ABSTRACT

MENTORING AS A TOOL FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

IN THE REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD, NIGERIA

Babatunde Oladimeji

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current practice of mentoring as a

tool for leadership development for the next generation of leaders in the Redeemed

Christian Church of God Nigeria (RCCG) by surveying pastors and young leaders in the

RCCG in order to prescribe a model for an effective mentoring program for leadership

development.

For this research, I employed an exploratory, mixed design and a triangulation

method, which encompassed both quantitative and qualitative methods. The population

included pastors and young leaders of the RCCG from three provinces in Lagos chosen

through purposive sampling. I gave questionnaires to sixty pastors and 120 questionnaires

to young leaders in the church. In addition, I interviewed another 20 percent of the

pastors and young leaders further.

The project used two different questionnaires and two interview protocols. The

responses for these instruments answered the project’s three research questions. Through

comparative analysis, I sought to discover the relationships between perceptions of

members of the two groups. Next, I coded the interviews for themes and patterns.

Through this study, I determined that although about half of the RCCG pastors

claimed to use mentoring to develop young leaders, a clear majority of the young leaders

did not agree with this claim. Instead, the young leaders described developing

relationships with pastors outside the RCCG for their mentoring. The pastors do not have

time for their young leaders; hence, they have not been able to develop them to fit into

leadership in the organization.

Recommendations included that the RCCG design both formal and informal ways

of mentoring within its present structure. These methods should include young leaders

sometimes living with the pastors. Pastors also need to set aside regular time in their

schedules to meet with a few of the young leaders on an individual basis. The church

must officially monitor, evaluate, and reward these relationships.

DISSERTATION APPROVAL

This is to certify that the dissertation entitled

MENTORING AS A TOOL FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

IN THE REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD, NIGERIA

presented by

Babatunde Oladimeji

has been accepted towards fulfillment

of the requirements for the

DOCTOR OF MINISTRY degree at

Asbury Theological Seminary

May 3, 2012

Mentor Date

May 3, 2012

Internal Reader Date

May 3, 2012

Representative, Doctor of Ministry Program Date

May 3, 2012

Dean of the Beeson Center Date

MENTORING AS A TOOL FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

IN THE REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD, NIGERIA

A Dissertation

Presented to the Faculty of

Asbury Theological Seminary

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Ministry

Oladimeji Babatunde

May 2012

Oladimeji Babatunde

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... ix

CHAPTER 1 PROBLEM ....................................................................................................1

Purpose .....................................................................................................................4

Research Questions ..................................................................................................4

Research Question #1 ..................................................................................4

Research Question #2 ..................................................................................4

Research Question #3 ..................................................................................4

Definition of Terms..................................................................................................5

Effective Mentoring .....................................................................................5

Young Leaders .............................................................................................5

Pastors ..........................................................................................................5

Ministry Intervention ...............................................................................................5

Context .....................................................................................................................6

Methodology ............................................................................................................7

Participants ...................................................................................................8

Instrumentation ............................................................................................8

Variables ......................................................................................................9

Data Collection ............................................................................................9

Data Analysis .............................................................................................10

Generalizability ..........................................................................................10

Theological Foundation .........................................................................................10

Overview ................................................................................................................13

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE .............................................................................................14

Biblical Foundations of Mentoring ........................................................................14

Mentoring in the Old Testament ................................................................14

Mentoring in the New Testament ..............................................................16

Historical Foundations ...........................................................................................20

Examples in Church History ......................................................................21

Nigerian Indigenous Examples ..................................................................22

Theological Foundations for Mentoring ................................................................24

The Doctrine of Trinity ..............................................................................25

The Incarnation ..........................................................................................31

Summary of Theological and Ecclesiastical Foundations of Mentoring ...............33

Leadership and Leadership Development ..............................................................34

Defining Leadership...................................................................................36

Organizational Leadership and Change .....................................................42

Change and the Church ..............................................................................46

Mentoring and Leadership Development...................................................47

Mentoring ...................................................................................................49

Effective Mentoring ...................................................................................51

Mentoring in Traditional Nigerian Society ................................................56

Summary ....................................................................................................59

Research Design.....................................................................................................60

Mixed Research Methods ..........................................................................60

Triangulation Method ................................................................................61

Summary ................................................................................................................61

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................62

Problem and Purpose .............................................................................................62

Research Questions and/or Hypotheses .................................................................62

Research Question #1 ................................................................................62

Research Question #2 ................................................................................62

Research Question #3 ................................................................................62

Population and Participants....................................................................................63

Pastors Taking the Questionnaires .............................................................63

Young Leaders Taking the Questionnaires ................................................63

Pastors Involved in the Interview ..............................................................64

Young Leaders Involved in the Interview .................................................64

Design of the Study ................................................................................................64

Instrumentation ..........................................................................................65

Pilot Test ....................................................................................................65

Variables ....................................................................................................66

Reliability and Validity ..............................................................................66

Data Collection ......................................................................................................67

Data Analysis .........................................................................................................68

Ethical Procedures .................................................................................................69

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS ...................................................................................................71

Problem and Purpose .............................................................................................71

Participants .............................................................................................................72

Research Question #1 ............................................................................................80

Research Question #2 ............................................................................................83

Research Question #3 ............................................................................................86

Summary of Findings from Interviews and Open-Ended Questions .....................89

Research Question #1 ................................................................................90

Research Question #2 ................................................................................91

Research Question #3 ................................................................................92

Summary of Major Findings ..................................................................................96

CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION ..............................................................................................98

Major Findings .......................................................................................................98

The Importance of Understanding Mentoring ...........................................99

Time and Passion with Experience ..........................................................100

Different Attitudes and Experience on Mentoring...................................102

Factors Hindering Effective Mentoring ...................................................103

Vital Elements for an Effect Mentoring Program ....................................105

Implications of the Findings ................................................................................108

Limitations of the Study.......................................................................................109

Unexpected Observations ....................................................................................110

Recommendations ................................................................................................111

Postscript ..............................................................................................................113

vii

APPENDIXES

A. Questionnaire on Mentoring for Pastors in RCCG .........................................115

B. Questionnaire on Mentoring for Young Leaders in RCCG ............................122

C. Guiding Questions for Semi-Protocol Interview for Pastors ..........................128

D. Guiding Questions for Semi-Protocol Interview for Young Leaders .............130

E. Request for Expert Review of My Instrument ................................................132

F. Expert Review Protocol for the Questionnaire ................................................133

G. Letter of Permission for Research ...................................................................138

H. Letter of Appreciation to Expert Reviewers ...................................................139

WORKS CITED ..............................................................................................................140

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 4.1. Profile of Participants in the Interview for Pastors and Young Leaders ..........73

Table 4.2. Age Distribution of Pastors...............................................................................74

Table 4.3. Age Distribution of Young Leaders..................................................................75

Table 4.4. Years of Active Membership for Pastors ..........................................................75

Table 4.5. Years of Active Membership for Young Leaders .............................................76

Table 4.6. Pastors’ Provinces .............................................................................................76

Table 4.7. Young Leaders’ Provinces ................................................................................77

Table 4.8. Pastors’ Offices .................................................................................................77

Table 4.9. Young Leaders’ Offices ....................................................................................78

Table 4.10. Pastors’ Years of Experience ..........................................................................78

Table 4.11.Young Leaders’ Years of Experience ..............................................................79

Table 4.12. Pastors’ Gender ...............................................................................................79

Table 4.13. Young Leaders’ Gender ..................................................................................80

Table 4.14. Whether Pastors Mentor Young Leaders ........................................................80

Table 4.15. Whether Young Leaders Have Mentors .........................................................81

Table 4.16. Number of Young People Mentored ..............................................................82

Table 4.17. Frequency of Meeting—Pastors’ Perspective.................................................83

Table 4.18. Frequency of Meeting—Young Leaders’ Perspective....................................83

Table 4.19. Means, Standard Deviation, and t-Test for Perception of Current Mentoring

Experience for Both Pastors and Young Leaders ...........................................85

Table 4.20. Attitudes about Mentoring ..............................................................................87

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My special appreciation goes first to God for his favor in counting me worthy to

be a participant of this program and to the Beeson Center for such an opportunity to come

for this insightful course.

My mentor, Dr. Ralph Kester, showed me his fatherly understanding and

guidance. My reader, Dr. Richard Gray, I thank for his scholarly contribution towards

this work. To Drs. Tom Tumblin, Milton Lowe, and Russell West, who always were

ready to listen to me and to help, I give my sincere appreciation. Kasey, Caroline,

Jonathan, Walter, Andrew, Gabe, Abe, and Rebecca encouraged and supported me during

this course. Thanks to Judy for good editorial work and to Janet Dean for helping in the

statistics.

Dr. Isaac Oyebamiji became mentor to me during this program and has become a

big brother to me in ministry, and Pastor Ezekiel Odeyemi guided me during the choice

of this topic. Pete and Joan Miller adopted me as part their family and made my trips

back to the United States a time of refreshing.

I give special thanks to Majule, Soo Yeong, Winston, Katurah, Tandi, Sergio,

Sunil, and Matthews with whom I had the privilege of sharing my life throughout these

four years. Your lives have been a special blessing to me. I also appreciate Dr.William

Udotong and his family for their encouragement and their support. As an elder brother he

was able to put me through the part of success early on this program.

Bishops Korie, Asaju, Akanya, Orama, Adekunle, and Imaseun believed in me

and supported me throughout this course.

Finally, to my wife, Lami, who made great sacrifices by always being left alone

during my stay in the United States every year, I love you, my baby. I also want to

remember my daughter, Sophia, and my son, Jubilee, who was born during the writing of

this work, and my parents, Pastor and Mrs. Oladimeji.

Oladimeji 1

CHAPTER 1

PROBLEM

In recent times leadership has been a major subject in many organizations and

institutions. Some African nations, including Nigeria, have fallen prey to bad leadership;

hence, the situation in most African countries is not something to be envied. Nigeria,

among the topmost oil-producing nations in the world, possesses an abundance of natural

resources. Nonetheless, the country has been plagued with poverty, famine, and

corruption. In my personal observation as a minister of the gospel in Nigeria, many

government officials in Nigeria see leadership as a means to subject people and exploit

the populace, thereby amassing personal wealth for themselves and their yet unborn

children. The same scenario applies to leadership within the church. For example, in

Nigeria, many Christian leaders regard their positions of leadership as a way to rule over

the majority of parishioners whom they perceive as an ignorant and disadvantaged group

of people.

This attitude has its root in a cultural, tribal understanding of leadership in which

the kings and chiefs reign over their subjects as lords. In Matthew 20:26-27 Jesus says,

“[N]ot so with you. Instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your

servant and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (NIV). Jesus’ and the apostles’

New Testament teachings radically oppose a tribal perspective of leadership.

Leadership is the key for transformation to take place in all areas of the church.

Leadership is the art of producing appropriate change in an organization’s external

environment, its functions and structure, its culture, and its practices in pursuit of survival

and prosperity (Beach ix). A church seeking to influence its membership for good insists

Oladimeji 2

on appropriate development of leadership skills in its young people. As such, young

people have many latent abilities and skills in need to appropriate development in order

for them to have a sense of fulfillment within the church. George Barna describes how

many laypeople with abilities, gifts, and experiences that the church needs leave the

church because they no longer can tolerate being part of a movement they perceive as

lacking strong, visionary leadership (19). The departure of young, disillusioned, and

discouraged professionals from churches in Nigeria evidences this fact.

Some Nigerian churches seem to be doing well in their numerical and financial

growth, but they lack a good plan for leadership development and succession. The

Redeemed Christian Church of God Nigeria (RCCG) has experienced this scenario. The

RCCG is one of the largest churches in Africa today. When the founder died in 1981, E.

A. Adeboye, a university lecturer and pastor, became the new General Overseer. From

then on, the church encountered unprecedented growth over a short period. When

Adeboye assumed the leadership position, the number of parishes grew from

approximately forty in 1981, to around seventeen thousand in 2010. The RCCG has

parishes in most countries of the world including Islamic countries such as Iraq. The

church engages its lay professionals as pastors and thereby multiplies in an

unprecedented manner. However, as one who grew up in the RCCG before leaving to do

ministry in other organizations, I have concern regarding the future of the church.

Many young men who grew up in the church have transferred to churches with

young pastors who use contemporary worship styles. Their services include fast rock

music, a casual dress code, informal church programs, and emphasis on more fellowship

within the church. Presently, the General Overseer of RCCG is approximately seventy

Oladimeji 3

years old. Most of the top officials in the governing council are older than sixty. Most of

the provincial pastors in the forefront of pastoral leadership, ministering, and training are

older than forty-five years, and very few provincial pastors are younger than forty years

old.

Not enough work is being done to raise the next generation of ministers.

Leadership experts agree that today the relational connection between the knowledge and

experience giver and the receiver has weakened or is nonexistent (Stanley and Clinton

18). A leader concerned with developing others should be able to pass on skills,

knowledge, and models to persons who can use them effectively (Clinton 257).

Many current RCCG pastors have not experienced proper mentoring

relationships; as a result, leadership formation has not been very effective. Pastors have

been trained for ministry according to the perspective of older leadership while

neglecting the perspective of younger leaders. As a result, the younger generation feels

disenchanted and excluded from what happens in the church. In order for this generation

of leaders to help actualize one of God’s covenant promises for the RCCG that the lord

Jesus Christ shall meet the church at his return, then the church must develop and

implement a system to prepare young ministers, so the church will not become an old

people’s church and ultimately face extinction. Most churches in Nigeria tend to pattern

their growth plans after the RCCG. As a result, if the organization can begin to think

about raising leaders for the next generation, this action will challenge other churches in

Nigeria.

If the young leaders that form the next generation of ministers do not experience

effective mentoring, then their development will be marginal. This lack of development

Oladimeji 4

eventually will affect leadership succession and possibly lead to the decline of the RCCG

and perhaps even Christianity in Nigeria.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current practice of mentoring as a

tool for leadership development for the next generation of leaders in the Redeemed

Christian Church of God Nigeria (RCCG) by surveying pastors and young leaders in the

RCCG in order to prescribe a model for an effective mentoring program for leadership

development.

Research Questions

The following research questions helped guide the research project and prescribed

a better way for effective mentoring.

Research Question #1

What are pastors currently doing in the RCCG to mentor the next generation of

church leaders, and what do the pastors believe are the effective aspects of that

mentoring?

Research Question #2

What is the perception of young leaders about the role and practice of their

pastors in effectively mentoring them for leadership?

Research Question #3

What vital elements should be included in an effective mentoring model in the

RCCG?

Oladimeji 5

Definition of Terms

The proceeding section identifies and defines various terms I used in this study.

The various terms are used in this work in some ways that may be different from the

general or popular way.

Effective Mentoring

Effective mentoring involves a personal relationship between the mentor and the

protégé, which eventually prepares the pupil (the person being mentored) for leadership

within the church. According to the traditional understanding, mentoring, “involves a

relationship between a younger, less experienced person and an older and more

experienced person in which the older wisely guides the younger through some

significant transition in life” (Cowart 16). This definition assumes a personal relationship

between the mentor and the mentee.

Young Leaders

In the context of this study, young leaders refer to those Christians in the church

between the ages of 18-35 years who have the potential to assume church leadership

roles.

Pastors

Pastors within the RCCG involve the leaders who head congregations at different

levels within the church, including the parish pastor, area pastors, zonal pastors,

provincial pastors, and regional pastors.

Ministry Intervention

A very large church, the RCCG has more than seven thousand churches in Lagos,

alone. These churches are divided into provinces. A provincial pastor leads each of the

Oladimeji 6

approximately thirty provinces in Lagos, and the provinces are divided further into zones

and areas. Each area pastor oversees five or more churches, while the zonal pastor

oversees five or more areas. The parish pastor heads the lower administrative level.

Within the local church parish, department heads lead different areas such as choir,

Sunday school, evangelism, and others. Some of the young leaders belong to this group,

while others serve as parish pastors.

In this research, I learned how RCCG pastors mentor the young generation within

their respective parishes, areas, and provinces and the perceived effectiveness of such

mentoring. Thereafter, I ascertained whether young leaders considered their pastors as

mentors, and how, if at all, young leaders are mentored in order to prepare them for

effective ministry. Next, the two different groups of pastors and young leaders suggested

ways that present church leaders could use an effective mentoring model to develop the

next generation of leaders.

This mentoring model will enhance good leadership development plans at

different levels of the church. I used findings from this research to compile

recommendations for RCCG leadership. Then the RCCG could use the guidelines to

design a model for relational mentoring and further develop the next generation of church

leaders.

Context

Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, has long experienced corruption due

to poor leadership. Recent events as seen on any major news media, coupled with the

political manipulation the country faces from time to time by self-perceived power

brokers, highlight the leadership deficit in Nigeria. Nigeria also has the greatest number

Oladimeji 7

of churches when compared to other countries on the continent, but the churches also

seem afflicted with the problem of poor leadership.

The RCCG is a growing church with the following mission statement: “To make

[it to] heaven and to take as many as possible with us to heaven.” In order to accomplish

the first mission, RCCG makes holiness a lifestyle. To fulfill the second mission, RCCG

strives to plant a church within five minutes walking distance in the undeveloped world,

or within driving distance in the developed world, so the gospel of Jesus reaches

everywhere on the earth. This approach has made the RCCG one of the most progressive

programs in multiplying churches. The organization boasts more than two thousand new

church plants every year, hence the need to expand its leadership capacity for the growth

in the church. The increase in the number of churches each year records 50 percent or

above since the beginning of the current general overseer’s leadership. However, as the

church struggles to produce leaders in the midst of massive church growth, problems

develop, including changes in the mentoring of young leaders for the next generation.

The RCCG operates within an episcopal system of church organization in which

authority comes from the top. The general overseer is the chairman, has authority over

the governing board. He appoints various offices based on the governing board’s

recommendation. Additionally, elders, regional pastors, provincial pastors, zonal pastors,

area pastors, and parish pastors follow six assistant general overseers (including two

already retired). Leadership within the local church also includes the department heads.

Methodology

I designed this project in order to develop a set of recommendations for using

mentoring as a tool for leadership development and raising the next generation of RCCG

Oladimeji 8

leaders. I utilized an exploratory mixed design, triangulation method, which encompassed

both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Participants

The population for this study consisted of RCCG pastors and young leaders.

Approximately thirty-seven provinces in Lagos, each province consisting of a minimum

of 120 churches, comprise the RCCG. Therefore, I used purposive sampling to select

three provinces in Lagos (southwest Nigeria). Headquartered in Lagos, the RCCG makes

most of its decisions from this province. The area, zonal, and provincial pastors received

a total of sixty questionnaires while the young leaders in the two regions received another

120 questionnaires. Following the questionnaires, I interviewed 20 percent from each

group (pastors and young leaders). Then I compared the results from these two groups in

order to find the common elements for effective mentoring.

Instrumentation

In order to conduct this research, I used four instruments.

Mentoring questionnaire for pastors (PL). This assessment consisted of a

twenty-two-item questionnaire, including multiple choice questions, Likert-scale

questions, yes/no questions, and open-ended questions, which I administered to sixty

pastors in three provinces of the RCCG.

Mentoring questionnaire for young leaders (YL). This assessment consisted of

a twenty-one-item questionnaire, including multiple choice questions, Likert-scale

questions, yes/no questions, and open-ended questions to 120 young leaders in three

provinces of the RCCG.

Oladimeji 9

Mentoring semi-structured interview for pastors (IPL). This instrument

consisted of twelve open-ended questions used in a one-hour interview. I administered

this questionnaire to twelve pastors, four from each province.

Mentoring semi-structured interview for young leader (IYL). This instrument

consisted of fourteen open-ended questions to provide for a one-hour interview. I

administered this questionnaire to twenty-four young leaders, eight from each province.

In addition, I used this demographic instrument in all four instruments.

Variables

In this study, the independent (or predictor) variables were the questionnaires and

interviews concerning mentoring practice of the pastoral leaders and young leaders

selected from the three provinces of Lagos, Nigeria, in which the RCCG headquarters are

located. The dependent (or criterion) variables were the various elements of effective

mentoring as measured by the instrumentation. To control the intervening variables, the

questionnaires and interviews were semi-structured and validated by experts to ensure

their reliability and validity.

Data Collection

One research assistant, employed and paid for the period of two months, followed

up on and collected the questionnaires. This person was especially important for the

sample in Lagos because I do not live there. In addition, I wrote an official letter to the

national RCCG headquarters in order to seek permission to carry out the project within

the provinces selected through the assistant general overseer in charge of training. I also

wrote a cover letter introducing my work, the questionnaire, and myself. Upon hand-

delivering the questionnaire, the participant was encouraged to respond to the questions

Oladimeji 10

immediately. After the instruments were administered, the structured interviews were

then conducted with the 20 percent of the population from the different provinces. Any

respondent who took the questionnaire away was contacted by phone in order to assure

its prompt return. Five experts reviewed the questionnaire for validation, and the

questions they considered not relevant were removed. The questionnaire and interview

questions were pretested in order to make sure they were appropriate for the respondents.

Data Analysis

To analyze the data from the quantitative mentoring questionnaire, I used graphs,

tables, and simple percentages. I used comparative analysis to discover the relationships

between the perceptions of the two groups. Then I coded the answers for themes and

patterns for the interviews.

Generalizability

The RCCG is typical of independent Pentecostal churches in Nigeria. Therefore,

the results of this study may be used to apply to other independent Pentecostal churches

in Nigeria. This research is relevant in a time of leadership crisis within the nation of

Nigeria. Nonetheless, this study likely is not generalizable to traditional churches, other

evangelical churches, or congregational churches such as the Baptist church where the

influence and authority of the pastor by the congregation.

Theological Foundation

The theological foundation of this study was based on the doctrines of Trinity and

Incarnation. God is a relational being; therefore, he created human beings to be relational.

According to Stephen Seamands, the relationship in the trinity explains the importance of

relationship. Colin E. Gunton writes, “If God is a communion of person inseparably

Oladimeji 11

related, then … it is in our relatedness to others that our being human consists” (116).

The divine personhood gives the clue that persons exist in relationship with others.

Recent teachings from Christian pulpits in Nigeria that import Western individualistic

ways of thinking present a different view than that of Scripture.

Therefore, the concept of mentoring as seen in both the Old and New Testaments

offers an example of the relationship humans should have with God and fellow human

beings. Mentoring as a sharing relationship encourages the development of a new

generation of leaders. Paul D. Stanley and J. Robert Clinton define mentoring as a

relational experience through which one person empowers another person by sharing

God-given resources, a positive dynamic that enables people to develop potential (12).

In the Old Testament, the relationship between Jethro and Moses gives an

example of mentoring, as recorded in Exodus 18:13-27. The relationship between Moses

and Joshua provides another example of mentoring. Joshua learned about leadership from

Moses, which eventually prepared him for the work of taking God’s people to the

promise land. The relationship between Eli and Samuel provides yet another example of

mentoring (1 Sam. 2:11; 3:1). Samuel served as a mentor to both Saul and David. Elijah

and Elisha’s relationship offers another very clear instance of mentoring (1 Kings 2:13-

15).

In the New Testament, Jesus mentored his disciples, Barnabas mentored Paul

after Paul’s conversion, and Paul became a mentor to Timothy and Titus. Interestingly,

the New Testament seems to present a story of mentoring as the gospel message spreads

from one person to the other.

Oladimeji 12

Observation of history’s events reveals leadership transitions as one of the most

traumatic events in any organization’s history. Leadership succession exerts tremendous

impact on any ministry and dramatically affects the leader, his or her executive team, the

staff and board, the constituency, donors, and his ministry to different people outside of

the church (Barna 298). Some of the world’s leaders in today’s generation experience

great success, but because they failed miserably at succession, their life accomplishments

collapsed shortly after departure (298). Accordingly leaders leave a positive legacy by

working to ensure a smooth transition in leadership in which the organizational alliance

can be given quickly and readily to the new leader. The impact of the leader in helping

affect a good succession plan cannot be over emphasized. Barna writes, “No other

activity guarantees the perpetuation of the ministry after the incumbent is gone as much

as a well-planned and carefully executed transition” (299). Stanley and Clinton define

mentoring as a relational experience through which one person empowers another by

sharing God-given resources. Such a positive dynamic enables people to develop

potential (12).

Throughout human history, mentoring constituted the primary means of passing

on knowledge and skills in every field and in every culture, including traditional African

society. In the modern age, the learning process has shifted and relies primarily on

computers, classrooms, videos, and books. As such, Stanley and Clinton write, “Thus,

today the relational connection between the knowledge and experience giver and the

receiver has weakened or is nonexistent” (18). J. Robert Clinton writes that a leader

concerned with developing others should pass on skills, knowledge, and models to others

who can use such skills with the same levels of effectiveness (257).

Oladimeji 13

Many people fear transparency in a mentor or peer relationship and fear that their

vulnerability could be used against them. However, in spite of the human desire for

individualism and independence, God did not create people to be self-sufficient and move

through life alone (Stanley and Clinton 37). Mentoring has been revived in recent times

for this reason. Accordingly, when the Nigerian church encourages and practices proper

mentoring, necessary change will be achieved in different areas of Christian life and

leadership.

Overview

Chapter 2 reviews selected literature and research in areas of leadership,

mentoring, and leadership succession and consulted other materials in the field of

relational mentoring and biblical principles of leadership. Chapter 3 presents a detailed

explanation of the project’s design, the research methods, population and sample,

instrumentation, data collection, variables, and data analysis. Chapter 4 details the

findings of the study from the questionnaire and interview. Chapter 5 provides a

summary of the conclusions derived from the interpretation of the data, as well as

practical applications of the conclusions and possibilities for further research.

Oladimeji 14

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE

This chapter examines the biblical foundations for mentoring in light of the Old

and New Testaments. In addition, it considers mentoring from the viewpoint of general

church history and then African church history. Finally, this review of literature will

consider theological foundations of mentoring according to the doctrines of the Trinity

and the Incarnation. Furthermore, the literature examines materials on mentoring and

various theories of mentoring as well as leadership development, organizational

leadership, and organizational change agent.

Biblical Foundations of Mentoring

The Bible always must provide the foundation for belief and practice within the

Christian church. Therefore this study examines mentoring and leadership development

in light of the Bible. The Church is God’s organization and so runs according to the

precepts of the Scriptures.

Mentoring in the Old Testament

The Old Testament provides an example of mentoring in the relationship between

Jethro and Moses as recorded in Exodus 18:13-27. Furthermore, Joshua learned about

leadership from Moses, which eventually prepared Joshua for the work of taking God’s

people to the promise land. The relationship between Eli and Samuel provides another

example of mentoring (1 Sam 2:11; 3:1). Samuel served as a mentor both to Saul and to

David. The relationship between Elijah and Elisha presents another clear example of

mentoring. (1 Kings 2:13-15).

Oladimeji 15

Jethro and Moses. With Yahweh’s help, Moses brought the children of Israel out

from the bondage of Egypt. Throughout the day, he presided over the disputes of a

congregation of almost two million people (Hendricks and Hendricks 144). When Jethro,

Moses’ father-in-law, saw Moses before the people, Jethro warned Moses to watch for

signs of certain exhaustion. He taught Moses the principle of delegation by asking him to

choose men of worthy character to serve under his authority and reserve only the most

difficult disputes for his personal involvement (Exod. 18:13-27).

As a result, Israel’s judicial system was organized according to Jethro’s

instruction. The new system allowed for faster judgment of cases than did Moses’

previous arrangement. Jethro mentored Moses by serving as an adviser and teaching him

how to operate the new system of delegating different assignments for varying levels of

leadership. Moses may have lived a healthy and long life as a result of Jethro’s

mentoring.

Moses and Joshua. Before God chose Joshua to succeed Moses, Joshua already

had worked alongside Moses, acting as his assistant (Exod. 24:13; Deut. 1:38). Joshua

displayed a high level of faith and confidence in God’s promises in spite of an opposite

expression from ten others as they went to spy the land. Initially, Joshua was in charge of

the military while still subject to Moses. After this experience he gained other skills

before he eventually accepted full responsibility when Moses died. This spiritual strength

and faith must have been impacted in his life as he stayed to serve Moses, the man of

God.

Eli and Samuel. Eli served as a mentor to the young Samuel. Since Samuel lived

with Eli, this mentoring relationship resembled an apprenticeship. He began staying with

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Eli during childhood. Later, Eli guided Samuel to discern God’s voice (1 Sam. 3:2-10). In

many ways Eli acted like a father to Samuel.

Samuel mentored Saul and David. Samuel discovered Saul while Saul was

searching for his father’s missing donkey. He counseled Saul and helped to give him

God’s instruction, although Saul mostly disobeyed the instruction. (1 Sam. 13:8-14; chap.

15). Samuel kept praying for Saul in spite of his pride and rebellion. Samuel was a great

encouragement to David, as well. David eventually became Israel’s greatest king. This

story illustrates how leaders can support those persons they mentor, especially when the

mentee cooperates with the mentor.

Elijah and Elisha. The relationship between Elijah and Elisha offers another

example of a mentoring relationship. Elijah sought Elisha because of God’s revelation.

God’s calling was made clear to Elijah about Elisha. Elisha eventually became Elijah’s

attendant, but his real aim was to raise a successor. In spite of his rich background, Elisha

abandoned everything to leave with Elijah (2 Kings 2:2-6). The story of Elijah’s

departure in 2 Kings 2 features commitment, loyalty, and love. The story terminates as

Elisha receives Elijah’s mantle succeeds him as prophet, and the river Jordan divides (2

Kings 2:13-15). Other examples of mentoring in the Old Testament include that of

Jehoida and Joash in 2 Chronicles 24.

Mentoring in the New Testament

In the New Testament, Jesus mentored his twelve disciples for three years before

he eventually commissioned them. The meaning of the word disciple is a pupil or learner.

Jesus devoted the majority of his time to his disciples, and they observed him as he

ministered to people. They were with him (Mark 3:14), and they enjoyed a deep

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relationship with him. Later in the New Testament, Barnabas mentored Paul when Paul

became converted to the Christian faith (Acts 9:26-31). In addition, Barnabas continued

to mentor John Mark even when Paul felt they should leave the younger man behind.

Paul himself became a worthy mentor of Timothy and Titus. Hence, Scripture indicates

the importance of mentoring in relation to leadership development and succession.

Jesus and his disciples. The ministry of Jesus offers a clear example of effective

mentoring. He began his ministry by calling a few men to follow him. Robert E. Coleman

writes, “Jesus started to gather these men before he ever organized an evangelistic

campaign or even preached a sermon in public. Men were to be his method of winning

the world to God” (21). This point must continue to be emphasized to have continuity of

the Christian message.

Although Jesus did not choose to mentor the rich or the religious elite of his day,

Jesus’ mentees were willing to learn. Coleman writes, “Jesus can use anyone who wants

to be used. We cannot transform a world, except individuals in the world are transformed.

Jesus did not neglect the crowd but he concentrated on the few disciples” (23). The same

thing must become the principle for meaningful transformation in the churches and the

society in general.

Coleman summarized the other principles Jesus used in mentoring his disciples.

Jesus lived with his disciples, which constitutes the principle of association. He required

obedience from them, which represents the principle of consecration. He gave himself

away, which the principle of impartation describes. He also showed them how to live;

this action fits Coleman’s description of the principle of demonstration. Jesus then

assigned work to his disciples, according to the principle of delegation. He oversaw them,

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which Coleman describes as the principle of supervision. Finally, Jesus expected them to

reproduce, or to mentor others (Coleman 21-97).

Mentoring represents a major way of teaching in the Old Testament and in the

days of Jesus (Hendricks and Hendricks 17). Jesus trained his disciples in informal

settings such as while they ate, traveled, and prayed throughout their shared life

experience. They did almost everything together, even attending weddings and funerals,

and they observed the way Jesus did things. According to Gunter Krallmann, this shared

life involves the transference of knowledge, skill, and character through the combination

of teaching and modeling that comes in a shared life experience (62).

Jesus gave his disciples the opportunity to practice that which they had learned.

When they made mistakes, Jesus corrected them. Apart from when he asked them to go

out to preach, he also demonstrated to them by modeling many of his own teachings. One

vivid lesson occurred when Jesus demonstrated humility and love by washing the

disciples’ feet in John chapter 13. Accordingly, Jesus had a dual motivation in his

mission, namely to reach the lost and to provide his disciples with a practical education

experience (Bruce 99).

The custom of foot washing is an old practice in hospitality. The task of washing

a guest’s feet generally fell upon the servants in the house. Jesus poured water into a

bowl and girded himself with a towel to wash his disciples’ feet. His leadership was not

that of seeking people to serve him. Instead, Jesus relinquished his position as the boss

and teacher and took the form of a servant. He even overturned societal status (Keener

297). Jesus’ action was not merely an act of servitude, but also an act of love (Thomas

88).

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Disciples normally serve their teachers, just as Joshua served Moses and Elisha

attended Elijah. Jesus changed this role as he washed his disciples’ feet. In verses 12-17

of John 13, Jesus challenged the disciples through his action. J. A. Wenham, J. A.

Motyer, D. A. Carson, and R. T. France write, “The authoritative nature of his approach

is unmistakable, but the command becomes even more striking when it is remembered

that humility was despised in the ancient world as a sign of weakness” (1054). The same

has become a major trait among leaders in many churches in Africa today.

After Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he told them that he had set an example for

them. Jesus told his disciples to serve one another in humility rather than seek

preeminence over one another, and so to lay down their lives for one another

(John15:13).

The cleansing and foot washing symbolize the revelation that Jesus gave of the

father, and thus the disciples are called upon to embody this same revelation. As such,

Jesus instructed his disciples to pass on the lesson that he, their teacher and lord, had

provided by conveying both in word and deed, the selfless love of God (Barrett 443). The

Christian community Jesus introduced manifested God’s love that Jesus revealed through

serving others with no vestige of pride or position. The exercise of leadership requires

following this model of servanthood.

Christ expressed his love by washing the disciples’ feet and through his upcoming

sacrificial death. He laid down his life for his friends on the cross. Jesus demonstrated the

kind of love his disciples and his future followers ought to show one another. In the story

of the washing of the disciples’ feet, Jesus mentors his disciples as he demonstrates and

models his expectations for them.

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Paul and Timothy. Paul exhibited effective mentoring in his relationship with

Timothy. He calls him “my true child in the faith” (1 Tim. 1:2). Paul, at different times,

expresses his love to young Timothy. He also challenged him not to be discouraged.

Paul influenced Timothy greatly. He traveled with Timothy to many places, and

Timothy was chosen to become the overseer of the church in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 3:2).

Paul also sent Timothy to address problems in Corinth (1 Cor. 4:17). He became a good

representative of Paul:

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I may be

cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him who

takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his

own interest, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has

proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in

the work of the Gospel. (Phil. 2:19-22)

J. Oswald Sanders writes, “Paul’s exacting standards, high expectations, and heaving

demands served to bring out the best in the young man, saving him from the peril of

mediocrity” (Paul the Leader 180). This pattern is an example of mentoring that Paul left

as a heritage within the pages of the New Testament.

Historical Foundations

The concept of mentoring continued throughout Church history. Spiritual

direction was the primary model at work in the Egyptian desert in the fourth century, and

this custom continued to operate effectively among clergy and members of religious

orders for centuries. A few examples on mentoring in the history of the Christian Church

will be instructive.

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Examples in Church History

Polycarp was a student of the Apostle John. John appointed him Bishop of

Smyrna (Bettenson 71; Cairns 76). This appointment certainly took place after he had

been properly groomed by the Apostle.

Papias who wrote the Interpretations of the Sayings of the Lord in the middle of

the second century most likely also was a disciple of John (Cairns 78). Papias was the

bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia. In addition, Polycarp’s preaching also influenced

Iranaeus, the anti-gnostic polemicist, while Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna (107).

Even St. Augustine, the great theologian of the church, did not form and develop

as a leader by himself; instead, he was a disciple of Bishop Ambrose of Milan. James E.

Reed and Ronnie Prevost say that Augustine, after his baptism, moved to Hippo where he

became a priest and later a bishop (98).

Origen (AD 185-254) was mentored by Clement of Alexandria (AD 155-215) and

succeeded him in the leadership of the catechetical school in Alexandria, which greatly

influenced Christian thought (Cairns 108). This example is another point in explaining

how the ancient fathers were properly mentored as they were being prepared for ministry

The German reformer Martin Luther mentored his associate Philip Melanchthon.

Melanchthon continued the work even after Luther’s exile. John Wesley maintained a

close link with members of his movement and organized his converts into societies. In

1742, the societies were subdivided into classes of ten to twelve under a lay leader who

had spiritual oversight of the class (Cairns 386).

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Nigerian Indigenous Examples

Examples of mentoring also can be found among historical Nigerian church

leaders, including Moses Orimolade, Ayo Babalola, and Josiah Akindayomi. These

leaders were within the Nigerian church, which eventually influenced many other

countries in the Africa.

Moses Orimolade. Moses Orimolade pioneered the first African Independent

Church in Nigeria. According to A. Omoyajowo, “Orimolade was like John the Baptist, a

forerunner” (42). The Cherubim and Seraphim church, which he founded in 1925, is

generally and historically regarded as the prophet/prayer healing movement in Nigeria.

This movement involved groups of people who practiced the belief in the efficacy of

prayers for healing of sicknesses and in giving specific directions for its members. H. W.

Turner, a foremost scholar of the Aladura Movement in his explanation on the Aladura

movement notes, “There was no dominant charismatic figure or prophet in what came to

be known as the Aladura (or prayer) movement until 1925 when Moses Tunolashe

(Orimolade) detached from Anglican and other churches that led to the Cherubim and

Seraphim societies as they exist today” (3). This detachment from the old, mainline

churches created the identity of the Aladura churches.

During the revival days, Orimolade mobilized men who accompanied him

wherever he went. These men included E. A. Davies, E.O. Bada, and his elder brother

Peter Omojola. Orimolade chose seven men and a band of seventy men. The Cherubim

and Seraphim movement in its different variety has hundreds of thousands of followers in

Nigeria and many parts of Africa

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Joseph Ayo Babalola. Joseph Ayo Babalola (1904-1959) was responsible for the

revival of 1930s Nigeria. Many African church historians have regarded this revival as

the origin of modern-day Pentecostalism in Nigeria. During the revival, a Christian

Missionary Society missionary commented, “Babalola has been able to accomplish more

in six weeks than the Anglican Church has been able to do in sixty years” (Idowu 216).

Thousands of souls were converted, healed, and delivered. The dead were raised, the

national newspaper wrote about it, and people from other parts of Africa came to receive

the blessing (216).

In spite of the revival’s time consuming and tedious nature, Babalola fostered

men who have continued to affect Nigeria. He trained people by involving them in

praying, fasting, and including them in his daily travel. Such men included Babatope and

Daniel Orekoya, who continued the revival at the base while others travelled, such as A.

Medaiyere, S. G. Omotosho, Adegboyega Ajilore, and some leaders of Faith Tabernacle.

Daniel Orekoya took the revival to Ibadan on his way to Lagos. According to Moses

Idowu, a dead pregnant woman was raised after three days (206). The revival led to the

founding of an indigenous church in Nigeria that has contributed to church growth and

power evangelism, which is an attempt to win souls through the use of signs and wonders

to prove the superiority of God to this day.

Josiah Akindayomi. Reverend Josiah Akindayomi founded the RCCG.

Akindayomi was a prophet in the Cherubim and Seraphim movement before he was

called to begin a prayer group. The Ogo oluwa prayer group eventually became the

RCCG church, founded in 1952.

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Akindayomi’s church eventually began to branch out into different parts of

Nigeria. Although he could not read, he had strong faith in God and devoted himself to

prayer. He developed his ministers in prayer and fasting together with substantial Bible

study. Enoch Adejare Adeboye, who eventually became Akindayomi’s successor, joined

the church in 1973. He became a Christian and began to work within the church. Two

years later he was made a pastor. The church’s founder chose Adeboye, a lecturer with a

PhD in mathematics, as his successor.

Akindayomi commissioned Adeboye to interpret his messages during the service.

Josiah gave special tutoring to his successor and took him everywhere he went, including

Jerusalem. Akindayomi made several pronouncements concerning the nature of his

successor. For five years, in various ways, Akindayomi prepared the minds of his

followers for the future. He finally prepared a written will, thereby sealing his choice of a

successor and identifying Adeboye as the choice of the Holy Spirit (Ukah 105). After

about thirty years succeeding Akindayomi, “the RCCG has effectively moved from its

local embeddedness to the global area” (106). RCCG’s popularity increased after

Adeboye came into leadership. His spiritual gifts and insights superseded and

transcended that of his predecessor and spiritual mentor. Mentoring has truly been a

pattern of leadership development and succession in church history, even among

Africans.

Theological Foundations for Mentoring

In this section, I explore two major doctrines related to mentoring. Leadership

considers theological background when examining whether the church should accept a

given practice. The doctrine of the Trinity is relevant because it introduces God in

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communion of three persons. This doctrine emphasizes the concept of relationship, and

upon this concept the idea of mentoring is built. The doctrine of the Incarnation presents

God’s coming down in the flesh to interact with humankind. God in Christ came to the

level of humanity to have genuine relationships.

The Doctrine of Trinity

The doctrine of the Trinity is an appropriate place to begin any concept relevant to

the Christian life, since many teachings of the Christian life rest upon the Trinity.

According to Timothy George, belief in the Trinity is so basic that it has become one of

the essential markers of the Christian faith (9). According to Millard J. Erickson, in the

doctrine of Trinity, believers encounter one of the truly distinctive doctrines of

Christianity. Among all the religions of the world, only Christianity claims God as one

and three persons (347).

Many Christians view the idea of one God in three persons meeting humankind as

one of the most mystifying of all Christian teachings, they speak of the Trinity, as

Augustine knew, not because they are able to fathom it, but because they cannot keep

silent on the matter so central to biblical faith (Oden 105). The nucleus of triune teaching

requires simultaneously affirming three aspects—the equality, unity, and

distinguishability of Father, Son, and Spirit in encounters with the one God (108).

The obedience of the Son to the Father (John 15:10) does not imply that the Son is

inferior to the Father. The Son did not become less than the Father by becoming eternally

obedient to the Father’s will (Oden 109). The doctrines of Trinity and Incarnation

represent two mysteries of the Christian faith. The word mystery does not deem such

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concepts as confusing or contradictory; rather, these concepts go beyond the realm of

human beings or beyond the limits of human reason.

The doctrine of the Trinity is crucial for Christianity. The doctrine explores who

God is, what he is like, how he works, and how to approach him. Millard Erickson

summarizes the essential elements of Trinitarian doctrine, which include the following

facts: (1) The unity of God is basic; (2) the deity of each member of the three persons—

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—must be affirmed as each person is qualitatively the same;

(3) the threeness and the oneness of God are not in the same respect; (4) the Trinity is

eternal; (5) the function of one member of the Trinity may for a time subordinate to one

or both of the other members, but such subordination does not imply inferiority in

essence; and, (6) the Trinity is incomprehensible (362-63).

The doctrine of the Trinity must be divinely revealed rather than humanly

constructed. One church father writes, “It is so absurd from a human standpoint that no

one would have invented it” (Erickson 367). Christians hold to the doctrine not because

the doctrine is logically comprehensible but because God has revealed in the Scriptures

his Trinitarian being. Millard Erickson writes, “Try to explain it, and you’ll lose your

mind; but try to deny it, you’ll lose your soul” (367). For this reason, the safe thing to do

is always to hold this doctrine more with faith than the intellect.

According to Charles K. Bellinger, H. Richard Neibuhr, in his published work of

1946, notes that the history of Christianity shows evidence of “Unitarianism” of the

Father, the Son, and the Spirit, in which one person of the Trinity is emphasized while the

other two persons are denied, downgraded, or ignored, leading to various distortions and

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heresies among various Christian groups. Niebuhr addresses this distortion when he notes

that:

A doctrine of trinity will not overemphasize a member of the trinity but

must bring a synthesized formula in which all the partial insight and

convictions are combined. This will certainly not please any one part of

the Church but, it will be an ecumenical doctrine providing not for the

exclusion of heretics but for their inclusion in the body on which they are

actually dependent. Truth, after all, is not the possession of any individual

or of any party or school, but is represented, in so far as it can be humanly

represented, only by the whole dynamic and complimentary work of the

company of knowers and believers. (qtd. in Bellinger 12)

Believers handle this doctrine with utmost sensitivity and care. John Zizioulas identifies

Trinitarian theology as the center point into which all the other major strands of

theological work should be woven (7). Human persons are called to exist in the way God

exists. The doctrine of the Trinity lays the foundation for a proper understanding of the

priority of relationship.

Daniel Levinson, Charlotte Darrow, Edward Klein, and Maria Levinson write,

“[M]entoring is a form of having relationship” (100). In the view of Gunton, God is no

more than what the Father, Son, and Spirit give to and receive from each other in the

inseparable common that is the outcome of their love. Communion is the meaning of the

word (God). God has no other being than this dynamic of persons in relation (10).

Human beings are relational in their nature—created by God for community.

When God created Adam, the first man, God noted that the man was alone. Furthermore,

this lonely state was not good for the man. As a result, God created Eve (Gen. 2:8). God

intended for human beings to live as social beings. According to scholars such as

Seamands, this concept derives directly from the Trinitarian God, the creator (9-30).

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Within himself, God constitutes a complete relational being, since the Father,

Son, and the Holy Spirit live in perfect relationship with each other. Clark H. Pinnock

says that God is a community of persons; God is love and not an isolated individual; and,

“the Spirit delights to introduce creatures to union with God” (39). This belief is a

guiding principle in the understanding of the being of God.

A dynamic, flowing movement exists in the fellowship of the Trinity. The

relationship between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit exhibits four characteristics,

namely their full equality, their glad submission to one another, their enjoyment of

intimacy with one another, and their mutual deference to one another (Shaw 62).

Creation in God’s image involves this aspect of relationship. God created human

beings for community and mutual interaction. Claus Westermann asserts that creation in

the image of God points to the necessity of the human/divine relationship. In his

estimation relationship to God is not added to human existence; instead, humans are

created and intended for relationship with God (158).

Stanley Grenz adds that creation in the image of God also involves a horizontal

element. Since God is community—the fellowship shared among the Father, Son, and

Spirit—the creation of humankind in the divine image must relate to humans in

fellowship with each other (79).

Zizioulas attempts to balance the vertical and horizontal elements of community

when he characterizes creation in the image of God as a way of being rooted in

relationships. (74). The triune God created humans to relate to others in trusting love

(Kinlaw 79). Made in the image of God, each person has a desire within for relational

fulfillment that only can be met through living in community with others. Disciples

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cannot grow in Christ in isolation. Human beings were made to reflect God’s character

and live life together in community (Morley 42). In mentoring a person is encouraged to

relate with another person in an open manner.

Scholars have described the relationship between the persons of the Trinity with

the theological concept perichoresis. According to Oliver Crisp, “the persons of the

Trinity somehow interpenetrate one another, yet without confusion of substance or

commingling of natures” (1). Though the members of the divine trinity indwell one

another, they maintain their distinctiveness in the midst of their communion.

Regarding relating the Trinity to the life of the church, Roderick Leupp says that

any ecclesiology that is both relevant to human need and anchored in the reality of God

must be figured, constructed, and realized in a triune manner (127). Furthermore, Leupp

writes, “[T]he truth of God is trial on how well this truth can be incarnated in the life of

the church” (128). Leupp asserts that when Jesus Christ prayed for the unity of his

disciples, he situated their union in the love he and his father share in the Holy Spirit.

John 17:21 serves as a foundation text for any ecclesiology aspiring Trinitarian

ecclesiology.

Through the action of the Spirit, the Church resembles the Trinity—as persons in

communion. The Church’s essence is a dynamic personal event. According to Patricia

Fox, in the Church, just as in the Trinity, the essential and the existential nature and

person do not cause each other but are identical with each other (74). From this

theological standpoint, since the Spirit creates not individuals but persons in communion,

so a local church community constituted by the Spirit does not exist as a church in

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isolation. However, as the body of Christ, the local church in communion with the

universal Church is the whole Christ (24-25).

Seamands discusses Trinitarian ministry and demonstrates how the three-in-one

God lives, moves, has his being. Since believers participate in the triune fellowship, these

characteristics describe their existence and ways of living. He identifies seven

characteristics that mold the Christian understanding of life, ministry, and worldview

(18).

In the fellowship of the Trinity, according to Seamands, self-giving and self-

sacrifice equals self-fulfillment and unspeakable joy (81). In a mentoring relationship, the

mentor gives himself or herself to the mentee in a sacrificial way. Through mentoring, the

church exceeds individual ability even when empowered by the Spirit. Darrell L. Guder

asserts that the action of the Spirit focuses not merely on the individual soul but on

communities as well (142-43).

In considering how communion in the Trinity relates to the church, the Spirit’s

action constitutes the church in the same way his action constitutes the Trinity—as

persons in communion. Therefore, the church’s essence is a dynamic, personal event. In

the church, just as in the Trinity, the essential and the existential nature and person do not

cause each other but are identical to each other. From this theological standpoint, since

the Spirit does not create individuals but persons in communion, so a local church

community constituted by the Spirit does not exist as church in isolation. However, as the

body of Christ, the local church in communion with the universal Church constitutes the

whole Christ (Zizioulas 24-25).

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Persons in communion are fundamental to the Trinitarian understanding. “God

disclosed as persons in communion reveals a totally shared personal life at the heart of

the universe” (Zizioulas 51). Keith Cowart describes the doctrine of the Trinity as

foundational for the practice of mentoring because the essence of mentoring is a loving

relationship. While other kinds of helping relationships also prove beneficial, mentoring

is particularly helpful because the relationship between a mentor and protégé is

fundamental to the learning process not just an optional by-product. In this way,

mentoring reflects God’s way of being (10).

The Incarnation

Through the Incarnation, Christ exhibited humility and denied himself in order to

accomplish the work of redemption. According to Millard Erickson, in considering the

position of equality with God, which involves the immediate presence of the Father and

the Holy Spirit, as well as the praise of angels and other heavenly beings, humans do not

have the ability to grasp fully the things that Jesus lost (788).

Systematic theologians introduced the concept of perichoresis to the Incarnation.

Crisp, after much consideration, asserts that perichoresis, as it involves the Incarnation,

embraces two aspects: first, the communication of attributes involves the attribution of

the properties of each of the natures of Christ to the anthropic person of Christ. The

person of Christ has divine and human attributes of one nature that properly belong to the

other nature in the hypostatic union without confusing or commingling the two natures

(22).

Second is the perichoresis between the two natures of Christ, which is distinct

from the communication of attribute. Crisp refers to this concept as penetration rather

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than interpenetration. It therefore implies that the divine nature of Christ penetrated the

human nature only (22). Crisp says, “[T]he penetration is asymmetrical: the relation

originates in the divine of Christ in origination or reciprocation (23). James Atkinson

affirms that the Incarnation represents God’s way of bridging the gap between humanity

and God, and that to understand God and his Incarnation, it is important that revelation

must be allowed to overtake our reason. (11).

A creative understanding of Incarnation provides the clearest interaction of God

with his created world and within the framework of human rationality and understanding

(Atkinson 60). God came down to the level and understanding of his created order.

Through the life of Jesus, the will of the triune God for relationships becomes

apparent. He created humans to live in openness. This openness involves two aspects.

First, other-orientedness enables persons to see beyond themselves. The second,

permeability explains the inner necessity that exists in every person, to relate to the world

beyond the self (Kinlaw 94-95). According to Seamands, because humans are created in

the image of God, they have been endowed with a general capacity to open themselves to

others. Without this capacity, human relationship would not exist (149).

The life of a believer brings reconciliation with God and with other people

through Christ. The believer discovers a new dimension of relationships shaped by

openness and a growing capacity to participate in a knowing relationship. These

relationships include friendship and mentoring relationships. Seamands proposes that the

Trinitarian circle is open rather than closed; Christians have been invited into the circle to

participate in the divine dance (145). Today, the church needs the restoration of biblical

fellowship as modeled in the life of Jesus and the early Church. The church needs to

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involve a dynamic relationship with others as well as with the Trinity. The Trinity

demonstrates diversity in unity, and the church needs to do likewise. Equality, intimacy,

submission, and deference ought to characterize relationships in the Christian community

as well (39, 150).

Millard Erickson writes of when the second person of the Trinity emptied himself

of equality with God by taking on humanity:

Jesus gave up the independent exercise of his divine attributes. This does

not mean that he surrendered some (or all) of his divine attributes, but that

he voluntarily gave up the ability to exercise them on his own. He could

exercise them only in dependence on the Father and in connection with the

possession of a fully human nature. Thus, he was able to utilize his divine

power, and he did so on numerous occasions, such as performing miracles

and reading the thoughts of others. Nevertheless, in exercising his own

power he had to call on the father to enable him to do so. (789)

Jesus experienced feelings of fatigue, weariness, pain, and suffering. He even felt

abandoned and betrayed by his closest friend. He experienced disappointment,

discouragement, and distress of the soul accompany the human experience. His humanity

was complete.

Summary of Theological and Ecclesiastical Foundations of Mentoring

The Old and New Testaments present mentoring as an extension of the

relationship the human person should have with God and fellow human beings. In order

to raise a new generation of leaders, the church can encourage mentoring as a sharing

relationship. Stanley and Clinton define mentoring as a relational experience through

which one person empowers another person by sharing God-given resources. Mentoring

is a positive dynamic that enables people to develop their potential (12).

Christians have practiced mentoring throughout Church history. Many key leaders

of the Christian faith have been mentored at one time or another. The doctrine of the

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Trinity portrays God as a community of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The Trinity gives us

the foundation for community. The ultimate foundation for all community is found in the

triune creator (Seamands 34-35). Since God is relational, he has created human beings as

relational beings. People learn best in relationship with others; hence, a mentoring

relationship, which normally involves interaction with the protégé, is very effective.

Leadership and Leadership Development

As early as 1908, John R. Mott alerted the Christian world that one of the greatest

challenges today is leadership (4). After six years of investigation carried out in all parts

of the world as the General Secretary of the World Student Christian Federation, Mott

wrote, “The failure to raise up a competent ministry would be far greater failure than not

to win converts to the Christian faith, because the enlarging of the kingdom waits for

leaders of power” (4). Leading is different from managing, teaching, counseling, or

helping. To lead involves a lot more comprehensive approach and so it is all inclusive

and without leaders, the Christian ministry becomes ineffective.

According to Harold Longenecker, during the 1960s, many Christian agencies

found themselves organizationally deficient, so leaders developed Christian management.

A number of people became interested in studying management and leadership.

Longenecker writes, “[W]riters acknowledged that the two were different, but they were

often scrunched together” (20). This confusion resulted from the general habit of

subsuming leadership under the theme of management. Longenecker concludes that thirty

years of traditional management almost devoured the act of leadership (20).

For centuries leadership was presumed inherited or passed on from one generation

to another, but when the feudal system was overthrown due to the Renaissance, a new

Oladimeji 35

concept of leadership began to develop (Engstrom 61). Leaders were now being trained

and developed and focus “shifted to a personality and skills which might be latent,

waiting for development” (61). This shift shows that people can develop leadership skills.

Church and missionary organizations face issues of leadership development due

to the great need for developing indigenous churches in the third world where younger

pastors are ministering. Much training will help bring a strong national church into

existence and keep it healthy (Engstrom 62).

As discussed in the previous section, the Old Testament portrays leadership

development in its treatment of the school of the prophets established by Samuel (1 Sam.

19:18-20). According to Jewish tradition, these schools trained students throughout the

history of Judah to occupy the office of prophet. These schools were forerunners of the

Jewish rabbinic centers established following the return of the captives from Babylon, the

theological schools of the early Church, and modern seminaries (Engstrom 62).

People who serve in positions of leadership but who are incapable of leading have

undermined many organizations today (Barna 27). Since management is easier to teach

than leadership, teachers have emphasized the former to the detriment of the latter (Kotter

27). Accordingly, leadership is a complex phenomenon involving the leader, the

followers, and the situation (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy 4). The best way to begin to

understand the complexities of leadership is to identify some ways leadership has been

defined.

Defining Leadership

The subject of leadership represents an important, thought provoking, and yet a

problematic issue. John C. Maxwell writes, “Everything rises and falls on leadership”

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(viii). Maxwell quotes the president of Hyatt Hotels, who says, “If there is anything I

have learned in my 27 years in the service industry, it is this: 99 percent of all employees

want to do a good job. How they performed is simply a reflection of the one for whom

they work” (vii.). Africans generally agree with holding leadership responsible in the face

of failure. In the home the father bears responsibility for occurrences in the family, and in

the church the pastor bears responsibility. When the national football team loses a match,

the coach bears responsibility and sometimes is even terminated.

Many experts have defined leadership. Robert Greenleaf defines leadership as the

act of showing the way for others, stating the good, and thereby giving certainty and

purpose to others who may have difficulty in achieving it for themselves (15).

S. Kpena

adds to this description by asserting that leadership is the process of directing the

behavior of another person or persons towards the accomplishment of some objective

(13). Another author says leadership is the process of guiding, directing, and

commanding others to achieve a desired goal or vision. A leader knows where the group

is going and takes others with it (Casey Treat 2). Anthony d’Souza takes this definition

further by stating that leadership is the ability to get others to work enthusiastically and

competently toward accepted objectives (56). The most precise among these definitions is

given by Maxwell that “leadership is influence”—the ability to influence people towards

some specific goals and direction. Maxwell buttresses this definition by citing his favorite

proverb: “He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a

walk” (viii). James C. Georges emphasizes this same point by saying that leadership is

the ability to obtain followers (qtd. in Maxwell 1). Largely, everyone has the ability to

obtain followers. Some sociologists claim that even the most introverted individual will

Oladimeji 37

influence ten thousand other people during his or her lifetime. As a result, each person

influences and is influenced by others (1). From the foregoing, everyone is leading in

some areas, while in other areas they are being led. This fact is very true and as one

leadership author says, “No one is excluded from being a leader or a follower. Realizing

your potential as a leader is your responsibility” (Maxwell 1).

A major shift has taken over the years in the leadership field of the church; the

assumption that every pastor is a good leader has faded away. Don Cousins asserts that

believing every pastor must be a good leader amounts to heresy. He insists that instead of

pastors forcing themselves into the mold of the gift they do not have, they should

endeavor to use gifts of the laypeople around them who have the gift of leadership. He

says that although leadership is important and an effective leadership makes an immense

difference, an understanding of leadership must be shaped biblically rather than by the

philosophies of this world and their practices (32). According to Cousins, leadership from

the biblical perspective expresses itself through different spiritual gifts, and the 92

percent of leaders without high leadership scores still must lead. They only provide

leadership through the gifts they possess, whether apostleship, prophecy, evangelism,

pastoring, or teaching (35).

Another author sees leadership as “the art of producing appropriate change in an

organization’s external environment, its functions and structure, its culture, and its

practices in pursuit of survival and prosperity” (Beach ix). According to this definition,

leaders must meet six prime responsibilities in order to bring about successful change.

They must work with others within the organization (1) to understand the organization’s

internal and external environments, (2) to understand the organization’s culture, (3) to

Oladimeji 38

create visions of a desirable future and obtain buy-in, (4) to design a plan that moves the

organization toward the envisioned future, (5) to integrate the various units in

implementation of the plan and to monitor progress, and (6) to institutionalize achieve

changes and make continuous change an integral part of the organization’s culture (ix).

In trying to differentiate between management and leadership, John Kotter finds a

significant difference between management and leadership:

[W]hereas management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated

system of people and technology running smoothly, leadership is a set of

processes that create organizations in the first place, or adapts them

significantly, changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future

should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make

it happen despite the obstacles. (25)

Richard Hughes, Robert Ginnett, and Gordon Curphy assert that leadership is the process

of influencing others towards achieving group goals (19). This statement implies that

leadership is not just about a person imposing himself on other people, but a team

agreement about the goals to which the group must pursue

According to Barna, leadership is an art, not a science. Leaders are independent

thinkers—strategic in their independence, but thoughtful enough to know when to agree

and when to disagree with ideas to which they are exposed (11). Barna analyzes a few

definitions:

1. Leadership is … doing the right things (Bennis and Nanus).

2. Leadership is getting others to want to do something that you are

convinced should be done (Packard).

3. Leadership is mastering paradoxes and what they stand for (Peters).

4. Leadership is influence (Sanders).

5. Leadership is mobilizing others toward a goal shared by the leader and

followers (Wills). (21-25)

Barna reviews these various definitions as he attempts to look at leadership himself.

Oladimeji 39

Barna finds Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus’ definition insufficient, since leaders

do more than the right things. Vance Packard’s definition speaks more of manipulation

than of true leadership. Barna’s concept of leadership certainly encompasses aspects of

the previous definitions. Specifically, a leader mobilizes and influences people;

furthermore, a leader is goal-driven, and has an orientation in common with those persons

who rely upon him or her for leadership. In short, people are willing to follow a leader

them (23).

Donald McGannon of Westinghouse Broadcasting Corporation classifies

leadership as action rather than position (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy 261). Barna insists

that a Christian leader must be called by the Lord, be a person of Christlike character, and

must possess functional competences that allow him or her to perform tasks and guide

people toward accomplishing God’s purposes towards the salvation of the ends of the

earth (24).

Much literature about leadership focuses almost exclusively on functional

competencies. However, a leader with great technical abilities and skills but who lacks

God’s call, is merely following his or her personal inclinations (Barna 25). Barna writes,

“If you have not been chosen by Him to lead His people, it does not matter how

wonderful your character or how well skilled you are for the task, you will never become

a great Christian leader” (25). Barna strongly introduces the spiritual dimension of God’s

call to the work of leadership. He therefore presupposes that in any area of life—political,

industrial, and ministerial—every leader must have a divine call for such an assignment.

A more recent and diverging definition comes from James Clawson. He asserts

that self-leadership is the foundation of leading others. A man who cannot lead himself

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cannot lead others (xiv). Clawson says that self-leadership begins with learning how to

manage one’s energy to higher levels. Leadership involves affecting human behavior,

which occurs at three levels: visible behavior, conscious thought, and semi-conscious or

preconscious basic values and assumptions. Visible behavior is level one, while what

people think occurs on level two. Clawson says, “ [A]t level three people hold a set of

values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations (VABES) about the way the world is or

should be” (33). This idea is also similar to the general thought on culture in cultural

anthropology

If leaders want a change in the way people act, the best way is to influence them

from level three. Clawson asserts that leadership consists of three components: the ability

to influence others, the willingness to influence others, and exercising influence in a way

to which others respond voluntarily. Clawson writes, “Leadership is the ability and the

willingness to influence others so that they respond voluntarily” (26). This willingness

from others to want to respond voluntarily is a major challenge to Christian leadership in

places like Nigeria where people follow a leader because of the fear that God may be

angry if the leader is not followed or other reasons that forces the follower to follow with

compulsion.

These are some of the functions of a leader as highlighted by Kenneth Gangel

(31-46). The leader relates, organizes, achieves, thinks, envisions, endures and makes

good things happen. In light of the aforementioned definitions, Lovett Weems, Jr.

describes change as the task of leadership. As such, leaders inspire followers to their best

efforts in order to do better and to attain higher purposes. Leaders are different from

managers “[L]eaders are not satisfied with the status quo. They are idealists who believe

Oladimeji 41

that things can be better” (11). The attribute in my own view makes leaders superior to

managers.

Possessing structures and facilities is insufficient. The best message, opportunity,

resources, facilities, and people will count for little if leadership falters and is ineffective.

Whatever else leadership may be, Weems says that perhaps the greatest paradox, but the

most hopeful promise, is that it always remains a gift from God—a treasure in clay jars

(17). Furthermore, Weems observes ten characteristics of leadership and discusses them.

He writes, “Leadership needs to be demythologized. The power of leadership is never a

generic power, but is always related to interrelationship with others” (21). He notes that

leadership is about group response and that a lot of the crises in the church today are

caused by the fact that not much of research on leadership is going on in the church ( 21).

Henry and Richard Blackaby affirm that “the greatness of an organization will be

directly proportional to the greatness of its leaders” (31). This assertion is not a

negotiable fact because the leaders provide the standards and platforms from where

people can eventually operate.

Organizational Leadership and Change

According to a statement attributed to Albert Einstein, “the definition of insanity

is expecting different results while you continue doing the same thing” (qtd. in Clawson

136). Individuals and organizations behave in a way in the world to obtain desired results.

To get results, leaders need to do something differently (136).

The conversation about the church today is changing. This conversation is

introducing a way of thinking about the church different from several current trends (Van

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Gelder 15). These trends involve trying to help congregations become more effective or

successful.

The church must change and adapt cultural patterns in order to be relevant.

Contexts go through fundamental changes that require a congregation to consider how

they might respond. Often God intends to use such change either directly or indirectly in

order to move a congregation in a new direction of meaningful ministry under the leading

of the Spirit (Van Gelder 48). Congregations must realize the changing nature of

contexts. Furthermore, for pastors to be able to offer service to the current generation,

they must learn to lead the church through these changes

Major change is often said to be impossible without the organization head’s active

support (Kotter 6). Successful change requires leadership involvement. Lee Roy Beach’s

instructive definition describes leadership as the art of producing appropriate changes in

an organization’s external environment, its function and structure, its culture and its

practice in pursuit of survival and prosperity (ix).

Leadership is primarily about change. To be a leader is to be a change agent, “but

not arbitrary change. Change can exact a huge price” (Barna 185). Leaders do not

undertake change lightly, certainly not for any but the most compelling reasons. To

promote organizational change, they must know where the changes will take place within

the structures and the changes’ limitations (Beach 1). In his discussion on innovation

Elmer Towns writes, “Change and innovation is the price tag that hangs on the item

called growth” (185). Innovation is therefore a major attribute in good leadership.

According to Craig Van Gelder, within the church system, while congregations

have the biblical mandate to re-contextualize their ministry in such rapid times of change,

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few churches accomplish this task. Furthermore, churches who accomplish this re-

contextualization usually experience significant levels of disruption and pain (50).

Dong Murren says that change is biblical (199). Change is a mixed reality, both

helpful and harmful. Discerning the good and the bad is a continuous task for a

congregation that is seeking to be faithful to the gospel in its context (Van Gelder 50-51).

Kotter, Harvard business school professor of leadership, explains the economic and social

forces driving the need for major change in organizations. These forces include

technological change, international economic integration, maturation of markets in

developed countries, and the fall of communist and social regimes. These changes have

led to a globalized economy, creating more hazards and more opportunities for everyone.

However, the opportunities also have forced firms to make dramatic improvements not

only to compete and prosper, but also merely to survive (18).

According to Towns, the concept of leadership implies direction and movement.

A leader takes followers from where they are to where they should be. This concept

entails change. If followers want to change, then leadership goes well. If followers do not

want to change, then leadership is difficult (183). The idea of change implies innovation,

alter, replace, or transfer. Innovation sometimes has positive meaning as in regenerate,

create, or sculpture. At other times the word has negative meaning as in overthrow,

exchange, or rebel. Towns writes, “All leaders confront change” (183). This attribute of

leaders makes leadership a very challenging task especially in cultures and organizations

where confrontation is not allowed.

Kotter identifies the eight errors common to organizational change efforts and

their consequences: (1) allowing too much complacency, (2) failing to create a

Oladimeji 44

sufficiently powerful guiding coalition, (3) underestimating the power of vision, (4)

under-communicating the vision by a factor of ten, (5) permitting obstacles to block the

new vision, (6) failing to create short wins, (7) declaring victory soon, and (8) neglecting

to anchor changes firmly on the corporate culture (3-16). Kotter then moved to using the

eight stage process of creating major change, which include (1) establishing a sense of

urgency, (2) creating the guiding coalition, (3) developing a vision and strategy, (4)

communicating the change vision, (5) empowering the broad-based action, (6) generating

short term wins, (7) consolidating gains and producing more change, and (8) anchoring

new approaches in the culture (35-186).

Change oriented leadership is difficult for the leader and not comforting to the

masses. Good leaders create something outside the common and uncomfortable that

keeps unsettling people, persistently communicating information designed to move

people toward positive change (Murren 202-03).

The first ingredient needed for change, as explained by Arnold Mitchell, is

dissatisfaction. Effective change agents assess the need for change by evaluating the level

of dissatisfaction within the group. Second, change takes energy. In order to alter the

existing condition experienced by a group, a high amount of emotion and physical energy

is required. Enough energy must be available to effect the desired or necessary change.

Third, change requires insight. Leaders can provide evidence of a well-conceived strategy

for making things better. If the followers believe that their leaders have created a

workable plan, the leaders have a better chance of seeing the changes through to

implementation (98).

Oladimeji 45

Beach explains how to effect change for organizational transformation. The

leaders’ six responsibilities include

1. Assessment—Leaders must work with others in the organization to assess the

organization external and internal environments and specify needed change in each;

2. Culture—Leaders must work with others in the organization to understand the

organization’s culture, the core beliefs and values that are shared by the organization’s

members that guide their actions on its behalf and define their expectations about the

actions of those around them. If culture impedes progress, leaders must work with others

to change the culture appropriately;

3. Vision—Leaders must work with others in the organization to create a vision

or a reasonable story about the organization’s future in light of the constraints its

environment and culture impose and articulate the goal agenda that follows from that

vision. They must then promote acceptance of the vision throughout the organization;

4. Plans—Leaders must work with others in the organization to design a plan for

moving the organization toward the envisioned future and to promote understanding

throughout the organization of how the plan will address the goal agenda in pursuit of

vision. A person or group will define the task and make assignments made while

providing resources to implement change;

5. Implementation—Leaders must work with others to maintain momentum

during implementation planning and to monitor progress in order to discover and correct

weakness in the plan; and,

6. Follow-through—Leaders must work with others to institutionalize achieved

changes and to help members accept ongoing change as a normal aspect of the

Oladimeji 46

organization and its activities. Celebration is important because it puts an official seal on

the changes that have been made and thanks everyone for their buy-in and hard work

(Beach 10-59).

Change and the Church

As the church in different societies is confronted with change, it must respond to

such change. Anticipating and accepting change becomes a natural part of the unfolding

journey for congregations as they seek to participate in God’s mission in their context.

Anticipating and addressing conflict constructively becomes a norm in congregational

life, since congregations expect differences to emerge in the midst of the changes that

occur (Van Gelder 19).

According to Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer, and Warren Bird , most churches need to

change because they show little or no statistical growth (numerical, spiritual, or

otherwise) and minimal impact on the surrounding culture. Too many churches struggle

just to keep their doors open, and yet they tend to keep replaying what they did last year

(14). In effecting change in a church system, the package may change, but the substances

should not be allowed to change. The focus must remain on the gospel message. As

Towns writes, “[D]on’t change it and don’t let anyone else change it for you” (184). This

focus is crucial as many ideas and innovations appeals to the leader within the church

setting (Towns, Stetzer ,and Bird 245).

A major problem in relation to change in the church today is that many have

misinterpreted the biblical perspective of the church. Ministry has been transformed into

a commodity, a service to be purchased. Congregations see themselves as consumers of

Oladimeji 47

ministry and the pastor as the dispenser of the religious wares. Laity chooses churches

based on fulfillment rather than as a context for being in ministry (Towns 184)

To effect a change in the church the following presuppositions are important to

note: Change/innovation begins with the leader; Followers must be prepared for change;

Leaders must know what to change and the leader must know how to adapt to changing

times (Towns 183-87).

Towns also explains that people will resist change in the church if a

misunderstanding occurs; ownership of the project is lacking; habit patterns are against

change. Also if the perceived price is not worth the effort or something valuable is lost;

satisfaction with the existing way of doing things is high. In addition, if attitudes toward

change in general is negative; respect for the leader is absent, or if tradition is favored.

Mentoring and Leadership Development

A popular saying claims that success without a successor is failure. In order for

leadership to sustain positive change, leaders must develop a strong succession plan. Max

De Pree asserts the continuous development and maturation of its leaders as one of

society’s significant needs. Based on his many years of mentoring and being mentored,

De Pree believes that mentoring, a give-and-take relationship, is the most effective way

to guide people with leadership gifts toward their potential (113-20).

Leaders can be developed through education or experience (Hughes, Ginnett, and

Curphy 52). Making the most of experience is the key to developing leadership ability.

Leadership development depends not just on the kind of experiences but also on how

potential leaders use them to foster growth (53). Therefore associates and friends can

stimulate development in different ways.

Oladimeji 48

The events of history and observation reveal that transition in leadership easily

can be the most traumatic event in any organization’s history. Succession in leadership

makes tremendous impact on any ministry and dramatically affects the leader, his or her

executive team, staff and board, the constituency, donors, and outside public (W.

Erickson 298). Some of the world’s leaders have experienced great success, but because

they failed miserably at succession, their life accomplishments collapsed shortly after

departure (Barna 298).

The impact of the leader in helping to affect a good succession plan cannot be

over emphasized. Barna writes, “[N]o other activity guarantees the perpetuation of the

ministry after the incumbent is gone as much as a well-planned and carefully executed

transition” (299). This idea is an easy one to promote among many indigenous churches

in Africa and more specifically in Nigeria.

When faced with potential transitions, some leaders face change, embrace it and

make it their own, and fight the process. As a result, sometimes these leaders are forced

out, thus destroying relationship and tarnishing the ministry’s good name (Barna 300).

God has a purpose for each individual, and the leader in ministry must know that the

ministry is not his or hers but God’s. This knowledge will help the leader surrender to

God’s timing and plan. A leader must be ready to pass the baton to a successor and this

aspect is a major challenge of leadership today. An organization must provide today the

man who can run it tomorrow (303).

Peter F. Drucker asks CEOs of various companies several questions:

1. Are we attracting people we are willing to entrust this organization to?

2. Are we developing them so that they are going to be better than we are?

Oladimeji 49

3. Are we holding them, inspiring them, and recognizing them?

4. Are we building for tomorrow as we make our decisions about people today?

(155).

Wallace Erickson writes, “[I]t is good to always fill each vacancy with people

better qualified than those we had before” (304). Many leaders in places like Nigeria do

not consider it easy to hire people with greater qualifications; instead, some leaders

choose to hire mediocre people. In order to develop an organization’s leadership capacity,

the wise leader will prefer having strong, effective, challenging people around him or her

than risk being served by mediocre persons (Barna 304). When a leader finds good

people with unusual natural gifts who are receptive and excited about the vision of the

ministry, the leader should invest time, energy, and money to develop them in every

conceivable way he or she can.

Some individuals with exceptional powers of personal leadership not only fail to

build institutional strength but also create dependency in those persons below them

(Barna 304).Many independent Pentecostal churches in Nigeria are in this situation. A

leader who gives time and self to develop people will receive double blessings: (1)

growth and effectiveness in the organization as a whole, and (2) a large pool of quality

managers and executives from which to select his or her future leaders and possible

successor.

Mentoring

The word mentoring comes from the Greek word meaning enduring. The original

mentor appears in the Homer’s Odyssey as an old and trusted friend of Odysseus (Daloz,

Mentor: Guiding the Journey 20). Mentors help their mentees in a variety of ways. First,

Oladimeji 50

mentors give their pupils timely advice, information, financial support, and freedom to

emerge as a leader even beyond the level of the mentor. Second, mentors risk their own

reputation in order to sponsor a mentee. Third, mentors model various aspects of

leadership functions to challenge their students to move towards them. Fourth, mentors

direct mentee to needed resources that will further develop them. Finally, mentors co-

minister with the protégés in order to increase the mentees’ confidence, status, and

credibility (Stanley and Clinton 39-40).

Stanley and Clinton identify three major mentoring types are by (46-145).

Intensive mentors are disciple makers, spiritual guides, and coaches. The occasional

mentor, on the other hand, is a counselor, teacher, and/or sponsor. The passive mentoring

model seeks to mentor or receive mentoring without any personal contact through writing

letters and sending tapes. Recently, the preferred methods of contact occur via Internet or

telephone. A good mentoring relationship includes attraction, responsiveness, and

accountability. Attraction and responsiveness must be present in all types of mentoring or

empowerment will be minimal (Stanley and Clinton 33-34).

Ministers should encourage the concept of mentoring even up to the international

level, where experienced leaders in the West can begin to work consciously toward

mentoring younger leaders in Africa, Asia, and other less developed areas. National

leaders should raise people from within their respective spheres of leadership to assume

future positions of leadership. As Clinton mentions, leaders must establish a downward

mentoring relationship with individuals who are attracted to them and their ministry.

Leaders should have a good, appropriate, unique, and long term plan to master the Word

of God in order to use it with impact in their ministry and those around them. (257).

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Pastors must become Bible centered leaders; leaders whose task is reformed by

the Bible, who have been personally shaped by biblical values, who can apply these

values to correct situations, and who use the Bible in ministry to impact their followers

(Clinton 257). Russell West explains that mentoring is not a recent innovation; instead,

the process merely has been ignored for a long time. “The church is rediscovering

mentoring as an indispensable strategy for developing leaders because it attends to the

demands of the relational-based ministry that churches develop today” (113-65). In order

to achieve the purpose of training effective leaders, the church needs to be intentional.

Making new leaders does not happen unless the leader intentionally emphasizes the

progression. (Galloway 31). Intentionality means developing a model to implement a

leader-making system and carrying it to completion. Jesus’ discipleship method is the

best among a variety of methods. Jesus was an intentional mentor. He selected twelve,

stayed with them, taught, trained, and sent them. History attests to the use of mentoring in

transmitting values and resources from one generation to another, even in traditional

African and some contemporary African societies like the Igbo in South Eastern Nigeria.

Effective Mentoring

In the myth, Odysseus, a great warrior, asks his old and trusted friend Mentor, to

look after his household while he goes off to fight. Mentor serves as guardian and teacher

of Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. Mentor is, therefore, seen as wisdom personified as he

guides young Telemachus into manhood, who became an effective and loved ruler

(Peddy 24). In considering this mythical figure, the traditional understanding of

mentoring “involves a relationship between a younger, less experienced person and an

Oladimeji 52

older who wisely guides the younger through some significant transition in life” (Cowart

16). This idea is the primary understanding of what mentoring should be.

Contemporary writers in the field may refer to almost any kind of helping

relationship as a mentoring relationship, even one in which a personal relationship does

not exist (i.e., an author to a reader or preacher to listeners). Cowart maintains that this

view represents a significant departure from the traditional model of mentoring, which is

described by a close, personal relationship between an older and wiser mentor and a

younger and eager-to-learn protégé (11).

Stanley and Clinton describe eight types of mentoring relationships involving

various degrees of intensity and personal involvement (41). They categorized the eight

types into three subtypes. The first, the most intensive mentoring, consists of the

discipler, spiritual guide, and coach (47-85). Intensive mentoring always involves the

presence of a personal relationship and is characterized by high levels of attraction,

responsiveness, accountability, and empowerment (Cowart 34). The second category

consists of the roles of counselor, teacher, and sponsor. This level is termed occasional

since it may or may not involve personal relationship (Stanley and Clinton 87-130). The

occasional mentoring does not usually include the dynamic of accountability. Tending to

have a shorter lifespan, this style is often engaged for a very specific purpose. One

benefit of an occasional mentor is their availability, but they are often invited according

to their ability to empower the protégés (Cowart 46). The final category is described as

passive mentoring because it involves using materials such as books, seminars, and

conferences. Cowart asserts that Stanley and Clinton depart from the traditional

understanding of the nature of mentoring. Cowart writes, “[D]rawing from tradition, the

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existence of a personal relationship was determined to be essential” (13). This personal

relationship is even more relevant especially in Africa where relationship is a major part

of their existence.

Cowart’s expresses that the six types of mentoring found in the intensive and

occasional categories do not reflect the nature of actual mentoring relationships. Most

experts see these various types as functioning in a typical mentoring relationship

(Anderson and Shannon 40-41; Hendricks and Hendricks 159-60; Levinson, Darrow

Klein, and Levinson 98). Most mentors perform many, if not all, of those functions over

time (Cowart 47).

Most experts in the field have placed greater importance on the relational quality

of mentoring than on other qualities of mentoring (Anderson and Shannon 40-41; Daloz,

Mentors: Guiding the Journey25-28; Gehrke; Levinson, Darrow, Klein, and Levison 98 ).

The Christian authors among them tend to emphasize the relational nature of mentoring

(Anderson and Reese; Biehl; Engstrom; Gonlag; Hendricks and Hendricks 196). These

authors do not deny the benefits of the non-personal relationships, but they assert that

such relationships do not consist of mentoring in the traditional sense (Cowart 48).

According to Nathalie J. Gehrke, the mentor-protégé relationship is characterized

by mutual involvement, a comprehensive focus, and affection. She writes, “It is this

quality that differentiates the mentor relationship from other kinds of helping

relationships” (43). Another incident of effective mentoring involves the protégé-focused

aspect. Bobb Biehl and Howard G. and William D. Hendricks emphasize this approach.

The mentor should have certain goals for the relationship, but he or she should not

dominate the relationship (Biehl 42; Hendricks and Hendricks 196). Many mentors

Oladimeji 54

within the Nigerian setting attempt to take sole responsibility for directing the

relationship, as in the role of the disciple in Stanley and Clinton’s mode (47-59). The

mentor should avoid the temptation of self-cloning but instead should endeavor to draw

out the unique qualities of the protégé (Cowart 39).

Also, a mentoring relationship by nature is flexible and intuitive. The mentor must

avoid inflexible adherance to a present curriculum. Keith R. Anderson and Randy D.

Reese affirm from a Christian perspective the mentor should use discernment in

identifying and focusing on those needs or issues where God is already at work (52-53).

The job of the mentor, then, requires not developing an agenda, but using spiritual

discernment to recognize and move in the direction of God’s agenda (Blackaby and

Blackaby 16-26).

Another quality is that of the transitional relationship. Laurent A. Daloz describes

mentoring as a journey in which a mentor helps a protégé navigate transition by pointing

the way, offering support, challenging, and then letting go of the protégé

(“Mentors:Teachers” 25-27). The Shirley Peddy’s book also suggests this idea. Hendricks

and Hendricks go further when they write that mentoring is “less about instruction than it

is about initiation—about bringing young men into maturity” (183). This concept is very

important especially for Nigerian church leaders who mostly believe in given out

instructions as their only means of doing mentoring

One of the primary roles of the mentor involves helping the protégé define and

move toward his or her vision for the future. Levinson, Darrow, Klein, and Levinson

suggest five ways in which this movement could be accomplished: (1) believing in the

protégé, (2) sharing the protégé’s dream, (3) blessing the protégé, (4) defining the protégé

Oladimeji 55

in relation to the dream, and (5) creating space in which the protégé can work on a life

structure that contains that dream (98-99). Arguments occur regarding the extent to which

the mentor should hold the protégés accountable. Biehl disagrees with a strict focus on

accountability (43), but Stanley and Clinton insist on accountability (43). Some level of

answerability is needed and should not be equated with control, which is seen among

many African mentors today who always want to totally want to control the life of their

protégés.

Mentoring is empowerment. This type of empowerment constitutes more than

merely sharing ideas. Instead, it includes transfer of knowledge, skills, and values that

result in the movement of the protégés from a position of dependence on the mentor to

one of independence (Stanley and Clinton 32, 58). These qualities and more are some

qualities of mentoring, which is useful for various functions.

Cowart, in his recent research on mentoring among church planters, adopts

Eugene M. Anderson and Anne Lucasse Shannon’s view. He considers the mentoring

role as describing who the mentor is in relation to the protégé, while mentoring function

describes what the mentor does for the protégé. In this pattern the mentor serves as a role

model, nurturer, and caregiver for the protégé. Cowart writes, “An effective mentor will

often intentionally model certain skills or behaviors in order to demonstrate for the

protégé” (43). The functions of a mentor include teaching, coaching, encouraging,

counseling, sponsoring, and befriending. He concludes that these six functions are carried

out within the context of a personal relationship in which the mentor serves as a role

model, caregiver, and nurturer for the protégé (52).

Oladimeji 56

Anderson and Shannon relate five basic functions of mentoring (teach, sponsor,

encourage, counsel and befriend). Unlike Stanley and Clinton’s classification, Anderson

and Shannon assert that the mentor performs these five functions together in the

relationship. Hendricks and Hendricks assert that mentoring involves a personal

relationship. They offer nine ways a mentor serves a protégé; however, they do not

consider these nine ways a different individual manner (158-59). In other words, the

mentor does not need to perform them together. They affirm the importance of a

comprehensive and personal relationship between the mentor and protégé, but they leave

room for other kinds of mentoring relationships that vary in form and intensity.

Therefore, Hendricks and Hendricks agree with the Stanley-Clinton model on the

intensive and occasional mentoring types, but they give no consideration to the passive

mentoring.

Stanley and Clinton prescribe some principles for mentors, which they call the ten

commandments of mentoring: relationship, purpose, regularity, accountability,

communication mechanisms, confidentiality, life cycle of mentoring, evaluation,

expectations, and closure (197-207). Some mentoring relationships may be intense but

relatively brief, while other mentoring relationships are more prolonged but less intense.

On some occasions, the relationship is both intense and prolonged.

Mentoring in Traditional Nigerian Society

Leadership development has been a part of various professions within the typical

Nigerian society. The concept of mentoring is embedded in the apprenticeship form of

education. According to Babatunde Fafunwa, a foremost educator and former Minister of

Education in Nigeria, before the advent of the European order, all the Nigerian ethnic

Oladimeji 57

groups had their own distinctive cultures, traditions, languages, and indigenous systems

of education. They all had common educational aims and objectives, but their methods

differed from place to place as dictated by social, economic, and geographical

circumstances (2).

Within the old Nigerian society, functionality was the guiding principle. The

society regarded education as a means to an end and not an end in itself. Education was

an immediate induction into the society and preparation for adulthood. Children and

adolescents were engaged in participatory education through imitation, recitation, and

demonstration particularly during ceremonies and ritual (Fafunwa 3). Indigenous

education was therefore an integrated experience, combining physical and intellectual

training with character-building disciplines. The aims, contents, and methods of

indigenous education “were intricately interwoven; they were not divided into separate

compartments as is the case with western education” (3). Africans tend to see everything

in wholeness and not in fragments.

Nigerians in traditional societies raise farmers, weavers, hunters, and even

traditional leaders using these methods. At different stages of education, students take

practical tests relevant to their experience. In a traditional sense, the father is the male

child’s first mentor, and subsequent mentors assume a patriarchal posture. However, over

time, and with the influence of individualism from the West, such practice is gradually

fading.

Vanessa P. Dennen describes apprenticeship as an inherently social learning

method with a long history of helping novices become experts in fields as diverse as

midwifery, construction, and law (1). More experienced people assist less experienced

Oladimeji 58

people, providing structure and examples to support the attainment of the goals. Dennen

asserts that apprenticeship as a method of teaching and learning is just as relevant within

the meta-cognitive domain as in the psychomotor domain. Of course, as already

discussed among the indigenous Nigerian people, apprenticeship is the major way of

mentoring. Today I note that the West is now attempting to teach Nigerians about this

type of mentoring.

In discussing mentoring from the Nigerian perspective of relationship or

apprenticeship, Andy Roberts describes eight necessary attributes: (1) a process form, (2)

an active relationship, (3) a helping process, (4) a teaching and learning process, (5)

reflective practice, (6) a career and personal development process, (7) a formalized

process, and (8) a role constructed by or for a mentor (151). These attributes if used

within the context of the culture of the people could be very effective.

The traditional system of apprenticeship involves all of these attributes. If RCCG

leaders had followed the aforementioned method with consistency, young leaders in the

denomination might have experienced more effective mentoring relationships Today a

more effective form of mentoring system within the organization is possible by using the

apprenticeship method of indigenous Nigerian tribes and at the same time adjusting this

method within the context of the contemporary world.

Research among clergy in African American congregations also confirms the

effectiveness of mentoring through intentional apprenticeship. In the research carried out

by Timothy Larkin in his doctoral research in sociology in 2007, Larkin evaluated this

pattern as still effective. He examined the extent and variations in apprenticeship patterns

across the different dimensions of region, class, religious denomination, and age (1).

Oladimeji 59

White pastors spoke of training as primarily away from the context of the local

congregation and through a formal educational institution:

[T]he formal educational credential verified the readiness for the white

pastor. The black pastor’s career preparation is in the context of

congregation. The training is generally through an informal training and

mentoring process with the pastor. The black pastor’s readiness is

therefore verified by the mentoring pastor. (2)

The same pattern existed in many Pentecostal churches in Nigeria, in which the younger

pastor lived with the senior pastor, but this pattern has since changed as many young

pastors are becoming more individualistic in their nature.

Summary

In Incarnation, the Word of God became flesh in the person Jesus Christ. In

general, human beings can relate better with what they see than with what they hear.

Persons need to see the living embodiment (in a mentor) of ideas. The best way to export

an idea is to wrap it up in a person like it is in the incarnation. The mentor is the person

who wraps up the ideas, practices, and messages leaders are trying to establish in others.

As a result, Christian leaders base their mentoring on these theological premises

in order to be effective. The practice among many leaders in Nigeria in which they claim

to be mentoring people without personal interaction is questionable. Bible-based

mentoring aims at sharing life with the protégés and modeling the kind of life expected.

The Nigerian church generally views change as suspect, and believes that it will

make the church more worldly than spiritual. This situation is unfortunate. The world is

changing at a faster rate than many Nigerian church leaders can imagine. If the church in

Nigeria must survive, leadership must be able to lead within the church as well as in the

political and corporate scenes.

Oladimeji 60

Research Design

The material that follows discusses this project’s research design and reviews

various ideas presented in the literature.

Mixed Research Approach

The project used a mixed-research approach (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 14;

Driscoll, Appiah-Yeboah, Salib, and Rupert 19; Sandelowski and Barroso 18-24). A

mixed-methods research design collects, analyzes, and mixes both quantitative and

qualitative research methods in a single study to understand a research problem (Creswell

and Clark 5). Effective use of this design requires understanding both quantitative and

qualitative research (Creswell, Research Design 552).

Triangulation Method

Specifically, I used an exploratory, mixed-designed, triangulation method in this

study. I simultaneously collected both qualitative and quantitative data, merged the data,

and used the results to understand the research problem (Creswell, Educational Research

557). John W. Creswell explains that the strength of this method lies in its combination of

the advantages of each form of data. Quantitative data provides for generalizability,

whereas qualitative data offers information about the context and setting (558).

As someone within the same ministerial environment and context of the

participants, I took extra care not to allow my prior assumptions and conclusions about

the status of mentoring in the RCCG to interfere with the perception of the participants

(Wiersma and Jurs 201-02). Therefore, throughout the process, I was open to the

possibility that the various perceptions and variables that emerged may be different from

those envisaged from the beginning of the study. As advised by Mildred Patten, I

Oladimeji 61

described questionnaires and interviews by an attached title. I included an introductory

letter to accompany each questionnaire (66). I also gave a short instruction on how to

complete the questionnaire to the respondent.

Summary

The concept of mentoring is seen all over Scripture, but it certainly involves the

sacrifice of giving oneself to advance another. From the volume of literature examined,

different authors consider different patterns of mentoring. Leadership development is a

major goal of mentoring. Any organization that wants to foster leadership must begin to

look into effective mentoring. Effective mentoring must have the elements of

relationship, care, and nurture for greatest effectiveness. This research work intends to

learn how mentoring can become more effective in the RCCG.

Oladimeji 62

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Problem and Purpose

Leadership development is important for the sustenance of the Christian faith in

Nigeria. The RCCG is a fast growing church with new parishes every year, but young

leaders are assuming leadership roles without proper training and mentoring. The purpose

of this study was to evaluate the current practice of mentoring as a tool for leadership

development for the next generation of leaders through surveying the church pastors and

young leaders in the RCCG in Nigeria in order to prescribe a model for an effective

mentoring program for leadership development

Research Questions and/or Hypotheses

The following research questions helped guide the research project and prescribe

a better way for effective mentoring.

Research Question #1

What are pastors currently doing in the RCCG to mentor the next generation of

church leaders, and what do the pastors believe are the effective aspects of that

mentoring?

Research Question #2

What is the perception of young leaders about the role and practice of their

pastors in effectively mentoring them for leadership?

Research Question #3

What vital elements should be included in an effective mentoring model in the

RCCG?

Oladimeji 63

Population and Participants

The population for this study consisted of pastors over the age of 35 years and

young leaders between the ages of 18-35 in the RCCG in Lagos. RCCG has about thirty-

seven provinces in Lagos as of the year 2011, with each province having an average of a

hundred churches. Therefore, I used a purposive sampling with some criteria to select

three provinces in Lagos (southwest Nigeria). RCCG are located in Lagos, and most

decisions about the church emerge from Lagos. It is also a very accessible city in Nigeria,

in which people were familiar with research and various interviews.

RCCG Lagos has thirty-seven provinces. From these, three provinces were chosen

purposively because their provincial pastor responded when contacted and accepted that

his province should be used for the study. I used the following criteria to determine the

subjects to be administered the questionnaires.

Pastors Taking the Questionnaires

Participating pastors had to have a current pastoral assignment and at least two

years of experience as head pastors. In addition, the participating pastors had to be at

least 35 years in age. Participants must have attended the pastors’ meeting at the

provincial headquarters. In addition, participants had to agree to complete the

questionnaire.

Young Leaders Taking the Questionnaires

Young leaders belonged to the youth department in the RCCG and occupied

leadership positions such as departmental heads, executive members of the youth

department, or parish pastors. They were between the ages of 18-35 years. They attended

the youth meetings.

Oladimeji 64

The following criteria were used to determine those who could participate in the

interview.

Pastors Involved in the Interview

The area pastors had been in the pastoral office for over ten years. They were

above 35 years of age. They had already completed the questionnaire and were available

for the interview.

Young Leaders Involved in the Interview

The other leaders were in youth departments or were youth pastors in the province

for more than two years. They were between the ages of 18-35. They had already filled

out the questionnaires and were available for the interview.

The area pastors, zonal pastors, and provincial pastors of each province received a

total of sixty questionnaires while the young leaders in the three provinces received

another 120 questionnaires. I administered twenty questionnaires to pastors in each

province and forty questionnaires to young leaders in each of the three provinces. Four

pastors in each of the three provinces participated in interviews, making a total of twelve

pastors, while six young leaders from each province gave interviews, making a total of

eighteen.

Design of the Study

I designed this project in order to develop a set of recommendations for using

mentoring could be use as a tool for leadership development and training the next

generation of leaders in the RCCG. The research design used here involved an

exploratory mixed design, triangulation method using both quantitative and qualitative

methods.

Oladimeji 65

Instrumentation

The instruments for this study were researcher designed questionnaires and

interview protocols. I designed two different questionnaires—one for the pastors (PL)

(see Appendix A), and one for young leaders (YL; see Appendix B).

Questionnaires. The two questionnaires had a section to obtain demographic

material such as age, gender, and other background information. The questionnaire

addressed the different research questions.

Questions 1-7 on the PL and questions1-7 on the YL answered the first research

question. Then questions 8-19 on the PL and questions 8-22 on the YL answered the

second research question. Finally, the last research question used responses from

questions 20-24 on the PL and questions 23-27 on the YL. The last part of the

questionnaire addressing the third research question had open-ended questions to allow

respondents freedom to express their thoughts about vital elements that should be

included in an effective mentoring program.

The questionnaires included closed questions using a five-point Likert scale. In

addition, it included a few multiple choice and yes/no questions with three open-ended

questions (see Appendixes A and B).

Interviews. Two types of interview protocols were established: Interview

Protocol for Pastor (IP) and Interview Protocol for Young Leaders (IYL; see Appendixes

C and D). The two interview protocols answered the three research questions so as to

achieve the purpose of the study.

The IP questions 1-6 and the IYL questions 1-5 answered the first research

question (see Appendixes A and B). Questions 7-11 on the IP and IYF questions 6-11

Oladimeji 66

answered the second research question. Questions 12-13 on the IP and questions 12-13 on

the IYF answered the final research question (see Appendixes C and D).

Variables

In this study, the independent (or predictor) variables were the questionnaires and

interviews concerning mentoring practices of the pastoral leaders and young leaders

selected from the three provinces from Lagos, Nigeria, where the international

headquarters of the church are located. The dependent (or criterion) variables were the

various elements of effective mentoring obtained through the instrumentation. To control

the intervening variables the questionnaires and interviews were semi-structured and

validated by experts to ensure their reliability and validity.

Reliability and Validity

The pilot test run on the first complete questionnaire involved ten participants in

order to ascertain the clarity of the questions. Five were pastors while the other five were

young leaders within the RCCG in Lagos. The few questions that did not seem clear were

restructured. The sample used for the validation was not part of the study but a similar

population in another province in order to confirm the average time for completing the

questionnaire. Two persons from each group also tested the interview questions for the

pastors and youth leaders respectively.

In order to validate the instrument, four experts received a letter with attachments

stating the purpose of the study and the research questions (see Appendix E). They also

received the four instruments.

A protocol specifically designed for the experts allowed them to respond to each

question and decide whether the questions were clear or unclear, needed or not needed.

Oladimeji 67

They added some questions and recovered others. The experts were: Dr. O, a graduate of

the Beeson Program and a respected Christian leader in Northern Nigeria. The second

was Dr. U, who has a PhD in intercultural studies from Asbury and majored in

leadership. In addition, this expert was the provost of the largest interdenominational

seminary in Nigeria. The third expert, Pastor O, was a special assistant to the General

Overseer in RCCG. He holds two master’s degrees—one in management and the other in

leadership. I used their assessment to make adjustments to the instruments (see Appendix

F).

Data Collection

In collecting the data, I used both questionnaires and interview. I wrote an official

letter to the national headquarters of the RCCG seeking permission to carry out the

project within the provinces selected (see Appendix G) along with a cover letter

introducing the work and myself along with the questionnaire.

A phone call to each provincial pastor in the three provinces selected assisted in

the administration of the questionnaire. A research assistant followed me to administer

the questionnaires. We selected three Sundays when the pastors had their monthly

meetings to meet the different pastors from the areas, zones, and parishes.

The pastors received the questionnaire immediately after their meetings. Their

provincial pastors told them about the importance of the study. After about one hour, we

collected the questionnaires from the pastors. They were then rewarded with a plate of

rice and bottled drinks, courtesy of the provincial pastor. We used the same process for

the young leaders. The provincial pastor called a youth meeting to administer the

questionnaires.

Oladimeji 68

This approach allowed for a return rate of 100 percent for the young leaders and

83.3 percent for the pastors. This return rate would have been difficult if the

questionnaires were posted or given to participants in their different churches. The

assistant and I used our own personal funds for the research. In addition I had moderate

support from some of my friends who knew the implication of the study.

Thirty-seven provinces compose the RCCG in Lagos. I selected Province 3, 10,

and 11 for the purposes of this study. A total of forty questionnaires were administered to

the young leaders, while twenty were administered to the pastors in each of the provinces

selected for the study. The sum total of 120 questionnaires was administered to young

leaders in the three selected provinces, while a total of seventy-five questionnaires were

administered to pastors.

Data Analysis

Data analysis used simple percentages from the quantitative mentoring

questionnaire, graphs, and tables. I entered data for the answers through Microsoft Excel

for all the questions on the Likert scale. Numbers from 1 to 5 indicated responses from

strongly disagree to strongly agree.

Next, I sent the data to a professional statistician with Asbury University to run

various tests in order to determine the relationship between the responses of both the

pastors and the young leaders. In addition a calculated t-test was determined the statistical

probability of the responses. Comparative analysis discovered the relationships between

the perceptions of the two groups. In analyzing the interviews, I coded the answers for

themes and patterns and then categorized them. Once I captured all the significant ideas

in the interview, I used tables to collate recurring ideas in order to discover emerging

Oladimeji 69

themes. The coding system used RQ1 for answers relating to research question 1, RQ2

for research question 2, and RQ3 for research question 3.

Ethical Procedures

I obtained voluntary verbal consent of participants both in the administration of

the questionnaires and the interviews by explaining the questionnaire and interview with

a letter of introduction regarding the study’s goals and expectations. Authorities of the

RCCG also received a letter of permission sent through the assistant general overseer in

charge of training, so as to make the church aware of what I was doing and to make them

know the advantages of such studies. They readily granted permission. Formal consent

forms raise suspicion. The RCCG is very skeptical about journalists and researchers who,

in the past, misrepresented the church and the leadership in public media on many issues.

Therefore, an unwritten rule in the church is that pastors and workers of the church do not

discuss issues of the church with people on official grounds. The context of the interview

was interactive, and participants gave information without coercion. I took advantage of

my status as a minister in the church and that of my father as a senior pastor, coupled

with my previous relationship with some of the other senior pastors.

Notwithstanding the trust and confidence experienced while doing the interviews

and administering the questionnaires, I ensured the confidentiality and anonymity of the

participants’ identities and the various parishes and provinces they represent. I assumed

responsibility for the protection of the data in both digital and hard copy forms. I used a

portable and external hard drive to store the respective voice and computer-written digital

data and a hard cover file jacket with double ring binder for hard copy storage. I kept

Oladimeji 70

them properly and safely except for auditing and other purposes considered relevant for

replication and furtherance of the research.

Oladimeji 71

CHAPTER 4

FINDINGS

Problem and Purpose

This chapter summarizes the problem and purpose of the study and the basic

characteristics of the participants. This explanation is followed by a tabular and

descriptive presentation and analysis of the data collected. Because I used the mixed

methods in carrying out the research, the result is presented in qualitative and quantitative

terms, respectively.

The RCCG in Nigeria is one of the largest growing churches in Africa with

thousands of new churches springing up every year. Nonetheless, the denomination lacks

enough pastors to lead these new churches. People who have not been properly trained or

discipled lead many of the churches; hence, multiple plans for leadership development

within the church is needed.

As the leaders age, the need for new and young leaders to be raised arises.

Leadership development is very important for every organization that must survive to the

next generation, and the RCCG is not exempt. Mentoring has been identified as a major

way of ensuring lasting and effective leadership development. However, mentoring in the

RCCG needs to become more effective in order to achieve the goal of leadership

development.

To know the state of mentoring in the RCCG is important in order to assess

present practices and identify areas of need. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the

current practice of mentoring as a tool for leadership development for the next generation

of leaders through surveying the church pastors and young leaders in the RCCG in

Oladimeji 72

Nigeria, in order to prescribe a model for a more effective mentoring program for

leadership development.

Participants

The participants for this study were pastors over the age of 35 years and young

leaders between the ages of 18-35 years in the RCCG in Nigeria. Three provinces were

selected in Lagos (LP 3, LP10, and LP11). A total of 120 questionnaires were sent to the

young leaders and were completely filled in the three provinces, while a total sixty

questionnaires were sent to the pastors and fifty-three were properly completed and

returned from the three provinces. For the interview, four pastors were interviewed from

each of the provinces making a total of twelve. While six young leaders were interviewed

making a total of eighteen (18). The details of the interview are found in Table 4.1.

Oladimeji 73

Table 4.1. Profile of Participants in the Interview for Pastors and Young Leaders

(N=30)

Participant

Province

Age

Status

Gender

Years of pastoral

work

Pastor A

LP 3

Area Pastor

10+

Pastor B

LP 3

Zonal Pastor

10+

Pastor C

LP 3

Zonal pastor

10+

Pastor D

LP 3

Prov. Pastor

10+

Pastor E

LP 3

Area Pastor

10+

Pastor F

LP 10

Area Pastor

10+

Pastor G

LP 10

Area Pastor

10+

Pastor H

LP 10

Area Pastor

10+

Pastor I

LP 10

Area Pastor

10+

Pastor J

LP 10

Area Pastor

10+

Pastor K

LP 10

Area Pastor

10+

Pastor L

LP 11

Area Pastor

10+

LP 3

Youth Leader

LP 3

Youth Leader

LP 3

Youth Leader

LP 3

Youth Leader

LP 3

Youth Leader

LP 3

Head of dept.

LP 10

Head of dept.

LP 10

Youth Leader

LP 10

Parish Pastor

LP 10

Parish Pastor

LP 10

Parish Pastor

LP 10

Youth Leader

LP 11

Youth Leader

LP 11

Youth Leader

LP 11

Youth Leader

LP 11

Head of dept.

LP 11

Youth Leader

LP 11

Youth Leader

Oladimeji 74

A total of fifty- three pastors out of sixty completed the questionnaire for 83.3

percent return rate. Six of the pastors, or 11.3 percent, were between the ages of 35 and

39 years. Eleven, or 20.8 percent, of the pastors were between the ages of 40 and 45 years

old, while the majority of the pastors (36; 67.9 percent) were over 45 years of age. These

statistics indicate that majority of RCCG pastors in the middle leadership category

already are older than what could be considered as the general age for young leaders .

This statistics becomes very significant in a country where life expectancy is less than

fifty years (see Table 4.2).

Table 4.2. Age Distribution of Pastors

Age

Range

18-23

24-29

30-34

35-39

11.3

40-45

20.8

45+

67.9

Total

100.0

A total of 120 young leaders completed the questionnaire for a return rate of 100

percent. None of the young leaders were between the ages of 18 and 23. Fourty-six of the

young leaders were between the age of 24 and 29 years old, constituting 38.3 percent.

The majority of the young leaders, or 61.7 percent (N=74) were between the ages of 30

and 34 years old (see Table 4.3).

Oladimeji 75

Table 4.3. Age Distribution of Young Leaders (N=120)

Age Range

18-23

24-29

38.3

30-34

61.7

Total

120

100.0

Among the pastors surveyed through the questionnaires, only one had been an

active member of the RCCG for between five and seven years. This number is rare

considering the general requirements for ordination in the RCCG. Seven participants had

been active members for between eight and ten years, while forty-five participants

making 84.9 percent have been active members for over ten years (see Table 4.4).

Table 4.4. Years of Active Membership for Pastors (N=53)

Years

Below 2

2-4

5-7

1.9

8-10

13.2

10+

84.9

Total

100.0

Among the young leaders surveyed through the questionnaires, one participant

fell below two years as a member. Thirty-three participants, or 27.5 percent, had been

members of RCCG for between two and four years. Forty-six young leaders, or 38.3

percent, said that they had been active in the church for between five and seven years.

Oladimeji 76

Eleven participants, or 9.2 percent, had been active members between eight and ten years.

The remaining twenty-nine participants, or 24.2 percent, had been active members for

over ten years. This number certainly included participants raised in the church, whose

parents were active members of the church (see Table 4.5).

Table 4.5. Years of Active Membership for Young Leaders’ (N 120)

Years

Below 2

2-4

27.5

5-7

38.3

8-10

9.2

10+

24.2

Total

120

100.0

As previously discussed, I selected participants from three provinces of the

RCCG. Nineteen respondents, or 35.8 percent, were from Province 3, while seventeen

respondents each were from Provinces 10 and 11, respectively, constituting 32.1 percent

each (see Table 4.6).

Table 4.6. Pastors’ Provinces (N=53)

Province

LP 3

35.8

LP 10

32.1

LP 11

32.1

Total

100.0

Oladimeji 77

I drew the young leaders from the three provinces of the church, forty participants

each. This number amounted to 33.3 percent from each of the provinces. I administred a

total of 120 questionnaires (see Table 4.7).

Table 4.7. Young Leaders’ Provinces (N=120)

Province

LP 3

33.3

LP 10

33.3

LP 11

33.3

Total

120

100.0

The participants among the pastors are from different levels in the pastoral

hierarchy of the church. As Table 4.8 displays, the majority of the participants are either

area pastors, 58.5 percent, or zonal pastors, 24.5 percent, for a total of 82 percent. The

others were parish pastors—11.3 percent, provincial pastors—1.9 percent, and others—

3.8 percent, which may be provincial officials.

Table 4.8. Pastors’ Offices (N=53)

Office

Parish pastor

11.3

Area pastor

58.5

Zonal pastor

24.5

Provincial pastor

1.9

Others

3.8

Total

100.0

Oladimeji 78

The majority of the participating young leaders, or 70 percent (N=84), were youth

leaders. A total of 18.3 percent were heads of departments, while 10 percent were parish

pastors (see Table 4.9).

Table 4.9. Young Leaders’ Offices (N=120)

Office

Parish pastors

10.0

Asst. parish pastor

Head of dept.

18.3

Secretary

Youth leader

70.0

Total

120

100.0

According to Table 4.10, 60.4 percent of the pastors had more than eight years of

pastoral experience. Another 22.6 percent had experience of between five and seven

years.

Table 4.10. Pastors’ Years of Experience (N=53)

Years

0-1

1.9

2-4

13.2

5-7

22.6

8-10

30.2

10+

30.2

Total

100.0

Table 4.11 analyzes experience of the young leaders in RCCG. Few of the young

leaders have had experience of one year (21.7 percent). Most of the young leaders had

Oladimeji 79

experience of two to four years (50.0 percent), and some of them had five to seven years

experience (25.8 percent).

Table 4.11. Young Leaders’ Years of Experience (N=53)

Years

0-1

21.7

2-4

50.0

5-7

25.8

8-10

10+

2.5

Total

100.0

Forty-two out of fifty-three pastors who participated in the survey were males,

while the remaining eleven were females (see Table 4.12).

Table 4.12. Pastors’ Gender (N=53)

Gender

Male

79.2

Female

20.8

Total

100.0

For the young leaders, a total of ninety males composed 75 percent and thirty

females composed 25 percent of the survey responders (see Table 4.13).

Oladimeji 80

Table 4.13. Young Leaders’ Gender (N=120)

Gender

Male

Female

Total

120

100

Research Question #1

What are pastors currently doing in R.C.C.G. to mentor the next generation of

leaders, and what do the pastors believe are the effective aspects of that mentoring? This

question sought to determine the status of mentoring in RCCG in order to find out what

the church was doing about mentoring.

Table 4.14 shows fifty pastors, or 94.3 percent, claim that they presently mentor

young leaders. One of the pastors claimed not currently mentoring a young leader, while

two pastors were unsure if they were mentoring a young leader. The interview also

confirmed that the majority of pastors claimed to be mentoring young leaders.

Table 4.14. Whether Pastors Mentor Young Leaders (N=53)

I Have Young Leaders

I Presently Mentor

Yes

94.3

1.9

Not sure

3.8

Total

100.0

Young leaders in RCCG in their overwhelming majority said that they do have

mentors. According to Table 4.15, a total of 106 young leaders, or 88.3 percent, claim

Oladimeji 81

having mentors. Thirteen of the young leaders (10.8 percent) did not have mentors, while

one (.8 percent) was not sure. The majority of the young leaders interviewed said they

had mentors and understood what mentoring meant. As a result, both the pastors and the

young leaders seemed to understand the concept of mentoring.

Table 4.15. Whether Young Leaders Have Mentors

Do You Have a

Mentor

Yes

106

88.3

10.8

Not sure

0.8

Total

120

100.0

Concerning the number of young leaders the pastors were mentoring. Four people

did not answer the question, since they did not say yes to the previous question. Out of

the remaining forty-five responding participants, twenty-eight claimed to be mentoring

over ten young leaders. Two participants claimed to be mentoring fifty young people (see

Table 4.16).

During the interview, I discovered that many who claim to be mentoring more

than five persons see mentoring time as the normal time spent in staff meetings. As a

result, many of the pastors had just written the numbers based on the number of ministers

that served under them in the church. Some other pastors simply provided the number of

their work force in the church. They also considered their Sunday workers’ meeting or

monthly heads of departments meeting as their mentoring time.

Oladimeji 82

Table 4.16. Numbers of Young People Mentored (N=45)

Number Mentored

1.9

3.8

11.3

9.4

1.9

3.8

26.4

1.9

3.8

1.9

3.8

Fourteen pastors, or 29.8 percent, met with the young leaders they mentor weekly.

Twenty-one pastors (44.7 percent) met with their mentee bi-weekly. However, most of

these meetings were not one-on-one. Those interviewed also suggested that most of the

relationships were not intentional and were not personal. Six pastors did not respond to

this question.

Oladimeji 83

Table 4.17. Frequency of Meeting—Pastors’ Perspective (N=47)

Frequency

Weekly

29.8

Bi-weekly

44.7

Monthly

2.1

Others

23.4

Total

100.0

From the perspective of the young leaders, ten of them met with their mentors

weekly, but a majority of forty-eight young leaders claimed that they hardly met with

their mentors. This number amounts to 40 percent of the entire number. Another forty-

three participants, or 35.8 percent, say they met with their mentors monthly (see Table

4.18).

Table 4.18. Frequency of Meeting—Young Leaders’ Perspective (N=120)

Frequency

Weekly

8.33

Bi-weekly

3.3

Monthly

35.8

Hardly Meet

40.0

None

Other

11.7

Total

120

100.0

Research Question #2

What is the perception of young leaders about the role and practice of their

pastors in effectively mentoring them for leadership? Pastors may believe that they

Oladimeji 84

effectively mentor the young people while the young people may not think their pastors

effectively mentor them.

A series of dependent samples t-tests explored any differences in perceptions of

current personal mentoring experiences between pastors and young leaders. All eleven

items regarding personal mentoring experiences showed significant difference in

perceptions between pastors and young leaders. For example, pastors (M = 4.98, SD =

.80) perceived themselves as more effective leaders than young leaders perceived them

(M = 3.05; SD = 1.44; t [159.17] = 5.41; p < .001). Young leaders (M = 3.50; SD = 1.33)

also tended to see the pastors as busier–to the point of not being able to do mentoring-

than the pastors see themselves (M = 2.52; SD = 1.00; t [129.71] = -5.25; p < .001). For

an overview of all of the perceptions of current personal mentoring experiences, see

Table 4.19.

In addition, pastors (M = 2.87; SD = .53) perceived themselves as having more

intense relationships with the young leaders than the young leaders perceived (M = 2.49;

SD = .98; t [156.74] = 3.20; p > .001). Young leaders (M = 3.26; SD = 1.11) also tended

to see the pastors as not empowering them by giving them leadership assignments in the

church than the pastors saw (M = 3.96; SD = 1.05; t [103.24] = 3.93; p < .001). For more

overview of all of the perceptions of current personal mentoring experiences, see Table

4.19.

Oladimeji 85

Table 4.19. Means, Standard Deviation, and t-Test for Perception of Current

Mentoring Experience for Pastors and Young Leaders

My Mentoring Experience

Pastors

(n = 52)

Young Leaders

(n = 120)

t (df)

I consider myself an effective

mentor. – OR- I consider my pastor

an effective mentor to me.

3.98

.80

3.05

1.44

5.41 (159.17)

.000**

As a pastor, I am intentional about

developing young leaders in my

Church.

4.35

.76

Q10

I consider myself a mentor to young

leaders in my church.

4.21

.50

Q11

I have personal relationship with

many of my young leaders. – OR-

My mentor has a personal

relationship with me.

4.19

.49

3.61

1.10

4.63 (157.16)

.000**

Q12

How intense is your typical

relationship with the young leaders

your mentor? – OR - How intense is

your relationship with your mentor?

2.87

.53

2.49

.98

3.20 (156.74)

.002**

Q13

When the young leaders I mentor

need counsel, I am always available

to meet with them. – OR - When I

need counsel, my pastor is always

available to meet with me.

3.98

.73

3.20

1.23

5.10 (152.62)

.000**

Q14

I have been too busy and have not

been able to mentor well. – OR - My

pastor has been too busy and has not

been able to mentor me well.

2.52

1.00

3.50

1.33

-5.25 (129.71)

.000**

Q15

I spend time teaching my young

leaders regularly. – OR - My pastor

spends time in teaching me

regularly.

3.44

.87

2.66

1.23

4.76 (134.39)

.000**

Oladimeji 86

Table 4.19. Means and Standard Deviations for Perceptions of Current Mentoring

Experiences for Pastors and Young Leaders, cont.

My Mentoring Experience

Pastors

(n = 52)

Young Leaders

(n = 120)

t (df)

Q16

As a pastor I encouraged my young

leaders in different areas of their

lives. – OR - My pastor has

encouraged me in different areas of

my life.

4.17

.79

2.98

1.16

7.83 (139.44)

.000**

Q17

My young leaders are my very good

friends. – OR - My pastor is my very

good friend.

4.21

.72

3.08

1.05

8.13 (137.30)

.000**

Q18

I hold my young leaders accountable

by disciplining them when they go

wrong. – OR - My pastor holds me

accountable by disciplining me

when I am wrong.

3.90

.72

3.50

.86

3.14 (115.21)

.002**

Q19

As a pastor, I always empower my

young leaders by giving them

assignments in the church. – OR -

My pastor always empowers me by

giving me leadership assignments in

the church.

3.96

1.05

3.26

1.11

3.93 (103.24)

.000**

Research Question #3

What vital elements should be included in an effective mentoring model in the

RCCG? In answering this research question, I compared the attitudes of both pastors and

young leaders about mentoring.

A series of dependent samples t-tests explored any differences in attitudes about

mentoring between pastors and young leaders. Of the seven items regarding attitudes

about mentoring, six were significantly different between pastors and young leaders. For

example, pastors (M= 4.35; SD = .81) indicated significantly less agreement with the

statement, “Mentoring involves a relationship between a younger, less experienced

person and an older who wisely guides the younger through different areas of life,” than

did young leaders did (M=4.62; SD = 55; t [72.20] = -2.19; p = .032). Conversely, pastors

Oladimeji 87

(M = 3.65; SD = 1.12) expressed significantly greater agreement with the statement,

“Many senior pastors like provincial, area, and zonal pastors are intentionally developing

young leaders in their churches,” than young leaders did (M = 2.49; SD = .96; t [170] =

.92; p <.001). For means and standard deviations for all of the attitudes, see Table 4.20.

Table 4.20. Attitudes about Mentoring

Perceptions about Mentoring

Pastors

(N=52)

Young Leaders

(N=120)

t (df)

Mentoring involves a relationship

between a younger, less experienced

person and an older who wisely

guides the younger through different

areas of life.

4.35

.81

4.62

.55

-2.19 (72.20)

.032*

Mentoring is very important in

developing next generation of

leaders.

4.60

.53

4.80

.42

-2.44 (79.89)

.017*

Mentoring process is currently being

used to develop the next generation

of leaders in RCCG.

4.10

.94

2.73

1.40

7.53 (141.40)

.000**

Many senior pastors like provincial,

area, and zonal pastors are

intentionally developing young

leaders in their churches.

3.65

1.12

2.49

.96

6.92 (170)

.000**

Mentoring involves nurturing the

person being mentored.

4.42

.57

4.29

.67

1.24 (17)

.217

I think there are some effective

aspects of the mentoring as being

presently practiced by pastors in the

RCCG.

3.88

.94

2.03

.97

11.42 (168)

.000**

I think the RCCG is focused more

on the elderly people than the

development of the young

generation (the young generation

will mean 35 years and below)

3.13

1.22

3.55

1.18

-2.07 (169)

.040*

Many of the pastors saw mentoring as a part of their normal pastoral work and did

not see it as something intense and long-term. The interviews confirmed this also. Many

Oladimeji 88

of the pastors believed that mentoring was very important in developing the next

generation of leaders. They also believed that the RCCG currently used the mentoring

process to develop the next generation of leaders. However, many of the young leaders

did not agree.

The pastors also believed that some effective aspects of the present form of

mentoring in the RCCG does exist. They justified that in the interview by insisting that

many of the members of RCCG were young people and they enjoyed the church. In

addition, they opined that many children born into the RCCG church had remained

members and even married as RCCG members.

The pastors and young people are in agreement that mentoring involves nurturing

the person being mentored, and the pastors claim that they mentor through their

preaching in the church and counseling. The fact that they preach and counsel the

members in their church does not mean that they are mentoring them. Mentoring is far

more than just preaching to people on the pulpit and counseling.

The pastors mostly did not agree with the statement that the RCCG focuses more

on elderly people. However, almost all the young people agree with that statement and

during the interviews they asserted that the RCCG’s structure, leadership and program

were still directed towards people who were older than thirty-five years. They compare

RCCG with youth oriented churches such as Daystar Christian Centre, House on the

Rock, Christ Embassy, and other contemporary churches in Lagos who provide programs

for young professionals, marriage seminars, and entrepreneurial training.

Oladimeji 89

Summary of Findings from Interviews and Open-Ended Questions

I had five open-ended questions on the questionnaires. I designed these questions

to allow the respondent (both the pastors and young leaders) to comment freely on the

questions. I intended the last two questions to complement and feel the emotions of the

people about mentoring. I asked the respondents to comment on what they like about

mentoring or being mentored and what they dislike about mentoring or being mentored.

Most avoided the questions, but a few responded. They said that part of what they

have enjoyed in mentoring and being mentored are as follows: Mentoring gives

opportunity to the mentor to share his vision and idea about a given subject. It helps to

develop both the mentor and the person being mentored. It gives opportunity to meet new

people and to hear different views about a given subject.

Most people dislike when a mentor gives a direction or counsel and the mentee

acts in a contrary manner. When mentors are trying to insist on you doing everything they

recommend without allowing the mentee to take his decisions. Another is when the

mentor does not want the young leaders he or she mentored to relate with other leaders

thereby trying to monopolize him or her.

The interview questions were designed basically to answer the third research

question but also to shed more light on the other two research questions. A summary of

the responses to the interview is presented briefly by using the research questions as a

guide, while more time was given to the last research questions using the last two

questions on the interview protocol and the three questions on the open ended part of the

questionnaire.

Oladimeji 90

Research Question #1

The people interviewed were asked to explain their understanding of mentoring.

Most pastors see mentoring as building up young people to become matured Christians

and leaders. One zonal pastor said, “It is having spiritual children.” Another one said, “It

is about raising a godly generation of young people.” Sixteen out of eighteen young

leaders that were interviewed said that mentoring was about a conscious building up of

younger people through close relationship so that they could become better leaders

through gaining experience form the matured leaders. One of them said, “It is developing

a young person to become competent and capable.”The two different groups certainly see

mentoring in different ways

Many of the young people interviewed asserted that the concept of mentoring is

just recently coming into focus in the RCCG while eight out of the twelve pastors feel

that mentoring is not new to RCCG. One zonal pastor opined, “The idea of the youth

churches was supposed to be a channel for mentoring young leaders, although we could

not say it has succeeded yet.” The youth church project is presently being used by many

of the RCCG provinces in order to get the young leaders to become more committed to

the church and have a sense of belonging

Most of the pastors believed that they have been mentoring their young leaders

through many ways and they are effectively doing this. One area pastor said that in his

last church, all the young leaders that ministered under him became parish pastors within

three years of his work among them. To him, this result is a testimony to the effectiveness

of his mentoring. A zonal pastor in province 10 said, “The sporadic multiplication of

churches in the RCCG is a sign that mentoring is effective.” However, seventeen of the

Oladimeji 91

eighteen young leaders interviewed did not believe that there was any effectiveness in the

mentoring process of the church. A total of 50 percent of the young leaders affirmed that

the RCCG has not yet considered mentoring as a very important issue.

Research Question #2

According to many pastors, they mentor their respective young leaders through

Sunday preaching, Bible studies during the week, prayers, and counseling especially

when they want to get married. One out of the twelve pastors interviewed said that he

always fixes meeting with his young leaders once in two weeks when he teaches them

and discusses with them one-on-one. This approach helps him “to properly monitor them

and they are able to share with me some of their challenges at work and in school.” A

zonal pastor said, “The pastors are mentoring the young leaders but many of the young

leaders are not willing to settle down and be willing to take instruction, many of them are

too proud and full of themselves because of what they think they have or know.”Most

people in Africa believe that, part of role of the pastor is to give counsel to the young

ones and such counsel is to be accepted in full. A young leader does not take instruction

from his pastor is mostly seen as rebellious and proud.

All the pastors interviewed described a mentor as a father and teacher to the

young leaders through good examples. The role of a mentor as a model is very important

says one of the zonal pastors in province 3. Another pastor in province 11 said that the

pastor “is a role model to his young leaders, but some of the pastors are not good models

hence, like father, like son.” For the young leaders, 25 percent of them said that their

relationship with their mentors have been beneficial and has exposed them to ministry.

Oladimeji 92

Some of their pastors allowed them to preach, especially when the pastors were not

around in the church.

The rest of the 75 percent interviewed among young leaders said their mentors

had not helped them, since the mentors could not see them individually. As a result, the

young leaders found it difficult to speak openly with their mentors concerning their

challenges and struggles, since the relationship lacked intensity. Culture made

maintaining close relationships between the younger people and the elderly difficult; such

relationships are seen as a sign of disrespect in the Yoruba culture. Therefore, for many

young leaders interviewed, they said they cannot really say that RCCG pastors are

mentoring their young leaders because “there is hardly a personal relationship with these

pastors.”For these young leaders, they are sure that personal relationship with their

pastors would have yielded more results than what they experience presently.

Research Question #3

As I explained previously, I used the last questions on the interview protocols for

both the pastors and young leaders and the other three open ended questions on the

questionnaire as a guide for the discussion. I have divided the discussion of these

findings into three questions.

The first question was, “What factors have hindered effective mentoring in

RCCG?” In answering this question, seven major answers ranked highest among the

many answers given.

Excessive program was ranked first. The average pastor leader in RCCG will

attend Digging Deep on Tuesday, faith clinic on Thursday, Sunday service, and then go

for the monthly National Holy Ghost Service or Provincial Holy Ghost Service and

Oladimeji 93

sometimes Parish Holy Ghost Service. One pastor said, “I hardly miss any of the weekly

services because I have to lead all the major meetings of the church if I want many of the

members to attend, and this has made me not to have the time to attend to other thing.”

Other meetings include departmental meetings or vigils. This busyness makes both the

pastors and young leaders filled with activities and may not have time for a mentoring

program.

Frequent transfer ranked second as the RCCG does not have the policy of

keeping pastors for a long time in a parish. The average year for a pastor to serve in a

parish is about four years while some have stayed less. Since mentoring involves a

relationship of trust, enhancing mentoring in an environment where the pastor is not

stable is difficult. I also discovered that authorities seem to be doing something about

transfers presently, so that pastors could stay longer in their parishes and influence a

greater number of people.

Pastors’ secular job and lack of time ranked next. Most pastors of RCCG are bi-

vocational. They therefore combine their pastoral work with their secular jobs. This bi-

vocational style of ministry has its strength, as it has helped the RCCG to spread to

different parts of the world without much financial challenge. However, the same style

has affected the development of younger leaders. The pastor simply does not have the

time to train the young leaders under him since he or she combines the work with his

secular job. One young leader interviewed said, “My pastor is gifted, willing, but he just

does not have any time for mentoring anybody, we need full-time pastors who will have

the time.” This lack of time is a major challenge to mentoring in the RCCG.

Oladimeji 94

The young leaders seem to be very distant from the pastors. According to both the

pastors and young leaders, the groups have not been able to collaborate together; they

seem to be mutual suspicious. One pastor said, “[T]he young leaders are not ready to

learn, believing that they know it all.” Many of the young leaders believe that many of

the pastors are having problem with insecurity; hence, they have refused to come into the

world of the young leaders.

The young leaders and pastors have a lack of passion on both sides to mentor and

be mentored. One young leader said, “Many of the pastors don’t care what happens to

their young leaders on personal level as long as they attend church services.” They also

believe that since many of the pastors were not mentored, they are not competent to give

what they never had.

Finance ranked next, as many of the participants say that a pastor cannot fully

mentor people if he or she is not willing to help and support them in other areas of life.

Many young leaders in RCCG think that the pastors do not care about their welfare and

are not willing to invest financially in their lives. One zonal pastor said, “Mentoring is an

expensive exercise. It takes a lot of money from your pocket, and such money is hardly in

the parish or area, so it must come from your salary.” Sometimes when young leaders say

they need a mentor, what they mean is that they need someone to support them

financially.

The leadership and RCCG church-planting style where the pastor gives

instructions as a servant of God and everyone obeys without discussion was also

identified as a major problem of mentoring in RCCG. This church planting drive has also

affected the pastors in a way that they hardly follow up on young leaders. Many

Oladimeji 95

participants also identify the drive for church planting in RCCG as a problem. The vision

of having an RCCG church in five-minutes’ walking distance in developing countries has

helped to facilitate a massive church-planting endeavor. However, the churches are

started without good plans to train and staff the new churches; hence, the pastors are not

competent to mentor. A zonal pastor in province 3 said, “Some of the new churches

planted are an embarrassment to RCCG. Some of the pastors in those new churches are

just doing their own thing.”

The second question is, “What are some ways to mentor young leaders within the

present structure of the RCCG?” In answering this question, seven major themes emerged

from both the questionnaires and interviews.

1. Constant interacting between pastor and young leaders both at a national and

provincial level,

2. Using social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

3. Giving young people opportunity to preach during major services,

4. Starting more youth churches,

5. Having teachable young people,

6. Introducing relevant books and materials on leadership and mentoring, and

7. Encouraging pastors to have mentors.

The third question was, “What are some vital elements that should be included in

a model for an effective program?” The following elements ranked highest:

Good human relations program for pastors and young leaders

Restructure of the present youth fellowship,

Oladimeji 96

Inclusion of teachings on mentoring that is dynamic in response to the

challenge of the modern world,

Instruction of senior pastor about leadership development and mentoring,

Requirement of pastors to mentor a number of young people followed by

evaluation of such mentoring, prior to ordination and/or promotion, and

Use of apprenticeship method of mentoring within the context of the

contemporary society, especially for those considering full-time ministry in RCCG.

Summary of Major Findings

Since I have explored various findings in the previous section, I now summarize

the findings in a way that makes them concise and easy to articulate. I discovered five

major findings in this research in relation to mentoring and the RCCG in Nigeria.

1. The RCCG has begun encouraging young leaders for leadership, but no

current structure exists to mentor these young leaders. From the research, many pastors

do not even have a grasp of the function and role of mentoring in leadership

development. Many pastors do not have the time and passion for mentoring because they

have not been trained, and most of them have never been mentored.

2. Many pastors in RCCG claim to be mentoring young leaders. Nonetheless, the

research found out they were doing their normal pastoral work without any special time

set aside for any mentoring individuals. The results show that pastors hardly meet with

their young leaders outside church meetings.

3. The results from the t-test show that whereas the pastor from their present

experience in mentoring assert that they are mentoring the young leaders, the young

Oladimeji 97

leaders do not feel that they are being effectively mentored. The finding also showed the

attitudes of pastors and young leaders about mentoring is significantly different.

4. Many factors hinder effective mentoring in RCCG.

5. Therefore, vital elements for effective mentoring are mostly missing within

the RCCG for now.

Oladimeji 98

CHAPTER 5

DISCUSSION

Major Findings

Leadership development is necessary for organizational survival. For this reason

for leadership succession plans are becoming popular within many business organization

of the world. The church should not be exempted from this succession planning

The RCCG is a large and fast growing church in Nigeria and many parts of the

world. RCCG leaders’ average age is fifty years old, and the denomination appears to

lack appropriate structures to prepare young leaders for roles in leadership. If no plan

exists to develop the next generation of leaders in many branches of the RCCG, then

there will be lack of well-groomed leaders for the church in the future.

Mentoring is a major way of preparing these young leaders to be competent

pastors for the church. There also seem to be some ideas about mentoring and an attempt

to do some kind of mentoring within the church. The purpose of this study was to

evaluate the current practice of mentoring as a tool for leadership development for the

next generation of leaders by surveying the church pastors and young leaders in the

RCCG in Nigeria, in order to prescribe a model for a more effective mentoring program

for leadership development.

The next section presents five major findings of this research work and explores

how these findings relate to the theological foundation, biblical foundation, and the

previously discussed literature.

Oladimeji 99

The Importance of Understanding Mentoring

Before I undertook this study, I did not know that many pastors and young leaders

were familiar with the concept of mentoring. For example, 94.3 percent of the pastors

surveyed claimed to be mentoring young leaders. Accordingly, 88.3 percent of young

leaders claimed having a mentor. My interviews also confirmed that many people had

heard about mentoring. Through this research I discovered a challenge: namely, young

people seem to know more regarding the function and role of mentoring than did the

pastors.

The literature described mentoring as much more complex than a senior pastor

having younger ministers work under him or her. Mentoring is a relational experience

through which one person empowers another by sharing God-given resources to enable

people to develop their potential, which makes mentoring a more demanding endeavor

(Stanley and Clinton 12). According to Homer’s Odyssey, a mentor acts as a guardian and

teacher. Most experts in the field have placed greater importance on the relational

quantity of mentoring (Anderson and Shannon; Daloz, Mentor: Guiding the Journey;

Levinson, Darrow Klein, and Levinson), which is not to say that nonpersonal mentoring

relationships lack benefits..

As indicated by the biblical and theological foundation for this study, God is a

relational being and created human beings to be relational. The examples on mentoring in

the Bible were not done from afar; they were done within the contexts of relationship.

Effective mentoring must necessarily be rooted in relationship. The RCCG today, based

on this research, does not have real relationships among the pastors and their young

leaders.

Oladimeji 100

If the leadership can reflect on the relational aspect of mentoring, then leadership

development will begin to flourish in the church. Mentoring young people from afar,

which has always been the practice, must then be changed to conscious building up of

relationship with the younger people. For the RCCG and many older churches in Nigeria,

the church growth will depend upon the church’s ability to retain and develop young

leaders. There should therefore be a strong effort to understand the complexity of

mentoring and strive to use it for benefit and growth in the church in Nigeria.

Time and Passion with Experience

Mentoring involves spending time with people and having passion. The results

showed that many of the pastors are bi-vocational and spend much time on their secular

jobs. The remaining time they have is spent on church meetings in the provinces without

them having time for their local church.

Many young people said that they hardly met with their mentoring pastors.

Interviews confirmed that the people who claimed to meet with their mentors considered

their normal weekly meetings during the Sunday workers meetings and mentoring times

with the pastor as one in the same. These findings are in contrast with what Coleman

describes when he says that Jesus lived with his disciples, required obedience from them,

gave himself away, showed them how to live, assigned work to them, oversaw them, and

finally expected them to reproduce and to mentor others. This aspect is the last stage of

this discipleship (21-97).

Moses spent time with Joshua; Elijah did the same with Elisha. Jesus had the

passion to raise a team of successors with whom he spent a lot of time wherever he went.

Oladimeji 101

These mentoring relationships developed over the process of time within shared life

experiences.

This shared life involved transference of knowledge, skills, and character through

the combination of teaching and modeling that comes in a shared life experience

(Krallman 62). The example of spending time and passion on the part of the leader exists

throughout history, including that of the Nigerian church fathers. As noted in Chapter 2,

Moses Orimolade, who pioneered the first African Independent church in Nigeria, chose

seven men to be with him. Joseph Babalola trained people by involving them in fasting

and prayers.

Adeboye, the present RCCG general overseer, also benefitted from the time and

passion of his mentor. Apart from interpreting for Akindayomi, he followed his mentor

almost everywhere including Jerusalem and America. He asked him various questions

and still alludes to learning from Akindayomi by accompanying him on various travels.

This pattern is corroborated by Cowart when he asserts that the essence of mentoring is

a loving relationship and that the strength of mentoring is that a relationship between a

mentor and protégé is fundamental to the learning process, not an optional by product

(10).

If mentoring is to improve in the RCCG, then pastors must return to the old

passion of the fathers in spending time with young leaders to develop them and take them

through various experiences to prepare them for leadership in the church. This passion

and spending of time should not occur only by rhetoric but also with time built within the

structure of the present leadership where pastors could come to discuss their experience

among themselves as they mentor their young leaders.

Oladimeji 102

The young leaders should be encouraged to move closer to their pastors and

respectfully demand the time of their pastors. This closeness could be done through more

interactions with them, especially from an informal perspective. The closeness will

eventually encourage trust and in turn create a good atmosphere where effective

mentoring could take place.

Different Attitudes and Experience on Mentoring

Whereas the pastors felt that they were mentoring their young leaders effectively,

the young leaders did not agree. The t-tests show significant difference among the

attitudes of the two groups.

Before this research I suspected RCCG young leaders to describe their mentoring

experiences as ineffective, but I did not think that the pastors would have insisted that

they were proving adequate mentoring experiences. I was very surprised when I saw the

majority of pastors during the analysis of questionnaires and the interview strongly

believed they were doing effective mentoring with fifty or twenty young leaders, whereas

they hardly met with them.

The differences in perception and opinion could be very problematic since the

pastors suggest and implement church policies. As such, pastors’ feedback to the

denominational hierarchy will affect church policy and practice. They seemed to have

been telling the authorities of the church at the highest level, “All is well.” Many young

people think that the leadership does not care about their growth and development.

In connection with this kind of difference in perception, Dale Galloway says that

in order to achieve the purpose of training effective leaders, the Church needs to be

intentional and being intentional means developing a model to implement a leader-

Oladimeji 103

making system and carrying it to completion (31). When a church becomes intentional

about mentoring, both the pastors and young leaders will know what is required of them

and the process to be used. They will also know how the structure of the church will be

used to drive on the process.

In the literature section of this research, I mentioned the eight types of mentoring

relationships described by Stanley and Clinton, involving various degrees of intensity,

namely intensive (disciple, spiritual-guide, coach), occasional (counselor, teacher,

sponsor), and passive mentoring in which books, and seminars, and conferences are the

means by which the people are mentored (Stanley and Clinton 87-130). However, I do

not see massive mentoring as mentoring at all. From the traditional definition of

mentoring itself, it involves relationship. I do believe on the insistence on relationship

because Africans in themselves were originally communal people before the influence of

Western education. The apprenticeship method was the tradition by which most trades,

arts, and crafts were learned in pre-colonial Nigeria.

Pastors and young leaders need to come to an agreement on their mentoring

attitudes, experience, and results for the RCCG. This understanding will make mentoring

more effective for all.

Factors Hindering Effective Mentoring

Prior to my research, I observed that some of the young people with whom I grew

up in the RCCG were no longer in the church. I had at different occasions met with a few

of them, and they told me they were now pastors in some of the new generation churches.

When I asked why they left, they complained that the RCCG focused more on older

people without striving to be relevant to the contemporary challenges in the country.

Oladimeji 104

They also claimed that their mentors belonged to other church denominations with more

time and passion for them.

During my research, I also discovered that some of the complaints came up as

factors hindering effective mentoring in the RCCG. Obtaining these facts became easier

once the respondents knew the anonymity of the questionnaires and the interview. One

amazing observation to me was that pastors raised many of these factors themselves.

These factors included excessive programs, frequent transfers, church-planting drive of

RCCG, and others

I was surprised to learn that some pastors felt the RCCG had excessive programs

that hindered the effectiveness of the pastors in mentoring young leaders in the church,

yet they never raised the point with the top leadership of the church. Too many national

and provincial programs may burden the pastors such that they could not concentrate on

parish work or mentor the young leaders in or parish or area.

I have established from the theological framework and the literature that

mentoring is about a relationship, which takes time to build. The leaders who mentored

young people in the Bible took a long time to develop a relationship of trust. They lived

with the people they mentored. Stanley and Clinton, noting that today’s living conditions

are so different, say that the relational connection between knowledge and experience,

giver and the receiver, has weakened or is nonexistent especially in the Christian church

(18).

Most church growth experts have asserted a direct correlation between the

pastor’s length of stay in a church and the growth of that church. A zonal pastor said,

“The churches I spent more than four years had more growth than the ones I spent two

Oladimeji 105

years; this is not subject to debate.” A situation in which a provincial or area pastor

transfers some pastors every two or three years does not create an atmosphere for

mentoring. Young people normally take some years before they can begin to trust a

pastor and become open to him or her. After the trust and relationship have been settled,

mentoring can become effective.

On the church-planting drive of RCCG, every growth has its own price. I do not

agree with participants who claim that the excessive drive to start new churches

everywhere has affected the ability to the pastor to mentor young leaders. Nonetheless, I

do agree that if no plan exists to develop and prepare leaders prior to the church start,

then immature leaders are leading such churches. This research took me to different

parishes of the RCCG, and I attended parishes of the church that were radically different

in doctrine practice form what the RCCG teaches and practices. The pastors could not

even explain basic doctrines of the church. This problem stemmed from a lack of proper

training for the leaders who started the churches.

Vital Elements for an Effective Mentoring Program

Before this research, I feared that most pastors and young leaders in RCCG would

have trouble acknowledging a lack of effectiveness within the church system. However, I

was impressed that through the surveys and interviews, many respondents were able to

acknowledge RCCG shortcomings related to mentoring and leadership development.

Therefore, this acknowledgement of shortcomings must become a major element for

effective mentoring.

As already discussed in Chapter 2, God is a God of relationship as he reveals

himself in the persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Also, God in Christ through the

Oladimeji 106

Incarnation became man so as to relate to humanity at their own level. Therefore, pastors

and the young leaders must take their relationships seriously in order for effective

mentoring to occur.

When these relationships heal, the traditional Nigerian culture that creates a wide

gap between the young and the elderly may be corrected. The young leaders normally

have difficulty expressing themselves to the pastors. This lack of expression consequently

causes problems for the pastors to receive any kind of truthful feedback. The young

leaders may have suggestions and ideas for effective ministry, yet they rarely inform the

pastors about these ideas.

The present youth fellowship in the church could be used to enhance effective

mentoring, if properly restructured. Beach explains this idea: Leadership is the art of

producing appropriate change in an organization’s external environment, its function and

structure, its culture, and its practices in pursuit of survival and prosperity (ix).

Leadership within the youth fellowship of the RCCG or any church should define what

the future should look like, align people with that vision, and inspire them to make it

happen despite the obstacles (Kotter 25). Young people must be influenced towards

achieving the group’s goal (Hughes, Ginnett, and Curphy 19).

The young people in the RCCG are interested in their spiritual growth, but they

also are interested in success with their career. The church must change and adapt

cultural patterns in order to be relevant. As Van Gelder notices, congregations must

realize that contexts are always changing and in order to offer services to this generation,

leaders must learn to lead the church through these changes (48).

Oladimeji 107

The pastors should be constantly taught about mentoring. The majority of the

pastors barely have knowledge of mentoring. Within the RCCG, just like many churches

in Nigeria, the pastors see every member of the congregation as their spiritual children

irrespective of whether they have personal relationships with them or not. In the

theological framework, this research discussed the fact that Jesus came down to identify

with humanity, which is a major element of mentoring. In addition to his coming down,

the example of Jesus is very instructive as he continued to teach his disciples.

The element that seemed very exciting to me is one that many of the young

people raised. Many of the young leaders believed that promotion in the RCCG should go

beyond membership and financial status of the church. These items were the two

parameters for assessing performance of pastors. The young leaders were of the view that

promotion should fully involve a way of finding out how many young leaders a pastor

has properly mentored into leadership.

Apprenticeship is the traditional African way of raising leaders in different areas

of arts and professions. But during the research, I heard that two or more African

churches (Namely the Apostolic Church, and the Cherubim and Seraphim) church still

practice the apprenticeship method of leadership development. In these churches, young

leaders are assigned to pastors, with whom they live and work for up to seven years.

During this period, the young leader studies different aspects of the ministry, after which

they go to be trained as a pastor. Jesus, just like other rabbis, used the apprenticeship

method to train his disciples. They lived and understudied with him. After three and a

half years, he sent them to go out and represent him.

Oladimeji 108

For some time now, the general overseer of the RCCG allows some young leaders

to preach during the monthly Holy Ghost service in order to emphasize the importance of

young people. However, many of the other pastors seem not to practice this same

emphasis. This lack of emphasis on the young leaders explains why many of them in

most of the provinces do not think their pastors give them the recognition they desire.

Pastors who work full-time in the RCCG are facing a major challenge to try and include

young leaders in preaching.

Implications of the Findings

Mentoring is crucial for leadership development in the RCCG or any

organization. Whereas many secular organizations strive to build up their next generation

of leaders, many Christian organizations appear not to take leadership development

seriously.

Looking at the present status of mentoring in the RCCG, although the leadership

of the church is clear in its desire to develop the young people and prepare them for

leadership. However, there is not yet a strong connection between this desire and the plan

on ground. The leadership must begin to educate the present pastors so they can know

that their success will depend on whether they have their children carrying on their work.

Once this connection is done, regular training on the subject of mentoring to the entire

pastorate should continue.

The various findings of this work and especially the vital elements discussed

above should be built into the process of mentoring of the young leaders. A team of

interested pastors may be formed to discuss some of these vital elements and how they

can build into the present structure of the RCCG.

Oladimeji 109

The present pastoral structure in RCCG (parish pastors, area pastor, zonal pastors,

and provincial pastors) can effect the mentoring process. Once tested for a few months,

the leadership of the church should conduct an appraisal to know if the strategy could

work in different provinces outside of Lagos, where RCCG is headquartered. After the

testing, the whole churches in RCCG could then begin to use it. Once the above process

is put into place, the young leaders will get the signal that they are important to the

church.

Such a signal could result in proper discipling, mentoring, and encouraging young

leaders to participate in church leadership. In turn, these leaders could then mentor others

and developing strong, courageous and quality leadership for the church.

Limitations of the Study

The RCCG is a large denomination, but some provinces have different

backgrounds. For example, within the church are provinces that came out of the old

classical RCCG. The other group of provinces that came out of headquarters church is the

Ikeja family, which is the oldest model parish of the church. The third is the Apapa

family group of provinces. These various families have some peculiarities and orientation

that distinguish them from the others. Generalizing the findings of this research to include

the Apapa family, which was not part of the sample, may be difficult. Provinces 10 and

11 belong to the classical group, while province 3 belongs to the Ikeja. To obtain better

results in the future, one of the Apapa family provinces may need to be included.

Another limitation is that many provincial pastors were not involved in this

research. The provincial pastors and other senior pastors make most church policies.

Their positions on most of the questions need to be considered. The results of this work

Oladimeji 110

would probably have been better if most of the pastors had discussed how to mentor their

young leaders so as to ascertain the process, prospect, and problems of mentoring.

In addition, I wonder if my introductory letter might have limited my positive

results. The fact that I am writing for a seminary in the United States might have led

some respondents to try to impress me with current practices in the RCCG. To others, my

name might have been familiar, since my father is a senior pastor in the church. In such

situations, the respondents (especially the pastors) might have been careful not to sound

negative.

Unexpected Observations

One of my unexpected observations was the excitement I saw among the pastors.

They appeared willing and ready to do anything possible to develop their young people

for leadership. The senior pastors always had been presented to me as resembling

Nigerian political leaders, always reluctant and reacting whenever they are told to

develop the young people.

Another unexpected observation was the openness of the young leaders in

completing a critical analysis of the current state of mentoring in the RCCG. They were

also readily willing to offer constructive ways by which they could be mentored.

One other observation is that many of the senior pastors in the provinces helped in

the facilitation of the research irrespective of the fact that they know that their churches

may not have been effective in mentoring. This disposition of objectivity would not have

been the case some few years ago.

Oladimeji 111

Recommendations

From the findings in this study, the following recommendations could be made.

First, the RCCG should establish a vision and mission statement for leadership

development through mentoring. This vision and mission statement is important because

the church’s drive of planting churches close to the people became a part of the mission

statement of the church. Today, RCCG is known as the denomination with the highest

number of churches in Nigeria. If the general overseer and leadership of the church are

interested in developing their young leaders, let there be a written policy toward that.

Second, young people should be placed in places of strategic leadership such as

the role of provincial pastor. One important thing to know is that Adeboye, the general

overseer of the church, attained this position while he was thirty-nine years old. There

should be provincial pastors who are thirty-five years and less. This choice of young

provincial pastors will emphasize the message that young leaders are important to the

church. The generational gap between the old and young will then begin to reduce

considerably.

Third, promotion and assessment of pastors should include an assessment of their

effectiveness in raising young leaders in their churches. This effectiveness should be

followed up and appropriately rewarded. This move will encourage pastors to begin

focusing on their young leaders.

Fourth, pastors’ transfer should be done with a lot of caution and consideration. A

minimum of six years is recommended in ideal cases unless a major crisis in the church

occurs in the church. Pastors should be properly categorized in such a way that a new

pastor posted to a parish should have commensurate or superior ability to perform more

Oladimeji 112

than his predecessor. This posting of the right pastor during transfers will help discourage

the situation where young people move from parish to parish due to a less competent

pastor.

There should be a conscious effort to reduce the programs and meetings of pastors

done outside their parishes. Pastors should be encouraged to be involved in discipleship

and mentoring of the young people they pastor.

Young leaders should have the opportunity to assess their pastors and build a

relationship with them. They should also be encouraged to support them.

New churches starts need proper assessment in order to ensure competent hands

adequately to pastor these churches and develop leadership. In other words, no church

should be allowed to start without enough competent workers to do the work.

The next is to begin to develop young leaders called into full time ministry. The

apprenticeship method could be used where young leaders will be assigned to some

proven pastors in rural areas for two years and also pastors in urban areas for another two

years as a part of their training. After their ordination as assistant pastors, they should be

required to disciple some younger leader also. This apprenticeship program should

properly be monitored and assessed through a separate office of trained personnel. If this

process was allowed to continue the next seven years, we very likely would see a new

breed of well mentored leaders who would continue and multiply the good works of the

present leaders. Leadership development does not have a quick fix solution.

Future research can focus on practical ways of assessing this type of

apprenticeship program. Such research could develop the various tests to determine

Oladimeji 113

statistically factors such as relationship level, giftedness, and other factors of wholeness

in leadership development.

Postscript

The journey for this research began with my personal desire to see many young

people get involved with many old churches in Nigeria. I grew up as a pastor’s child

within the RCCG before leaving for seminary about twenty years ago. Since then I had

been very involved with leadership development in the various churches I had worked.

The church I worked with when I applied to study for my Doctor of Ministry is an

independent neo-Pentecostal church, where I grew within the ranks until I became the

assistant general overseer and director of administration. Part of my assignment involved

recruiting and training pastors for the various churches we were starting.

My major challenge was how to see young people within the church come into

leadership through a proper, effective leadership development. This seemed very difficult

to achieve as we continue to have high turnover of pastors.

My classes coupled with my readings during my early time in the Beeson

program raised a strong desire in me to see the next generation of leaders. In addition, my

concern for my home church where all my family members worship and are mostly

pastors gave me more concern. I wondered how things could have been better if young

people were trained and properly mentored by the experience old pastors who had been

used by God to build this great church. I also wondered how disastrous to the church and

to Christianity in Nigeria if the young leaders were not properly trained. These

observations led me to this enquiry.

Oladimeji 114

This journey has been interesting and enlightening. As I continued in this work in

prayer, I became more determined to contribute my quota to the development of leaders

and encourage others to do same. This challenge eventually led me into the church of

Nigeria, Anglican Communion, who had the same need of training people for leadership

and ministry. I seem to have had a warmer reception from the Anglican Church, where I

presently teach spiritual formation, leadership, youth ministry, and other courses.

The Rector and my students have wondered why I have strong passion for

teaching about ten courses in a semester. My journey through Asbury seminary and this

research have given me the tool to become an instrument of development and challenge

to many of my students, some of whom are bishops and church leaders. The retreats and

conferences I organized from time to time evidence of this wonderful, inspiring journey. I

have continued to desire to raise the young generation of leaders in wherever I met them.

I have presently founded the Centre for Biblical Literacy and Leadership. As the head of

department of Missions Studies in Crowther Graduate Theological Seminary, I have

continued to share my conviction that mentoring the young generation of leaders in

Nigeria is a major way of leadership development.

Oladimeji 115

APPENDIX A

QUESTIONNAIRE ON MENTORING FOR PASTORS IN RCCG

Letter of Introduction

Dear Respondent,

My name is Babatunde Oladimeji, and I am conducting research toward the

fulfillment of my Doctor of Ministry degree at Asbury Seminary. My research is on

mentoring as a tool for leadership development in the Redeemed Christian Church of

God. The result of this research will be used to prescribe a more effective model for

mentoring in the RCCG.

I therefore desire that you supply to the best of your knowledge, honest answers

to the following questions. Your identity and answers will be treated with upmost

confidentiality.

Thank you and God bless you.

Oladimeji Babatunde,

Asbury Theological Seminary,

Wilmore, Kentucky

U.S.A

Oladimeji 116

Biodata / Demographics

Please fill each box as applicable to you

A. Age 18-23  24-29  30-34  35-39  40-45  45 +

B. How long have you been an active member of the RCCG?

Below 2 yrs  2-4 yrs  5-7 yrs  8-10 yrs  10+ yrs 

C. What province of the RCCG are you from? ______________

D. What office do you occupy in the church?

Parish Pastor  Area Pastor  Zonal Pastor  Provincial Pastor

Others specify_______

E. Male  Female 

F. Many years have you been a pastor in the RCCG?

2-4 years  5-7 years  8-10 years  10+ years 

G) If yes, approximately how many young leaders are you currently mentoring?

H) If yes, how often do you meet with them?

Weekly  Bi-weekly  Monthly  Others Please Specify_____

Please tick from the following, the box that fits your answer to each question.

Perceptions about Mentoring

1) Mentoring involves a relationship between a younger, less experienced person and an

older who wisely guides the younger through different areas of life.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

Oladimeji 117

2) Mentoring is very important in developing next generation of leaders.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

3) Mentoring process is currently being used to develop the next generation of leaders in

RCCG.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

4) Many senior pastors like provincial, area, and zonal pastors are intentionally

developing young leaders in their churches.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

5) Mentoring involves nurturing the person being mentored

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

6) I think there are some effective aspects of the mentoring as being presently practiced

by Pastors in RCCG.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

7) I think the RCCG is focused more on the elderly people than the development of the

young generation (the young generation will mean 35 years and below).

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

Oladimeji 118

My Mentoring Experience

8) I consider myself to be an effective mentor.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

9) As a pastor, I am intentional about developing young leaders in my church.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

10) I consider myself a mentor to young leaders in my church.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

11) I have personal relationship with many of my young leaders.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

12) How intense do you consider your typical relationship with the young leaders you

mentor?

Intensive Moderate Occasional Distant

   

13) When the young leaders I mentor need counsel, I am always available to meet with

them.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

14) I have been too busy and have not been able to mentor well.

Oladimeji 119

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

15) I spend time teaching my young leaders regularly.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

16) As a Pastor, I have been encouraging my young leaders in different areas of their

lives.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

17) My young leaders are my very good friends.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

18) I hold my young leaders accountable by disciplining them when they go wrong.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

19) As a pastor, I always empower my young leaders by giving them leadership

assignments in the church.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

Oladimeji 120

More Effective Mentoring

20) Mention some vital elements that you think should be included in a model of an

effective program in the RCCG.

________________________________________________________________________

21) What factors have hindered effective mentoring in the RCCG?

________________________________________________________________________

22) Can you suggest different ways the senior pastors can mentor younger leaders using

the present structure of the RCCG?

________________________________________________________________________

Oladimeji 121

23) What have you enjoyed the most about mentoring?

________________________________________________________________________

22) What have you disliked the most about mentoring?

________________________________________________________________________

Oladimeji 122

APPENDIX B

QUESTIONNAIRE ON MENTORING FOR YOUNG LEADERS IN RCCG

Dear Respondent,

My name is Babatunde Oladimeji, and I am conducting research towards the fulfillment

of my Doctor of Ministry degree at Asbury Seminary. My research is on mentoring as a

tool for leadership development in the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The result of

this research will be used to prescribe a more effective model for mentoring in the

RCCG.

I therefore desire that you supply to the best of your knowledge, honest answers to the

following questions. Your identity and answers will be treated with utmost

confidentiality.

Thank you and God bless you.

Oladimeji Babatunde

Asbury Theological Seminary

Wilmore, Kentucky

U.S.A.

Biodata

Please fill in each box as applicable to you.

A. Age 18-23  24-29  30-34  35-39  40-45  45 + 

B. How long have you been an active member of the RCCG?

Below 2yrs  2-4yrs  5-7  8-10  10yrs+ 

C. What province of the RCCG are you from? ______________________

D. What office do you occupy in the church? Head of Department  Parish pastor 

Leader of youth fellowship  Leader in campus fellowship 

Other (specify)_________

E. Male  Female 

F. How many years have you been a leader? 0-1yr  2-4yrs  5-7yrs 

8-10 yrs 

G. How many years have you been a worker in the RCCG?

2-4 yrs  5-7 yrs  8-10 yrs  10+ yrs 

H. Do you have a mentor? Yes  No 

Oladimeji 123

I. If yes how often do you meet with your mentor?

Weekly  Bi-weekly  Monthly  Other, please

specify____________

Please tick from the following from each question, the box that fit your answer to each

question.

Perceptions about Mentoring

1) Mentoring involves a relationship between a younger, inexperienced person and

an older and more experienced person who wisely guides the younger through

different areas of life.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

2) Mentoring is very important in developing next generation of leaders.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

3) The mentoring process is currently being used to develop the next generation of

leaders in RCCG.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

4) Many senior pastors like provincial, area, and zonal pastors are intentionally

developing young leaders in their churches.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

5) Mentoring involves nurturing the person being mentored

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

6) I think mentoring practiced by pastors in the RCCG is very effective.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

Oladimeji 124

    

7) I think the RCCG is focused more on the elderly people than the development of

the young generation (the young generation will mean 35 years and below).

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

My Mentoring Experience

8) I consider my pastor an effective mentor to me.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

9) If No, do you have another Pastor in RCCG who you could call your mentor

Yes No Not sure

  

10) If yes how was your relationship with your Pastor established?

My pastor Myself 3

party the church

   

11) How many times do you meet with your mentor monthly?

More than 4 times 2-4 times once or less

  

12) My mentor has a personal relationship with me.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

13) How intense do you consider your relationship with your mentor?

Intensive Moderate Occasional Distant

    

Oladimeji 125

14) When I need counsel, my Pastor is always available to meet with me.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

15) My Pastor has been too busy and has not been able to mentor me well.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

16) I have mentors among my parish, area, zonal or provincial pastor.

Yes No undecided

  

17) My Pastor is intentional about developing young leaders in my Church.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

18) My pastor spends time in teaching me regularly.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

19) My pastor been encouraging me in different areas of my life.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

20) My pastor is my very good friend.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

21) My pastor holds me accountable by disciplining me when I am wrong.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

Oladimeji 126

22) My pastor always empowers me by giving me leadership assignments in the

church.

Strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree

    

More Effective Mentoring

23) Mention some vital element that you think should be included in a model for an

effective mentoring program in the RCCG.

24) What factors have hindered effective mentoring in the RCCG?

Oladimeji 127

25) Can you suggest different ways the senior pastors can mentor younger leaders using

the present structure of the RCCG?

26) What have you enjoyed the most about being mentored?

27) What have you disliked the most about being mentored?

Oladimeji 128

APPENDIX C

GUIDING QUESTIONS FOR SEMI PROTOCOL INTERVIEW FOR PASTORS

The following questions seek to know to what extent the Redeemed Christian

Church of God is involved in effective mentoring for the next generation of leaders.

Your response will help us to discover the current practice of mentoring and

prescribe more effective mentoring for the next generation of leaders. This study begins

with an assessment of what is going ground, after which a prescription is given for more

effective mentoring. You are therefore encouraged to be free to express your view.

I assure you of the confidentiality of your identity as a participant and that of all

the information you shall be giving in response to this recorded interview. Thank you for

your time and willingness to participate.

1. How do you describe the concept of mentoring?

2. How do you describe the state of mentoring within the RCCG?

3. Do you think you can name young leaders within your church that you have mentored

as a pastor?

4. What factors have been militating against your effectiveness in mentoring young

people in the RCCG?

5. Do you think the RCCG is conscientiously and intentionally doing all it could to raise

the next generation of leaders? If so, how? If not, why?

6. What do you consider are effective aspects of mentoring within the RCCG?

7. Do you think young leaders within your church see you as effectively mentoring them?

If so, how? If not, why?

Oladimeji 129

8. Do you think young leaders in the RCCG see their pastors as effective mentors to

them? If so, how? If not, why?

9. What are the various ways pastors are mentoring their young leaders?

10. What should be the role of the mentor and functions of a mentor?

11. What should be the role of the mentoree?

12. What do you think should be the vital elements that should be included in a model for

an effective mentoring program in the RCCG?

13. Within the context of the organizational structure of the RCCG and the Nigerian

culture, how should mentoring be done?

Biographic information

G. Age 18-23  24-29  30-34  35-39  40-45  45+ 

H. How long have you been an active member of the RCCG?

Below 2yrs  2-4yrs  4-6yrs  6-10yrs  10yrs+ 

I. What province of the RCCG are you from? ______________

J. What office do you occupy in the church? Parish pastor  Area pastor 

Zonal pastor  Provincial pastor  Others, specify_______

K. How many years have you been a pastor?

2-4yrs  4-6yrs  6-10yrs  10yrs+ 

L. Male  Female 

Oladimeji 130

APPENDIX D

GUIDING QUESTIONS FOR SEMI-PROTOCOL INTERVIEW

FOR YOUNG LEADERS