VICE PRESIDENT
4.1 Responses and Categories of Respondents
In an attempt to gain insight into the views of mainline church leaders and members, to help in analysing the Pentecostal phenomenon in Adamawa state, a targeted group of church leaders and lay church-administrators from some mainline churches in Adamawa, were identified and administered with questionnaire. Both Catholics and evangelicals were among this targeted group. The massive response by the Anglicans is informed by the kind interest of their bishop who helped in stressing the importance of the research to his pastors at a retreat. The Pentecostals on the other hand were hesitant at responding to the questionnaire.
All in all one hundred and fifty-five (155) copies of the questionnaire were distributed to this group and one hundred and three (103) copies were filled out and returned. Of this number only eleven (11) were sent back by females while ninety-two (92) came from males.
The respondents were Pentecostal and mainline Christians. For the personal data of the respondents, according to their church affiliations, see below.
Table 1: Table Showing Categories of Respondents to the Questionnaire Name of
Church Location Position Ages Male Female Pentecostals Jimeta/Numan Clergy/Members 39-48yrs 4 1
HEKA N Kaduna Admin/Clergy 40-58yrs 2 0 LCCN Numan/Jimeta Clergy/Members/Admin 28-53yrs 17 3 Baptist Jimeta Member 41yrs 1 0 Catholic Jimeta Clergy/Members 30-60yrs 5 0 COCIN Jos Clergy/Admin 45-51yrs 2 0 Reformed Wukari/Akwanga Clergy/Admin 39-58yrs 9 0 EYN Mubi Clergy/Members 36-61yrs 6 0 UMCN Jalingo Clergy/Admin 43-49yrs 3 0 Anglican Jos/Yola Clergy/Admin 20-60yrs 43 7
In response to the question concerning the official stand of their church as regards Pentecostalism, most church leaders admitted ignorance. In other words they had not received any official statement from their church leadership referring to Pentecostalism. The researcher found that there is virtually no documentation about Pentecostals in any mainline church archives in Adamawa. The responses presented here are purely a product of this research and they convey personal impressions of the respondents. A few church leaders simply stated that „Pentecostals are „sheep thieves‟, while some said, „we accept them‟.201 The perceptions however, of ordinary Christians vary considerably. Some insisted that Pentecostalism is the „heartbeat of God‟. Others maintained that Pentecostalism is the embodiment of the divine and extra-ordinary power of God to transform the pathetic condition of humanity in Nigeria.202 There are Christians in Adamawa who think differently about Pentecostalism. They feel, for example, that Pentecostalism is „superfluous for divine reality and an empty and futile spiritual celebration.‟ 203
201 Response to question 2 in the questionnaire administered by Ishaya E. R. in Nigeria, January 2005.
202 Response during an interview session in Yola, Adamawa, Nigeria, April 2010.
203 A Response from an interviewee during discussions in Yola, Adamawa, Nigeria, April, 2010.
Whatever the conceptions of Pentecostalism in Adamawa may be, the leaders of the various mainline churches in the state expressed varying degrees of opposition to the youths and their Pentecostal movements. In fact, analyses of the responses of leaders, involved in the administration of mainline churches in Adamawa state, reveals a strong resistance to Pentecostalism, especially from Catholics and Lutherans. This confirms Kalu‟s observation that, “The Roman Catholic Church was initially hostile, defrocking two priests who succoured charismatic spirituality, (when they were) in a hurry to rebuild (their church) after the Nigerian-Biafran civil war.”204 The Anglicans, EYN and COCIN, are milder in their opposition to Pentecostal movements. Kalu also found that “the Anglicans were friendly while the Presbyterians were downright hostile.”205
Ordinary church members responded slightly different to the question regarding what they personally feel about Pentecostalism. Ninety-three persons out of a hundred and fourteen answered this particular question and the results show the majority of respondents were not really comfortable with Pentecostalism but hurried to add that they are not frightened by them either. But, unquestionably, the issue of migration from their churches to Pentecostal movements is what the mainline churches are most concerned about. Asked whether they are losing members to Pentecostal churches, all mainline Christians and their church leaders admitted, on questionnaires or in interviews, that some of their members have joined Pentecostal congregations. As to what age groups are involved, responses indicate that especially the younger generation is vulnerable. Youths between the ages of 12 and 35 form the majority of the Pentecostal membership. Very few persons who are older than 40 years join the Pentecostals and most of these falls in the leadership category.
As opposed to the Pentecostals, the mainline churches continue to attract persons of all age groups and they are all active in the church, from the children to the oldest members of the communities.
The study found that most of those who attend Pentecostal churches are highly qualified young people (with secondary school certificates or university graduates some of whom are unemployed) are mostly attracted to Pentecostalism.206 Among those who responded to the questionnaire were many middle class people and they stated that their members are highly educated persons, among them are some professionals in the banking industry, engineering, nursing and business people. Also, during participatory observation at some Pentecostal services and programmes it was discovered that some people in these
204 Kalu, O. U., “Pentecostalism and Mission in Africa, 1970 – 2000”, Mission Studies 24, (2007) 9-45, p. 16.
205 Kalu, 2007, p. 17.
206 Response to question 6 in the questionnaire, 2005.
category of professionals have become members in the Pentecostal churches in Adamawa.
The reasons could be because many of them are persons from other states, especially from the south of Nigeria who come to Adamawa to work.