A recurring decreasing of membership in a congregation : a pastoral challenge

Abstract

Gone are the days when Sunday was marked with different uniforms on the road across all directions. Now the people of God have deserted their fellowship with the Creator to follow their own ways. The proposed study seeks to investigate the incessant of unfaithful attending of church services on Sundays especially after the same priest has been deployed for more than two years in the congregation. This does not only hamper the church growth but breaks the relationship with God which sometime results to the stay in the shebeens, and the loss of human dignity. Therefore, the proposed study seeks to pastorally respond to the dwindling church that bunks church services for every two years and stay in the shebeens. The proposed study is qualitative in approach because it deals with social science, matched with a positive deconstruction technique in order to listen and treat the participants with respect. Therefore, the research methodology would be theological action research conducted in the form of a semi-structured interview to obtain data that would use for the better improvement of church life. The conclusion that was drawn was that offering, and tithing needed by the central office was causing a pressure to the congregants mainly the poor, which subsequently caused the division as the poor felt unwanted and excluded by the pastors. Another conclusion was that the causes for drinking were mainly linked with a high rate of unemployment as a result bunking the church Services on Sundays became the option for the poor people in Bela-Bela. As a result, the researcher and pastor will journey with the congregation, employing Pollard's theories, positive deconstruction, and Gerkin's shepherding to heal broken souls and return the congregation to the house of the Lord. The study concluded with findings and recommendations that will help the congregation change from a congregation that started out destitute and had no choice but to stop attending church, to a congregation that sees their situation as an opportunity to make a difference in the Bela-Bela community, particularly in the AME Church.