THE SUSTAINABILITY OF CHRISTIAN FAITH AND PRACTICE IN NIGERIA
Keywords:
Faith Sustainability, Black Social Gospel, Ethical Transformation, Faith Renewal, Christian Practice.Abstract
The sustainability of Christian faith and practice in Nigeria is increasingly challenged by secularization, materialism, declining ethical commitment, generational disengagement, religious commercialization and the widening gap between Christian profession and practical conduct. Although, Christianity remains highly influential in Nigerian society, the persistence of these challenges raises question about the capacity of the faith to preserve its moral credibility, social relevance, and transformative witness. This study examines the sustainability of Christian faith and practice in Nigeria, particular attention to the challenges confronting its continuity and the prospects for renewal. The study examines the factors threatening sustainable Christian faith and practice, assess the relevance of Christian ethical values to contemporary Nigerian society, and identify practical strategies for strengthening Christian discipleship, social responsibility, and intergenerational transmission of faith. The study adopts the Black Social Gospel Theory, which emphasizes the inseparability of authentic Christian faith from human dignity, social justice, ethical responsibility, and transformative engagement with societal problems. The findings indicate that Christianity’s sustainability depends not merely on numerical growth or institutional expansion but on the integrity of Christian character, effective discipleship, youth engagement, social responsibility, and credible responses to poverty, injustice, and social inequality. Recent Nigerian studies similarly identify community engagement, digital adaptation, ethical formation, and youth inclusion as important for maintaining Christian relevance. The study concludes that Christian faith in Nigeria can remain sustainable when belief is translated into responsible social action. It recommends strengthened discipleship, youth mentorship, ethical leadership, social interventions, digital engagement, and renewed prophetic advocacy for justice and human dignity.
References
Abu, J. (2025) The Prospects & Challenges of Doing Missionary Work in Contemporary Nigerian Society, Studia Theologia Venrsaviensia, 63(1) 12-23
Adigun, O. J, & Afolaranmi, A. O. (2024) The Relevance of the Nigerian Church Through its Responsibility to the Society and Community Development, International Journal of Contemporary Research in Humanities.
Adogame, A. (2013) The African Christian Diaspora: New currents and Emerging Trends in World Christianity, Bloomsbury.
Adogame, A. (2016) African Christianities & the Politics of Development, in HTS Teologies/ Studies, 72(4) 4065
Asadu, G (2021) Christianity and National Development: The Nigeria Experience, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies, 77(1)
Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K. (2015) Contemporary Pentecostal Christianity: Interpretations from an African Context, Regnum.
Alpino, M, & Hammersmark, E.M (2021) The Role of Historical Christian Mission in the Location of World Bank Economic Review, 35(1), 207-233
Bass, D. C (Ed.) (2010) Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People (2nd ed.) San Francisco, CH: Jossey-Bass
Berger, P. L. (1967) The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, Doubleday.
Bowen, G. A (2009) Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method, Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40.
Braun, V. & Clarke, V (2006) Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Campbell, H. A (2020) Digital religion: Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds, Routledge.
Casanova, J. (2012) Public Religions in the Modern World, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, (2025) The Jubilee Year of Hope: A Light for a New Nigeria: Communique Issued at the end of the First Plenary Meeting, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria
Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) (2025). Pastoral Letter from the Standing Committee Held in Port-Harcourt
Davis, C. B, & Howell, A. (2024) Measuring Success: Western ABC's, Paul's XYZ's & Ubuntu as Markers for Church Growth in Africa. Missiology: An International Review, 41(4).
Dorrien, G(2015), The New Abolition: W.E.B, Du Bois and the Black Social Gospel, Yale: Yale University Press.
Dorrien, G (2018) Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr, and The Black Social Gospel, Yale: Yale University Press.
Dorrien, G (2023) A Daarkly Radiant Vision: The Black Gospel in the Shadow of MLK, Yale: Yale University Press.
Creswell, J. W. & Poth, C. N (2018) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (4th ed.), SAGE Publications.
Emma Tomalin, (2018) Religions, Poverty Reduction, and Global Development Institutions, Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 4, Article 132.
Ehusani, G (2024) Challenges for the Church in the 21st Century: A Memorandum, Abuja: Lux Terra Leadership Foundation.
Ezigbo, V. I (2015) Rhetoric of God’s Empowerment in Nigeria’s Christianity: Its Impart for Christian Identity and Social Responsibility, Journal of Global South Studies, 32(1)
Gaiya, M. A. B(2018) The Pentecostal revolution in Nigeria, Africa World Press.
Gifford, P.(2015) Christianity, Development and Modernity in Africa, Oxford University Press.
Hutchings, T (2017) Creating Church, Online: Ritual, Community and New Media, Routledge.
Ilesanmi, D. A, Imuwahen, T. O, & Akanbi, D. M (2024) Religiosity and Morality in Contemporary Churches in Nigeria: Critical Points of Disconnections Between Faith and Praxis. African Journal of Kingdom Education, 2(1), 1–14.
Jenkins, P. (2011) The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kalu, O. (2008) African Pentecostalism: An Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lincoln, Y. S, & Guba, E. G. (1985) Naturalistic Inquiry, SAGE Publication
Marshall, R. (2018) Political Spiritualities: The Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mashau, T. D. (2024) Reorientation of Mission and Its Action Plans for a Reformed Missional Ecclesiology in Africa, in die Skriflig, 58(1), 1–9
Meier zu Selhausen, F (2019) Missions, Education and Conversion in Colonial Africa, in the Mitch & G. Cappelli (Eds.), Globalization and the Rise of Mass Education, pp 25-59, Palgrave Macmillan.
McGrath, A.E(2017) Christian Theology: An Introduction, (6 th ed) Wiley-Blackwell
Mepaiyeda, S. M. (2024) The Missiological Relevance of Lay Ministry to the Growth of Mainline Churches in Nigeria, Ajayi Crowther University Journal of Religious Studies.
Nanthambwe, P. & Magezi, V. (2024) Bringing Faith to the Public; Positioning Church Communities for Social Good in Sub-Saharan Africa, Theologia Viatorum, 48(1)
Ng'etich, E. K. (2024). Religion and Development in Africa: History, Status, and Future Prospects, Religion Compass.
Ojo, M. A. (2006) The End-Time Army: Charismatic Movements in Modern Nigeria, Africa World Press.
Ogunleye A. R. (2021). Religious Phralism and Inter-Religious Encounter in the 21st Century Nigeria, African Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities Research, 4(2), 24-31.
Omeanwe, (2025) Christianity in Nigeria: The Double-Edged Sword of Denomination Proliferation, Journal of Theological & Empirical Studies in Education, 10(1)
Onyeije, E. I. (2025) A Theological response to Spiritual Decline Among Christian Youths in Nigerian Society, International Journal of Religious & Cultural Practice, 10(5), 25-32
Opaleke, I. D. (2022) Transformational Dialogue and Christian identity in a Multi-Religious Context: Nigeria in Focus, Journal of Religion 13(12) 1166.
Otonko, J. (2018) Beyond the Rhetoric of the “Next Christendom.” An Examination of the Integrity of the Christian Faith in Nigeria, Scriptura 117, 1-12.
Peel, (2016). An Historical Development: Religious Interaction and Christianity in Yorubaland.
Pew Research Center (2015) Religion in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tolerance and Tension, Pew Research Center.
Pew Research Centre, (2016) How Africa is Changing Faith around the World, Pew Charitable Trust
Pohl, C. D (2012) Living in The Community: Cultivating Practices that Sustain VS Grand Rapids Williams B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Pontifical Biblical Commission (2008) The Bible and Morality: Biblical Roots of Christian Conduct, Vatican City: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Sanneh, L. (2003) Whose Religion is Christianity: The Gospel beyond the West, Eerdmans
Sherkat, D. E (2013) Religion and Social Change: The Dynamics of Religious Change in the Contemporary United States, Routledge.
Stott, J. R. W (1996) The Message of the Sermon on the Mount: The Christian Counter-Culture, Leicester, England: Intervasity Press
Ter Haar, G. (2011) Religion and Development: Ways of Transforming the World, Hurst.
Timothy, O., Tijani, Priscilla et.al (2026) Church Unity & Membership Retention: Lesson from Lagos East Baptist Conference for South African Ecumenical Praxis
Ukah, A. F. K. (2016) A New Paradigm of Pentecostal Power: A Study of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria, Africa World Press.
Ukah A. (2016). Building God’s City: The Political Economy of Prayer Camp in Nigeria: International Journal of Urban & regional Research, 40(3), 524-540.
Umeanwe, C. M (2025) Christianity in Nigeria: The Double-Edged Sword of Denominational Proliferation. Journal of Theoretical and Empirical Studies in Education, 10(1)
U.S. Department of State, (2017)2016 Report on International Religious Freedom: Nigeria Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour
Walls, A. F. (1996) The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith, Orbis Books
Wright, N. T (2010) After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, New York NY: Harperone
Wright, N.T (2016). The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering who Jesus was and is, InterVarsity Press
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors are permitted to post their work online in institutional/disciplinary repositories or on their own websites. Pre-print versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication as soon as the issue is available; post-print versions (including the final publisher's PDF) should include a citation and link to the journal's website.
