1.1 Introduction
Pastoral counseling is a branch of counseling in which psychologically trained ministers, rabbis, priests and other persons provide therapy services. Pastoral counselors often integrate modern psychological thought and method with traditional religious training in an effort to address psycho-spiritual issues in addition to the traditional spectrum of counseling services (Abbott et al., 2005). Church Growth is a movement within evangelical Christianity which focuses on developing methods to grow churches based on business marketing strategies. Pastoral counselors are representatives of the central images of life and its meaning affirmed by their religious communities. Thus pastoral counseling offers a relationship to that understanding of life and faith. Pastoral counseling uses both psychological and theological resources to deepen its understanding of the pastoral relationship (Hunter, 2005; David et al., 2003).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Church growth begins with church health and not the other way around. Pastoral Counselling implies church leader gives direction, motivates, reprimands and develops a set objective along with his group and resolves individual or group needs within the church. This is perceived as the only way towards the church growth and survival. In the New Testament it was more often used as Christological title for the exalted Jesus. The results of semasiological and lexicographical investigation of secular Greek indicate an extremely polyvalent spectrum of meaning for the word “church leader”, the basis being he who is the first, who stands at the head of, who leads. What distinguishes pastoral counseling from other forms of counseling and psychotherapy is the role and accountability of the counselor and his or her understanding and expression of the pastoral relationship (Hunter, 2005; David et al., 2003).
Diligently care for the church members and other persons in the community through pastoral counseling and visitation as well as family ministries and grief support and consistently lead the church in the achievement of its missions. All the work of a pastor is important. Planning and management are linked to preaching, evangelism and Pastoral Counselling. The work of shepherding is not done for the benefit of the sheep alone. The Lord has chosen the church as a means of spreading the message of salvation to the entire world. The pastor must be committed to feeding, organizing and leading a well-trained group of God’s people to fulfill His will.
Pastors that provide counseling services to their parishioners foster an atmosphere that is more amenable to spiritual development, church attendance, participation, and service. Pastors must be congregational leaders. Though there are other leaders in the church, but pastors must provide leadership in the congregation. Their leadership involves vision and initiative. They see vision of the ministry, communicate the dreams clearly gain consensus and commitment to common objectives, take initiative by setting the pace in ministry action and multiply their Influence by transforming followers into new leaders. Practically proclaim the gospel to believers and unbelievers by means of preaching and worship as well as evangelism and nurture.
The chief administrator of the local congregation is however the pastor. He is responsible for the over-all actions and results in the work of the church. He needs develops skill in planning, overseeing and evaluating work of the church. He should have the ability and the authority to make decisions and to decide upon the best course of actions. From the social perspective of community of faith, proclaiming usually is practiced one-to-one. Caring is often one-one-one or one-to-a few. Pastoral Counselling involves working in a challenging blending of public and private setting. Participative processes are fundamental to effective Pastoral Counselling.
Oluwasegun (2005) defines leadership as the ability to gain consensus and commitment to common objectives beyond organizational requirements which are attained with experience or contribution and satisfaction on the part of the working group. Leadership could also be defined as the relationship in which one person or the leader influences others to work together willingly on related tasks to attain that which the leader desires. It is a means of direction. Leadership is the ability of management to induce the subordinates to work towards a group’s goals with confidence and keenness. It implies that the leader accepts responsibility for the achievement of the group objectives and it is, therefore, essential for the trust and cooperation from both sides to be evidence all the time (Oluwasegun, 2005). Leadership is an art of getting things done. It can be learnt, improved, developed and perfected. It is the key process of influence and the process always includes a number of key components such as leader and followers, they interact in situations and means of influence which emerge from the leader and from the followers, based on their value system and goals which the leader and the followers seek to achieve (Dairo, 2004).
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Pastoral Counselling on Church Growth and Development.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that Pastors and other clergy members often provide pastoral counseling to members of their congregations. Issues of faith, spirituality, and connections to God are common topics. The importance of pastoral counseling to the expansion of churches has received more attention in recent years. In particular, many heads of churches think that good pastoral counseling may assist bring in new members and keep old ones around. However, there are a few obstacles to relying on pastoral counseling to expand the church’s membership.
The issue of training is one of the most pressing problems that needs fixing. Pastors and other religious leaders may have extensive knowledge of the Bible and theology, but they may lack formal education in more conventional forms of therapy like CBT and psychoanalysis. Pastors and other religious leaders who offer counseling services to their congregations must be equipped to deal with a wide range of emotional and mental health challenges, not just spiritual ones. These difficulties are compounded by the need to think about the real world.
For instance, many places of worship cannot afford to maintain a full-fledged pastoral counseling service. As a result, pastors may need to rely on laypeople or other outside help to meet the spiritual needs of their congregations. Providing pastoral counseling services may also be complicated by factors including schedule conflicts and worries about client privacy.
Pastors who want to include pastoral counseling as a means of growing their congregations should have the training they need to be able to effectively help individuals in need. The widespread occurrence of mental health concerns within the church community is another barrier to pastoral counseling in the context of church expansion. Several researches suggest that religious people may be more vulnerable to mental health problems like depression and anxiety than atheists and agnostics.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Pastoral Counselling on Church Growth and Development. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To identify the functions and duties of church leaders in a church;
- To examine effect of Pastoral Counselling on Church growth; and
- To investigate the factors militating against church growth and survival.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What is the effect of Pastoral Counselling on Church growth?
- What are the functions and duties of church leaders in a church?
- What are the factors militating against church growth and survival?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: Pastoral counselling does not have a role in church growth and survival
- H1: Pastoral counselling does have a role in church growth and survival
1.7 Significance of Study
The significance of this research will aid Pastors play crucial role in the spiritual growth of their congregations, and they may also affect the growth and prosperity of their churches, which is why pastoral counseling is so important to the expansion of the church. Better connections and more active participation in church life are the results of pastoral counseling, which allows pastors to meet the emotional, social, and spiritual needs of their congregations. By fostering open lines of communication and trust, pastors may encourage their congregations to feel more connected to one another and more invested in church life.
In turn, this can boost the church’s standing in the community, attracting more people to worship there. Moreover, pastoral counseling may help members through transitions and crises, increasing retention rates and maintaining participation in church life. Churches may invest in the long-term health and growth of their communities by providing pastoral counseling services.
The findings from this study will educate the church authorities and the general public in Nigeria on what the church leaders need to do or incorporate into the system to ensure growth and survival.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Impact of Pastoral Counselling on Church Growth and Development in Nigeria.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Church Growth: Is the science that investigates the nature, function and health of Christian churches as they relate specifically to the effective implementation of God’s commission to make disciples of all nations (people) (Matthew 28:19).
Youth: Youth is the time of life when one is young, but often means the time between childhood and adulthood (maturity).
