CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF STUDY

There have been many researches on the role of pastors in managing conflicts but all of them either focus on the causes or the use of the Bible in managing the conflicts. In Nigeria for example, Oluseye David Oyeniyi examined the theological basis and principles of church reconciliation in Matthew 18:15-35, while George O. Folarin, Adewale J. Adelakun, and Comfort O. Folarin applied the principles of conflict resolution in Luke to church problems in Nigeria. In the United States of America, the empirical work of Kay L. Peters concluded that conflict in the church is common, normal, neutral and could be delightful, but that many pastors are not managing it well, and that many Seminaries are not properly addressing the issue of conflict management training. While ―conflict‖ is generally regarded as a disagreement through which the parties perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns, crisis is a higher level of conflict which is a step from breaking parties involved apart. Krejcir points out that conflict is inevitable, ―We will come across various disagreements, misunderstandings, and distinctions with various views of moral and value stands with one another that will converge in our relationships.‖ Church history shows that conflict occurred at various times and when it did the Church responded by reexamining and redefining its doctrines. Apart from doctrinal crises, members of local churches also encounter other types of crises. Lawrenz, in an interview with the editors of Leadership Journal, comments, ―The church exists for times of crisis as much as it does for the easier parts of life. So it's critical for staff and key leaders to be ready for crisis before it happens.‖ Crisis should however not be romantised. While crisis is preventable, or could be managed, at times it could be mismanaged. But times of crisis can be opportunities for the church to develop if it handles its challenges well. In another empirical research work in the USA, this time on the study of the conflicts that have led to the termination of many Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) pastors, Donald Q. Hicks concluded that the SBC, as in 2010, had no ministry in place to address the problems of its pastors who are casualties of church conflicts. In a new dimension, a survey carried out by Christianity Today ranked doctrinal and cultural factors low as causes of church conflict. Eighty five percent (85%) of the research subjects viewed leadership struggle/fight for control as the primary cause of church conflict. The issue of leadership method or style has a lot to gain from many researches carried out in social sciences on group dynamics. No researcher has, to the knowledge of the current writers, explicitly applied multidisciplinary approach to the problem of church conflict despite the fact that many church counselors and pastors go on to study psychology and sociology in renown institutions. The current work attempts to fill the existing lacuna by suggesting a working model that combines the best insights from the social sciences with theology on approaching the problem of church conflict from a multidisciplinary perspective. While crisis is inevitable, it can be properly managed. Often however, church crisis is poorly addressed by ignoring vital dynamics. Although Adams‘criticisms of making use of psychological and sociological insights in dealing with church conflict are noted, they can be rightly avoided. In his book, Competent to Counsel, Adams alleges that social sciences often underplay sin as the cause of conflict or even sometimes deny the existence or effect of sin in conflict, and that science absolves the guilty of responsibility, but one does not need to be as extreme as Adams insinuated. Adams‘extreme view is well critiqued in this project, Psychology is the Devil: A Critique of Adams’ Counseling Paradigm.  A basic assumption of this work is that the causes of church crises are multidimensional. If that is the case, then church crises would need to be approached multi-dimensionally. At least three points are germane to this discussion: the church has its share of conflicts, if properly handled, conflicts may be positive, and managing church conflicts is better with multidimensional approach. This research work focuses on applying multidisciplinary approaches to the management of conflict in the church while still admitting the primacy of religious factors. Keih proposes the eclectic theory to tackle conflict. Although his work is not on church conflict, his work is relevant to the church in that it acknowledges that conflicts are caused by multiple factors. Keih‘s theory particularly identifies political, social, economic, historical, cultural and psychological factors as responsible for conflict but to varying combinations. Israel Akanji broadens Keih‘s theory to include religious factors since the theory as originally presented by Keih was incapable of adequately addressing religious conflicts. 10 The current research effort proceeds with the assumption that while church conflict primarily needs religious solutions, it will benefit greatly from the secondary contributions by the social sciences. It seems clear that anyone who serves the function of providing pastoral care will be confronted with the challenge of an acute psychological and/or spiritual crisis. Whether, in a house of worship, a hospital, a nursing home, at the scene of an accident or disaster, a funeral home or gravesite, a battlefield, or even in a formalized counseling office setting, the manifestations of a human being in a state of crisis can be in evidence. The crises may manifest themselves in concrete and tangible concerns regarding safety, security, and general welfare, or they may manifest themselves in less tangible concerns regarding self identity, affiliate crises, existential, spiritual, or even theological crises (a crisis of faith). But, it is the viewpoint of this paper that, contrary to some commonly held pastoral perspectives, not all crises are spiritually or theologically based (Sinclair, 1993). For those who rise to meet such challenges, a solid grounding in theology, spirituality, and pastoral care is only the beginning. Also requisite will be skills in psychological triaging, basic crisis intervention, and finally, a familiarity with other supportive resources, including psychological, psychiatric, and even other pastoral resources. This then is the practice of pastoral crisis management. Simply stated, pastoral crisis management is the functional integration of any and all religious, spiritual and pastoral resources with the assessment and intervention technologies germane to the practice of emergency mental health (Everly, 1999). Clearly, as is evident from the definition afforded earlier, crisis management is not the same as counseling and psychotherapy (Everly, 1999). Some psychotherapeutic tactics would even be contraindicated in crisis intervention due, in part, to the highly focused and time-limited nature of crisis management. Similarly, pastoral crisis intervention is not the same as pastoral counseling or pastoral psychotherapy. Thus, by way of summarily parallelism, as crisis management is to counseling and psychotherapy, so pastoral crisis intervention is to pastoral counseling and pastoral psychotherapy.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The study of the role of pastors in crisis management came about as a result of the various conflicts and crisis that has and is going on in the church and among the body of Christ. Finally, most of the research has been carried out on crisis management but not a single research has been done on the role of pastors in crisis management.

1. AIMS AND OBJECIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of the research work is to determine the role of pastors in crisis management with reference to Holyghost ambasadors, Makurdi, Benue State. Other specific objectives of the study include:

1. to examine the relationship between pastors and crisis management.

1. to determine the role of pastors in crisis management.
2. to determine the impact of pastors in curbing of crisis in the church.
   1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the relationship between pastors and crisis management?
2. What is the role of pastors in crisis management?
3. What is the impact of pastors in curbing of crisis in the church?
   1. STATEMENT OF RESAERCH HYPOTHESIS

H0:   Pastors do not play a significant role in crisis management.

H1:      Pastors play a significant role in crisis management.

1. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The study on the role of pastors in crisis management will be of a great benefit to the church and the society at large especially the Holyghost ambasadors, Makurdi, Benue State. It will also enlighten the body of Christ to understand how important their pastors are in management of crisis as well an eye opener to the pastors on their role in crisis management. The study will serve as a repository of information to other researchers that desire to carry out similar research on the above topic. Finally the study will contribute to the body of the existing literature on crisis management

1. SCOPE OF STUDY

The study on the role of pastors in crisis management will focus Holyghost ambasadors, Makurdi, Benue State.

1. LIMITATION OF STUDY

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).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1. DEFINITION OF TERMS

Crisis: A crisis may be thought of as an acute response to an event wherein homeostasis is disrupted, one's usual coping mechanisms have failed, and there is evidence of significant distress or functional impairment (Everly & Mitchell, 1999). The stressor event that precedes the crisis response is commonly referred to as the critical incident. The term crisis intervention refers to the provision of acute psychological first-aid so as to progressively achieve  a stabilization of symptoms of distress, affect a mitigation of symptoms, and restore adaptive, independent functioning, if possible, or facilitate access to further support (Everly & Mitchell, 1999; Flannery & Everly, 2000).

pastoral care: may be seen as the function of providing a spiritual, religious, or faith oriented leadership. Pastoral care is typically provided by someone (often ordained, but not always) who has been commissioned or otherwise selected by a faith-oriented group or other organization to provide interpersonal support, assistance in religious education, worship, sacraments, community organization, ethical-religious decision-making, and related activities of spiritual support. From a more formal perspective, pastoral care is commonly provided by congregation-based clergy (and sometimes formally trained laity), chaplains, pastoral counselors, and clinical pastoral educators, while recognizing that these terms and functions are not mutually exclusive.