WORKING IN THE CHURCH.... Vs... Serving in the Church



WORKING Vs SERVING IN THE CHURCH

Introduction

Everyone knows that the Church is not the business of an individual, it is an institution established by the Lord to advance the cause of salvation of man.  The church was established to continue the work of 'seeking the lost souls', which Jesus Christ started when He was on earth.

Except for some of the big churches that have opened business intereste in different areas, the  main business of the Church of Christ is the salvation, grooming and nurturing men to be like Christ and be rapturable when the Trumpet shall sound.

A lot of the Mega churches in Nigeria are known to have business and social concerns that many Pentecostal Pastors cannot understand.  Some Pastors ask why a Church should have a Football team and I say they church that have a football team must have a special interest and focus on the youths.  When you decide to focus on the youth to empower and build them up, you cannot ignore football.

Welfare of Pastors

On the issue of welfare for Pastors and workers, this is not an easy topic to research or speak on because the history, structure and sizes of churches are not the same.  Many of the Mega churches has established the reputation for taking care of their Pastors and other workers and I don't know of any who 
does not give their Pastors cars and provide residential houses for them.  

Some of them build quality homes for their Senior Pastors, while the other Pastors receive rent allowance to take care of their accommodation, depending on their financial capacity and structure.  They also engage the Pastor's wives who are not employed to keep the family united, which explains why the salary of the Pastors is considered moderate. 

Apart from salvation of souls, another issue that people mention about the churches is the lifestyle of their Founders of these ministry and their relationship with members of the church.    That was my dilema when I read a report that suggested that 300 workers left a particular church in a year.  

I decided to research briefly into the matter and surprisingly, I stumbled on an insightful report on Deeper Life Bible Church and how it has maintained a lot of Part-time Pastors till date.  I felt that was significant and decided to share it here.

Brief Review - Deeper Christian Life Ministry

I found the story about Deeper Life Church very interesting and refreshing.  They have most of their Pastors working part-time and without pay, while the few on full-time employment are well paid.  

This got me excited because most people serving in the majority of the megachurches are on salary and allowances.  The question is "How has Deeper Life maintained such a fantastic structure' running worldwide till today? 

Deeper Life church was founded by Pastor William Kumuyi. Widely known for its strict conservativism, the church, in recent times, has embraced economic-empowerment and Christian prosperity themes, while not letting go of its conservatism. With millions of members and thousands of branches in Nigeria and other parts of the world, it owns Life Press Limited, Deeper Life Nursery and Primary School, Deeper Life High School, Anchor University, among others.

A top member of the church told one of our correspondents that 95 per cent of its members in Lagos are part-time workers who receive no salary.

He said, “Most of the church’s full-time workers are not in Lagos. They have jobs so they don’t have to rely on church district members. The church encourages its pastors to work, so full-time pastors are a rarity. The most the part-time pastors get is N5, 000 for recharge cards monthly.”

Fireinthebone gathered that outside Lagos, the church has three categories of pastors. Part-time pastors do not earn salaries, they are said to be ‘taken care of by their local parishes’.

A long-time member of the church said, “Our pastors who are volunteer full-time pastors are not on the payroll of the church. The local church where they belong to may then decide to give them out of the offering but the tithe goes to the central (unit).”

The last category of pastors, he added, are those who are overseers and senior pastors and their salaries range from N2.5m to N6m per annum.”

The phone number of the Secretary, Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor Jerry Asemota, who is the only person authorised to speak on official issues, was switched off when our correspondent contacted him on Saturday.

House on the Rock Story: 300 workers resign from Adefarasin’s House on the Rock Church?.
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No fewer than 300 members of Pastor Paul Adefarasin’s House on the Rock Church have reportedly left for greener pastures.
According to Opera News on Wednesday, Pastor delivered the news himself in his sermon on the first Sunday of the New Year, held at The Rock Cathedral in Lekki, Lagos.
The cleric announced to the congregation that about 300 workers of the church have so far tendered their resignation letters.
According to the Pastor, the members resigned because of the present economic challenges in Nigeria. He said most of those who quit the assembly are relocating to Canada.
During the sermon, Pastor Paul was quoted to have said to his vibrant multi-ethnic congregation: “Stop blaming Government and political parties, the blame game is the first symptom of irresponsibility.”
N:B  This report has been proved to me a misinformation as the people who left the church and relocated to Canada were not workers, but church members.
CONCLUSION

We are living in the end times promised in the bible.  There is a joyful life God has planned for everyone that believes His Son and walks according to His word.  If you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, do so now.


FIRE...

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