The History of Christianity in the Southern Part of Ondo State. 1875- 1981

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Date
1986
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Obafemi Awolowo University
Abstract
The focus of this work is the history of Christianity in the Southern part of Ondo State between 1875 and 1981. But before the advent of Christianity, the indigenes of the area were adherents of African Traditional Religion end still today, Traditional Religion is practiced, The White Missionaries brought Christianity to this area in the year 1875. The C.M.S missionaries were the first to visit the area and they were later followed by other Missionaries from the Catholic and the Methodist Churches. After some of the Missionaries had gained ground the area, the indigenous and. Pentecostal (Aladura) churches came into being. This work also focuses attention on the organisation both the Mission and the Indigenous churches, which have thus been able to contribute to the educational, anemic, social developments and health care services in area. The Churches have contributed immensely to the developments of Western Education in the area and it is on foundation laid by the churches in the realm of western education, that the State Government has been building by establishing higher institutions of learning as the Ondo State University built in Ado-Ekiti. The church in the southern part of Ondo State has been indigenised. The mission churches have gone into a lot of re-organisation and they have introduced into their services the use of local materials and native air. The indigenisation process has eaten deep into the minds of the people and this has led to the establishment of so many indigenous and Pentecostal (Aladura) churches in the southern part of the State. The indigenous churches can be classified into two groups, namely those that are Pentecostal and those that are non-Pentecostal in their made of worship. Some of the Pentecostal churches are the C.AC., the Jesus Generation Church, the C.C.C., the C.M.S etc. and those that are non-Pentecostal include the African Church, the Gospel Faith Mission Church etc. The indigenous end Pentecostal (Aladura) churches are founded so that the indigenes could express Christianity in a way more meaningful to the understanding of the people. The reasons why the indigenous and Pentecostal (Aladura) churches are fast expanding are not far fetched. These churches are always ready to find solutions to the problems facing the Society, most especially domestic problems such barrenness and other unseen evil-forces. The mission, the indigenous and the Pentecostal (Aladura) churches are fast responding to changes and it is gratifying to note that the mission churches have adjusted their conservative and legalistic approach to their religion in order to feature well in the age of indigenisation.
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Keywords
History, christianity, indigenisation, missionaries, pentecostal, church, deliverance
Citation
APA