The Roles of Clergy and Laity in Church Growth
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Date
2017-10-16
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Kaduna Journal of Humanities, A journal of the Department of History
Abstract
Church growth phenomenon has been well attended to from the early church era to this time. There are divergent opinions about when the church began. There is relatively strong consensus that Christian church began at Pentecost. The common features of the Christian church remain; the ministry of Jesus on earth, his disciples, the Pentecost experience and the spread of the gospel, beginning from Jerusalem to the Diaspora. The roles of the clergy and the laity cannot be overemphasized in Church growth. Church growth which incorporates increase in the number of disciples, spiritual, moral and social strength of the Christian brotherhood, priority of spirituality over money and materialism, commitment of converts’ lives and resources to God’s work, unity among believers etc. is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. The theoretical framework upon which this work is based is Floding’s theory of the universal priesthood of all believers; that there should be non-disparity between the clergy and laity. The research made use of historical method to trace the history of the church and her growth, exegetical method to explain some Hebrew and Greek terms from their original roots and analytical method to show the trend of the growth of the church in spite of challenges. It was discovered that for the church to grow fast and healthy the power of the Holy Spirit, thorough discipleship program and unity among believers are important factors
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Keywords
Roles,, Clergy,, Laity,, Church, Growth