THE CHURCH MINISTER AND CHALLENGES OF MORAL UPBRINGING OF HIS FAMILY (A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED CHURCHES IN OSUN STATE)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Each of us should determine with God’s help to be the best of whatever we are. Some pastors have stressed one or more of these relationships to the detriment of the others. But God expects from us “reasonable service,” and there should be no conflict in our relationships and duties. When we allow conflicts to arise it is because we have our priorities confused. Now, let us consider the pastor’s relationships to his wife and family." A pastor has a family. Sometimes the congregation forgets. Sometimes even the pastor seems to forget. If the pastor is single, relatives and close friends are the family. Each member of that family--as each member of your family--has needs to be met and potentials to be developed. Peter preached, recalling Genesis and God's promise to Abraham, “In your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Acts 3:25). So we become one family in Christ, caring for every member of the body. Sometimes a pastor's family may feel that the church members are the pastor's family, because they seem to have more impact on the pastor. Whenever they call, whatever they want, the pastor seems to be ready to counsel, teach, preach and visit. Because pastors care about what they do, it often is difficult for them to turn people away who crowd into family time. More and more pastors, however, are scheduling regular time away from their pastoral duties for their families in addition to time for themselves. There are great rewards in the pastor's home. Children have access to a parent at times other children can't reach theirs. They understand what their parent, who is a pastor, does more clearly than children whose parents "go to the office." But there may be a sense of intrusion, especially when the pastor's family lives in a parsonage. To fulfil its meaning and purpose, a family:

• Brings love and support.
• Gives continuity.

• Influences lifestyle.

• Faces daily problems and opportunities for growth.
• To be strong, a family must have members who:
• Provide love and support.
• Offer continuity to those they love.
• Make room for other family members.
• Give the time and concern necessary to work out problems and grow as a family member.

It is the task of this paper to therefore look at what informs the society’s expectation of what pastors’ family ought to be and what are the factors that ultimately affects pastor’s family conduct or behaviour positively or negatively. The paper then looks at the building blocks for developing ethical life and conduct in pastors’ family. It is the position of this paper that if the right physical and spiritual conditions are put in place and the pastor and his or her family understand what should be the ethical standards for their conduct, pastor’s family will live a life that is more pleasing to God and exemplary in the society, thereby uplifting the ministry of their parents and not pulling it down.

1.2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

 Pastors carry out the moral-religious education of children by praying together as a family , taking children to the Church to receive sacraments of Christian initiation, allowing them also to attend Sunday Masses/ Services and also allowing them to join church movements and others. In addition to this, they do this by taking children for courses at the Church and for other Church programmes for children. But why do so many pastors struggle to balance the call to faithfully shepherd the church with the call to care for their wives and children? The authors attempt to answer this pastoral and practical question solely from the perspective of male pastors. They conclude that the cause of the struggle is the sinful tendency of pastors who prioritize the church over the family and that it is possible for pastors to find a balance between these two holy duties by undertaking two practices: repentance of the tendency embedded in sinful nature, and being more attentive to the priority of shepherding their families while faithfully serving the church.

1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The major purpose of this study is to examine the church minister and the challenges of moral upbringing of his family. Other general objectives of the study are:

1. To examine the rights and duties of pastors regarding religious and moral upbringing of their families.
2. To examine the role of the pastors in the religious and moral upbringing of children.
3. To examine the impact of church minister on the moral upbringing of his family.
4. To find out the challenges facing church ministers in the religious moral upbringing of family and how they can be solved
5. To examine the relationship between the church minister and his family leadership

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the rights and duties of pastors regarding religious and moral upbringing of their families?
2. What are the roles of the pastors in the religious and moral upbringing of children?
3. What are the impacts of church minister on the moral upbringing of his family?
4. What are the challenges facing church ministers in the religious moral upbringing of family and how they can be solved?
5. What is the relationship between the church minister and his family leadership?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1

1.  there is no significant influence of the church minister on the moral upbringing of his family.
2. there is significant influence of the church minister on the moral upbringing of his family.

Hypothesis 2

H0: There is no significant relationship between the church minister and his family leadership.

H1: There is a significant relationship between the church minister and his family leadership.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The greatest challenge facing the church minister is that of managing the ministry and his family. Moral upbringing of a family is not a simple task and it is affected by a complex set of factors, not all of which can be controlled by the church.

This research work seeks to study church minister and the challenges of moral upbringing of his family. Though pastors' do concentrate on the ministry work more than their families, there is need for them to manage their work well so as to have time for their families.

1.7    SCOPE OF THE STUDY 

The study is based on the church minister and the challenges of moral upbringing of his family. A case study of selected churches in Osun state.

1.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Moral-religious education: It is the process of imparting religious and moral principles and values into an individual

Church Minister: A church minister usually identifies a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people

Family: A basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not.