A Case Study of the Redeemed ChristianChurch of God, Nigeria (1980-2016)
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Sieberhagen, Dean
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2020
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
372
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Body granting the degree
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Text preceding or following the note
2020
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
Christianity was promoted in the Southern continents by missionaries from the Western nations between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. Today, it has grown and developed to the extent that some of the Southern churches, especially those from Africa, have established branches in the Western countries for the propagation of the Gospel in the nations that had earlier promoted the Gospel in the South. This development is known as "Reverse Mission [RM]." This dissertation reviews the RM phenomenon to ascertain if the retransmission of the Gospel by African Indigenous Churches [AICs] in the Western countries is a model of RM. The Gospel retransmission programs of the Redeemed Christian Church of God [RCCG] in Dallas, Texas, United States, and London in the United Kingdom were used for a case study. Chapter 1 introduced and defined the concept of RM and reviewed various pertinent literatures in the field. Chapter 2 briefly examined the historiography of Christianity in Africa. It surveyed Western mission activities in Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and also reviewed the evolution of the AICs, and factors that were aiding their growth and their mission programs. Chapter 3 traced the history of the founding of RCCG, her mission and vision. Chapter 4 briefly overviewed mission from the perspective of the West in comparison with mission from the AIC's perspective. Additionally, the chapter reviewed the mission strategies of RCCG and isolates her specific strategies for foreign mission. Chapter 5 briefly examined the history of RCCG foreign mission, and the establishment of RCCG in Dallas, Texas, and London, United Kingdom. Furthermore, the chapter defines RM, highlighted the elements that distinguished RM from Diaspora Mission, surveys the argument for and against RM, and used these to appraise RCCG's foreign-mission activities as a model of AIC's western missions practice, to examine whether it was motivated by desire for RM and could be taken as a model of RM or just a rhetoric. Chapter 6 is the conclusion, which summarized AIC's Western Gospel retransmission efforts and highlighted the researcher's observations, discoveries, and recommendations.