Browsing by Author "Ayotunde William OKELANA"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The Yoruba Culture’s Influence on the Redeemed Christian Church of God Intercultural Missions in North-Central Nigeria
    (Lead City University, Ibadan, 2024-12) Ayotunde William OKELANA
    Culture plays a significant role in shaping religious beliefs. It influences peoples’ beliefs, practices, values, cosmology and how they embrace religious experiences. Many researches have been carried out on the cultural influences and colouration of religions by the cultures of the society where they originated from. These include the impact of Judaism and western culture on Christianity in Nigeria, Arabic culture on Islamic Religion and Yoruba cultural influence on traditional worshippers across the world. However, the influence of Yoruba as a predominating culture within the Redeemed Christian Church (RCCG) birthed in Yoruba land has not received adequate attention. Hence, the examination of the impact of the Yoruba culture on the growth of (RCCG) missions in North-Central Nigeria is the aim of this dissertation. The qualitative research method is adopted for its explorative process engaging descriptive techniques. The theoretical framework centres on Hofstede’s cultural dimension, which describes the non-superiority of any culture, identifying repressed cultures and giving them a voice, with the fact that every culture has something to celebrate and that communication is the key to balanced intercultural relations. Three hundred and ten (310) volunteers (members and ministers) were sampled, 280 responded to the Questionnaire while the key informant interview participants were 30. Data collected were analysed along ethnographic lines. Findings indicate that: the initial argument of Yoruba predominance in the RCCG mission is factual; the Yoruba culture has a positive influence on North-Central intercultural missions, but if best practices to promoting humane cultural values are repressed on mission fields there shall be power shift, except cultural balancing principles are implemented. Conclusively, in spite of the fact that culture is transferable, cultural balancing should be sensitively integrated into missionary propagation of the RCCG. Therefore, it is recommended that elements of Intercultural Balancing such as equity, mutual respect, adaptation, acculturation and identity should be deployed in RCCG intercultural missions in North-Central Nigeria since there are no ‘inferior cultures’. Keywords: Intercultural Mission, Yoruba culture, The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Intercultural balancing, Power shift Word Count: 317