Church and transformational development: the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its missiological orientation in democractic Nigeria

Abstract

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria is very particular in its missionary focus; it strives towards preparing people for the Second Advent of Christ through preaching its unique set of doctrines. The denomination as an organization and its people believe that this task must be done with a sense of urgency. To this end, apart from having a network of congregations and places of worship, it has set up schools (from primary to tertiary levels), medical care facilities and a relief agency, and it gets involved in various forms of community services. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a world-wide Christian organization whose missionary orientation necessitated its establishment in Nigeria. Nigeria, as a country, is a British colonial arrangement established through Lord Frederick Lugard’s amalgamation of different regions in 1914. The country has continued ever since to struggle with the issue of identity, political leadership and development. Although its people struggled and got independence on October 1, 1960, the different ethnic groups’ perception of the political leadership and resource control ever since is that of injustice and marginalization. This perception has led to many coup d’états and even a civil war. Bad leadership, corruption, maladministration, election rigging and other forms of immoral behaviours have continued to hamper the movement towards prosperity and peace. In what appears to be a cycle of underdevelopment and political injustice has led to chronic bad governance, which has precipitated ethnic and religious violence. Such a series of events have consequentially neutralized all opportunities necessary for growth and development. Corruption and other unethical practices are the bane of development and prosperity. This is the milieu in which the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria carries out its missionary activities. Incidentally, the denomination’s first missionary, Elder David C. Babcock, arrived in Nigeria the same year as the country’s amalgamation (1914). The Seventh-day Adventist Church has therefore continued to grow within the context of Nigeria’s socio-economic and political turmoil. The issue of development and national prosperity has always been central to successive administrations in Nigeria. To this end, various developmental policies were put in place. This thesis examines these policies and reflects on the levels of their successes and failures. Most of the time, the nagging issues of corruption and lack of discipline are seen to have constituted major obstacles toward achieving their set objectives. This study therefore proposes a different outlook and approach to the issue of national development. Its thesis is that the traditional micro-economic approach, which measures national development only by indices such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), per capita income and other physical indicators, would always leave the developmental aspirations frustrated, if not unmet. This study therefore proceeds to propose the transformational development approach, which underscores the critical roles that faith-based organizations (FBOs) need to play to support sustainable development. This thesis challenges the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria to see itself as a critical agency for transformational development of the country. This should be a major part of its missionary activities. This study examined literatures that have demonstrated how theological discourse can be redirected toward broader social concerns, such as transforming a community. Furthermore, an empirical exploration of the Seventh-day Adventist community that formed part of the study showed that its members are focused and consistent in their understanding of the denomination’s task of preparing the world for the Second Advent. But these SDA members also want the denomination to be more socially engaged. They want their church to make more comments on issues of development and governance. This thesis concludes that the Seventh-day Adventist Church could use its influence to promote good governance, advocacy and social justice. It urges the denomination to expand the applications of its unique doctrines to include pragmatic transformational development concerns. Accordingly it is argued that the Seventh-day Adventist Church could collaborate with other denominations and religions, solely for the purpose of transformational development and without compromising its own beliefs. Hence, it is postulated that this church would still be loyal and true to its mission by recognizing that making a structural difference in the lives of Nigerians is an authentic and integral part of the restoration of the image of God (imago Dei) in people.