an empowerment program for them. You have just discovered why God led you to the new location. Get busy and let God use you to solve the set them free spiritually and mentally

kennybabs1980:
I started pastoring a small parish of a big Pentecostal church in Akure in 2012. We used to meet in a small location in a housing estate until 2015 when we relocated to our permanent site, a location that's about 10km farther than our former site.

Most of the worshippers in the former location refused to relocate when we moved because of the distance and associated stress. That means we have to start the parish all over again. So we have been having very low attendance which has been improving since about 4 months now.

The new site is a new community occupied mainly by people who have just moved to their personal houses. More than 60% of the plots remained undeveloped for now.

One major issue here is the rate at which most people that attend the parish sees the church as a place where their needs must be met. They keep coming up with one demand or the other every week. Their demands include food, money and now that school is about to resume, school fees and books. Parents will teach their little children to go and tell stories of how they can't resume at school since they don't have school fees and books, elderly people even come around to ask for money and food, this situation is becoming very disturbing and worrisome.

How can people see a very small church of less than 40 (90% children) in attendance as a source of supply of all their needs? Our parent church don't get involved in funding the small parish, we are the one who returns our tithes and offerings to the national headquarters every month. Offering in the church is small, adults come around to put N10 or N20 in offering bag and later send their children to go and ask for N10k assistance, I got pissed off this evening when a small girl who attends a public secondary school came around to ask for school fees of N10k and books of N10k for herself and same for her 2 siblings making a total of N30k. We bought exercise books and gave 4 to each pupil just last Sunday with pencils and biros and between then and now, they have bombarded the church with demands of well over N100k. Where do they really want the church to meet their demands? The church is operating under a temporary shed we put up in 2015, we've not been able to continue with serious building project due to paucity of funds. We (I, my wife, my assistant and his wife) have been trying in the areas of giving out food items, money, drugs, clothes etc to these people yet its one demand or the other on a daily basis.
I see these attitude as unwholesome, disturbing and unfair.

I need serious suggestions on how to really handle this situation as it is already dampening my morale. Matured and spiritual suggestions welcomed, thanks.

I think it is time you talk to your god

Tell it to get off it's ass and get a job so it can provide the needs of the people it created

This is 2017. People need to eat