Church Growth and Information Communication Technology: A case study of Nigeria and United Kingdom
Institution: | North Central Theological Seminary |
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Department: | Theology Dept |
Degree: | Master's Degree |
Year: | 2015 |
Keywords: | Church Growth, ICT, internet, church health, e-bible |
Posted: | 08/03/2017 |
Record ID: | 2150673 |
Full text PDF: | https://www.academia.edu/s/268efa349c/church-growth-and-information-communication-technology-a-case-study-of-nigeria-and-united-kingdom?source=link |
The church is the company of all the redeemed. Fellowship, prayers, teaching of the word can be identified in Acts 2: 41-47 as growth factors. Church growth is a trending area that many churches and mission want to know about and experience. There are many authors who have written on factors such as leadership, evangelism, small group, far fewer have attempted to give detail on the impact of using Information Communication Technology in the church of Christ. “To what extent is the use of ICT in churches of Nigeria and United Kingdom, and how far can it contribute to church growth?” Survey questions were used to identify how Christians use media technologies for personal and spiritual purposes. Links to monkey survey and typeform were share on social media platforms. 200 responses were feedback into platforms from Christians in Nigeria and United Kingdom. Hard copy of the survey was also administered offline in the community. The research also looked to identifying the perception of church leaders on the use of ICT in the church. Church communication knowledge, perceptive and usage were compared between set samples in Nigeria and UK. The result shows that about 92% of the online respondents use internet on a daily basis while only 7% visit a church/ministry website. The result shows a downward slope on frequency in usage of internet (92%), social media (89%), and electronic bible (57%). Christians in Nigeria reads other ‘spiritual books’ (books other than the Bible authored for spiritual lifting) more than Christians in the UK. Technology in itself is neutral and should be encouraged in a SMART way for the growth of the church.