Abstract

This research examined the impacts of the proliferation of Churches and moral decay in Molyko-Buea with a focus on Pentecostal churches, from the humanistic point of view. The study employed secondary data most especially in an attempt to study this phenomenon. It presented both the positive and negative impacts of Pentecostalism in Buea in general and Molyko specific.

It also indicated several manifestations of moral decadence in spite of Church growth and its causal factors. The study equally looked at the implications of Church proliferation which has led to an increase in a lack of moral decency. The study ends with concluding remarks and also proffers the way forward by suggesting some recommendations to counter some of the effects produced by Church proliferation in Molyko.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The word Proliferation as defined by the Oxford Dictionary (revised edition, 2007), refers to “rapid increase in the number or amount of something”. So proliferation of churches in the context of this research pertains to “rapid increase in the number of churches” in Molyko/Buea.

Before the introduction of Pentecostalism, common beliefs were centered on the introduction of Christian churches in Africa which were considered has been imported from Europe. It is worth noting that a great expansion of churches has undoubtedly taken place during the last 100 years. Some specific topics covered include: the north African church AD 200-AD700, the Nubian and Abyssinian church; the challenges of Islam; the slave trade, its end and renewed missionary activities, Portuguese missionary activities, Christian expansion in south Africa, the work of Samuel Crowther and David Livingstone, the scramble for Africa and the colonial period; political independence; and the development of the autonomous churches. Christian churches independently started in Africa by Africans rather than missionaries from another continent.

The oldest of these is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewehedo church which dates from 4th century and was one of the first Christian churches in the world. Such churches are often classified as protestant. This trend has continued until the introduction of Pentecostalism which is a renewed movement within protestant Christian which place emphasis on direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit.

It can be noticed that the number of churches in Cameroon recently is increasing exponentially. It almost seems like every neighborhood has its amount of churches to choose from. What is proliferation of churches? Proliferation describes a process of new churches opening at a very fast rate. What is important to mention, though, is that it is not the same as church development. An already existing church opening a new worship Centre or starting a new service falls under the description of church development (Marshall 2008).

However, if worship centers or local churches decided to become fully independent from their parent body/bodies, then this would count as church proliferation. For some reason, many Christian clergymen hold the belief that the best way to bring the word of God to the people is to open more churches. That is why every time a man of God receives a revelation, he intense to transmit it through opening of a new worship center. As a result, there are so many registered churches in Cameroon and they can be found on every corner.

On one hand, churches should not be that big of a problem. After all, more people have access to a wide array of places of worship. What can be so bad about that? Well, you might be surprised just how many issues the proliferation of churches can cause. Let’s consider all of them in detail in the following section.

Major issues with church proliferation in Cameroon. Who is a youth in the church and what is their role? Even though the opening of new churches grants an opportunity to reach more people with the word of God, proliferation of churches can lead to lots of issues. The first one that comes to mind is the clash of personalities. When there are so many churches on a small patch of land, it will eventually lead to disputes and conflicts between their leaders and/or members.

These conflicts can be based on different interpretations of religion, different views on some topic, or even just on petty personal fights between church ministers. Thus, the friendly and loving message of religion gets lost in these clashes. Speaking of different interpretations of religion, it seems to be the main problem with too many churches out there.

Even the most popular denominations have plenty of things to argue about when it comes to interpreting the Lord’s words. So when new churches appear and start preaching their own versions, the conflict levels might become catastrophic. In addition to all this, many new churches are guilty of heresy (Array 2005).

You might not believe it, but some churches go to all sorts of lengths just to be different from others and, consequently, attract more worshippers. What they are preaching is more resembling of mad ramblings of a lunatic rather than the Bible. Even though religion is supposed to unite all kinds of people, the proliferation of churches only divides them.

Therefore, it creates the lack of unity. Each church thinks that they are above all others, so when it comes to reaching a consensus in some matter, nobody wants to give up their position/opinion in favor of others. Another thing that is close to our previous points is unhealthy competition. Almost every church’s goal these days is to get as many followers as possible.

When there is a lot of competition out there, no rules seem to apply. The main issue with this competition seems to be the converts that are looking to change their church of choice. (Bineng et al 2011). Church ministers go out of their way to get those converts to attend their church. What we have talked about before mostly concerns the churches themselves and religion as a whole. However, proliferation of churches also has a negative effect on people and the environment.

For instance, numerous churches that have opened recently are guilty of money laundering, fraud, swindling and embezzlement. The more churches open, the harder it is for authorities to control all of them. Therefore, some people use new churches as fronts for their nefarious operations. Money matters aside, too many churches on one small patch of land lead to noise pollution. Even during daytime, several sermons that happen at the same time can cause quite a calamity.

At the same time, some churches also choose to have night sermons. If the church is located among residential buildings, such events might disturb the peace of the whole neighborhood. In conclusion, proliferation of churches in Cameroon is definitely not a very good thing. It leads to discords, squabbles, excessive noise and many other unpleasant things. Nevertheless, (Solomon A. 2002)

Our global society today is undergoing significant constant proliferation of churches which have brought not only changing values, but also greater source of solutions to people’s problems.  This rapid multiplication of churches is borne out of the understanding that in Cameroon in general and Buea to be specific, there is freedom of religious worship.  Central to the constant proliferation of churches is the question of its effects or impact on the people in the community of Buea and Molyko to be specific.

The question of how the undesired physiological and institutional effects on individual and environments can be solved.  This question has not only been of concern to the government but also to the academia in the fields of Sociology and Anthropology. The major thrust of this paper therefore is to discuss the environmental effects of church proliferation.

To an observant mind, the pace at which churches are spreading like a wildfire in Cameroon and Buea to be specific is alarming.  In the country, there is freedom of worship, places of worship are full, pilgrimages are over-booked and there is evidence of religious fervor all over the places.

Many people were cashing in on the situation, as they launch new religious organizations and societies.  There is evidence that many are just charlatans looking for a means of livelihood.  Many are perhaps genuinely religious.  But it is obvious that our society has not become upright.  It certainly has not become peaceful.

There have been and still many hot and cold wars in the name of religion. (Fayomi 1993:37). Churches are noted to be springing up at an alarming and unprecedented rate in all available spaces, shops and uncompleted buildings.  It is a common sight to see a minimum of fifty different churches on a street of four kilometers long.

This may paint a terrible picture, but such is the present rate of church proliferation in the country. Drawing reference from a Nigerian writer by name; Ogidi, he categorically asserts that, “Nigeria is a country with easily the largest number of churches per capital in the world.”(Ogidi 1997:11).  Fayomi also described Nigeria as “a fertile soil for the growth of independent churches.”  In urban cities and even rural areas, for lack of space and accommodation, six or more different churches could make do with a storey building. For example, in Ekiti State, as rightly observed by Tokunbo, there are well above One hundred and fifty-seven Pentecostal denominations alone between 1970 and 2004. (Tokunbo 2007: 45), there are well above one hundred and fifty seven Pentecostal denominations alone between 1970 and 2004.

More parishes and new religious movements continue to be springing up each passing day in Buea. The spiritual discernment reportedly used by the Pastors and leaders founding churches in Nigeria is, “We prayed about it, and God said go and establish your own church.” Very often, one cannot compete with the self-proclaimed revelations and answers to prayers received by leaders looking to baptize their whims in God-talk.

The phrase is usually evoked to silent objections and avoids careful teaching and accountability.  And apparently, its use is on the rise, “God told me so” is now perhaps the dangerous four-word-sentence uttered by church leaders.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

As good as churches have their positive impact on the lives of the inhabitants of every community that indulges into religious practices, it will also be necessary that a consensus is made in order to also acknowledge that every social phenomenon has its functions and dysfunctions, hence proliferation of churches have their negative impacts on inhabitants.

The phenomenon of proliferation of churches has its merits and demerits. The merits include, rapid evangelization, development of new leadership, provision of checks and balances to orthodox churches, promotes specialization in ministry and enhances the provision of an atmosphere in which human problems are at times solved (Adesanya, 2004). On the other hand, the demerits include, personality clashes, unhealthy competition for convert via homiletically propaganda, lack of unity, monetary crises, heresies, fanaticism and bickering (Tokunbo, 2007).

Although, massive church planting has certain demerits as noted above, but they are not strong enough for total condemnation of the phenomenon. This is because Jesus was reported in the Bible to have said that, the Gospel should be preached to all nations (Mk. 16:15). Then, Paul in Philippians 1:15-18, supports church planting and proliferation for the expansion of the kingdom of God. This is because religion is not fossil, but a living and dynamic phenomenon. It will surely continue to increase.

Irrespective of the many environmental laws put in place by the government to ensure a clean hazard-free environment in Molyko/Buea, environmental hazards still continue unabated. Some years back, the government of Cameroon went further, through the Ministerial Decree of 2011, which ordered for all bars/drinking sports to evacuate the vicinity of Molyko/Buea, with the aim of reducing the level of noise which they generated in this academic milieu. This was rather of no significant gain because today, the rate at which churches proliferate in Molyko/Buea has brought in many negative effects than the bars/drinking sports.

The problem in our society today is not just the fact that the churches proliferate every day to large numbers, but because of the negative impact they have on the inhabitants of this community. Hence this study intends to investigate the proliferation of churches in Molyko/Buea and their impact on the inhabitants or environs of this place.

1.3 Research Questions

1.3.1 Main question.

What impacts does the proliferation of churches have on the inhabitants of Molyko/Buea?

1.3.2 Specific question.

1. What are the causes of the proliferation of churches in Molyko/Buea?
2. What are the possible solutions to the effects of proliferation of churches in Molyko/Buea?

1.4 Research Objectives

1.4.1 Main Objectives

To account for the impacts of the proliferation of churches on the inhabitants of Molyko/Buea.

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

1. To identify the causes of the proliferation of churches in Molyko/Buea.
2. To explain the effects of proliferation of churches in Molyko/Buea.
3. To determine possible solutions to the effects of proliferation of churches in Molyko/Buea.

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