CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Churches are an important part of communities and the whole society, and for that reason, it should not be hard for them to understand the good and ills within communities. Provided the deliberation mentioned above, churches are to be taken part in resolving socio-economic difficulties such as gender-based violence, hunger, crime, and so on, within local communities (Leepo J. Modise, 2018). Ordinarily, church members come from local neighborhoods. Because of this, it may not be hard for the churches to understand what is happening within neighborhoods. Churches have a calling to serve the community. Keum attests that churches have to help the people to determine the daily choices that might promote human rights, gender justice, unity, self-respect, and peace.
Throughout history, they have shown to be the main force for social development, inspiring people to develop spiritual qualities and equipping them to make sacrifices for their fellow human beings and to add to the improvement of their communities. Those universal principals which lie at the heart of Christian churches tolerance, concern, like, justice, humility, sacrifice, trustworthiness, commitment to the health and well-being of others, and unity are the structures of progressive civilization. It is therefore apparent that Christian churches can help to meet the manifold challenges facing the world community.
Based on what Christianity is all about, Christian churches have constantly preached that the spiritual achievements and well-being of the private are linked to the collective advancement of the overall community. Consequently, of tireless service and an active commitment to stability and harmony, Christian churches have had a favorable effect on problems connected to social development. All the same, as a major and mindful church member, the researcher has a responsibility to explore the role of Christian churches in community development.
In the researcher's view, Christian faith is an individual and communal reaction to God's call to take part in liberating life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and these belief reactions have political, social and economic dimensions. As illustrated by Saayman (1991), this true political nature of God's liberating goal is likewise disclosed in the Exodus. Having been freed from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites did not say: we praise the God that has liberated our spirit. Instead, they said: we praise the God that has delivered us from bondage in Egypt. Simply put, God had liberated them for a new social, political and economic existence in the world they were not servants of Pharaoh.
Saayman (1991) further specifies that on the contrary, the missio politica has whatever to do with eternal reality which Christian's call redemption. In addition, this choice for the other, this striving for justice, belongs particularly to the humanizing purpose of mission, an act of proclaiming the good news and setting the captives free. Jeanrond (2003) recommends that the communal Christian praxis has three dimensions: The three dimensions of Christian belief praxis can be identified, yet should never be separated. The whole Christian community live by proclaiming God's innovative activity in history and particularly in the story of Jesus Christ, by celebrating God's presence in this world particularly through but not only in the feast of the Eucharist and by proactively taking part in the transformation of this world according to God's Salvific plan. This threefold identification of the Christian community is an identity in process. It is on the basis of this, that this study seeks to examine the role of the church in community building and development by using The Covenant Nation Community Groups as a case study.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
With the recent rise and founding of Christian churches in The Covenant Nation Community Groups, as a result of the high rate of unemployment and people's attempts to look for greener pastures, all in the name of doing God's work, the researcher has an interest in identifying the role that these churches can play in the development of the community. Because of issues such as the absence of a crèche, nursery, standard primary and secondary colleges, healthcare facilities and guidelines for managing and monitoring the spread of HIV/AIDS, in addition to young people involvement in crime, it can be presumed that the majority of the churches are not successfully performing their role in developing a much better community.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The primary aim of this study is to find out the role of the church in community building and development by using The Covenant Nation Community Groups as a case study. The specific objectives include:
i) To investigate the contributions of The Covenant Nation Community Groups to the growth and survival of the people in its locality.
ii) To find out if The Covenant Nation Community Groups offer teachings that are capable of transforming the lives of the citizens in the community.
iii) To determine if these teachings by The Covenant Nation Community Groups bring about gainful employment to the people in its community.
iv) To inquire if the teachings meet the self-expressed needs of the citizens.
1.4 Research Questions
The following are the research questions extracted from the above research objectives:
i) What are the contributions of The Covenant Nation Community Groups to the growth and survival of the people in its locality?
ii) Does The Covenant Nation Community Groups offer teachings that are capable of transforming the lives of the citizens in the community?
iii) Do these teachings by The Covenant Nation Community Groups bring about gainful employment to the people in its community?
iv) Do the teachings meet the self-expressed needs of the citizens?
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study is significant as it will help The Covenant Nation Community Groups Church as well as other churches in Nigeria to determine whether or not they provide or address the relevant needs of their communities. This study will identify the needs of the community in order to help Christian churches to take the necessary steps to reduce the current problems faced by the community as much as possible. It is expected that the results of this study will benefit the community, Christian churches and neighbouring communities. It could also help them to re-examine their responsibility as a church. Finally, the result of this study will contribute to the existing body of national and international literature related to the role of Christian churches in community development.
1.6 Scope of the Study
It would be ideal to explore the role of Christian churches in the development of the whole of Akwam Ibom State. However, constraints in terms of time, logistics and finances will make this impossible, and in view of this, this study will be limited to Uyo municipality. The findings from this study can therefore be utilised by other municipalities and organisations facing similar problems.
1.7 Definition of terms
The following key terms have been widely used in this study, and can be defined as follows:
Church: A church building or church house, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly for Christian worship services. The term is often used by Christians to refer to the physical buildings where they worship, but it is sometimes used (by analogy) to refer to buildings of other religions.
Christian: A religious person who believes that Jesus is the Christ, is a member of a Christian denomination, and follows the teachings or manifests the qualities or spirit of Jesus Christ. Christians are people who believe in Christ or can be viewed as followers of Christ. Christianity is the most widely distributed of all the world religions, having substantial representation on all the populated continents of the world.
Community: A group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household. The term can also refer to the national or international community.
Development: This refers to a recent event that has some relevance for the present situation, or process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage).
