Qualitative Method

This study employed qualitative research method to obtain firsthand data on the current realities about Aladura churches from the perspectives of members. According to Monique Hennink et al (2011:10), qualitative method provides “an in-depth understanding of the research issues that embrace the perspectives of the study population and the context in which they live”. Although it suggests the absence of quantitative data, qualitative method requires the support of the quantitative where numerical data is available in a study. In this study, qualitative method is used in conjunction with the quantitative due to available demographic data. The Aladura churches are made of major and minor strands and share a lot of commonalities. Yet the strands vary in history, liturgy, doctrine and social representation. As a result of internal and external variations, this study employed a multiple case study approach in which, three major strands of Aladura churches, namely the Cherubim and Seraphim, the Church of the Lord Aladura, and the Celestial Church of Christ were investigated and results were analyzed comparatively according to their respective social circumstances. According to

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Yin (2003: 47), multiple or collective case study enables a researcher to analyse within and across settings and predicting similar or “contrasting results”. A number of churches were chosen from each of the strands, and an in-depth qualitative investigation was used to collect and evaluate relevant and adequate data about the churches. This involved the use of observation, interview, and historical documents. In addition to the qualitative instruments for data collection, a set of questionnaires were designed to measure the self-perceptions and self representations of members of the selected Aladura churches.

Ordinarily, it is important to measure and compare membership statistics of these churches over a period of fifty years (1960 to date) in order to generate data on membership dynamics such as the length of their membership, why members join or withdraw from the churches, record of newest members, education, and job of members. But the statistics do not exist because most churches do not keep adequate record of membership statistics. More so, there is no private or government institution that collects such data. The Nigerian government does not, as a matter of policy, require churches to keep and submit their respective membership statistics; it is left at the discretion of churches. Such quantitative data were almost impossible to collect within the time frame of this research. Hence, in-depth qualitative method was used in collecting data. In the absence of data on the attendance of members, a considerable demographic data were obtained on social status and membership dynamics in the churches.

1.5.2 Observation

Observation technique offered the opportunity to see a number of important phenomena and be part of a number of religious activities in order to describe “what happens when it happens, and how it happens”, and record them without bias or prejudice (Lune 2010:243). The observations were both participatory and non-participatory, but in all cases, the aim was to observe and record what happened in different church settings such as prayer meetings, Sunday worship, baptism ceremonies, church weddings, bible classes and consultation and healing sessions. Sampled churches in the three study areas of Jos, Ibadan, and Lagos were visited during the six-month field work. The researcher took part in the consultation and healing rituals in CCC Mokola provincial headquarters, Ibadan; and similar sessions at CSMC, Apapa-Oshodi express way, Lagos, C&S Pentecostal, Sango, and TCLA, Mushin, Lagos. A number of Muslim attendees were identified in the course of participating in worship and healing sessions.

41 1.5.3 Interview

Oral interviews enabled interviewees to respond freely to questions raised and spontaneously shared experiences on a great deal of issues bordering on innovations and continuity in the churches. Interviews were conducted during the six months of field work in Jos, Ibadan and Lagos. During the six-month field work from May to October 2011, thirty interviews were initially conducted in the three cities. Since the research areas are located in the home country of the researcher, the periods of visit to his family were also used to obtain more data from the field and this swelled the number of interviews to fifty three. The number of interviewees differed among the study areas because those who volunteered themselves for interview were more available in Lagos than Ibadan, while Jos had the lowest number of members who made themselves available for interview. The list of interviewee is provided on the last pages of this study.

Interviewees were drawn from male and female members of the respective major strands of Aladura churches. Renowned church leaders were interviewed one on one. The spiritual leader of Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church (CSMC) Samuel Abidoye was approached for an interview during his visit to the CSMC Jos. Due to busy schedule the researcher was compelled to visit him in Kaduna city where the world headquarters of the church is located. Due to language barrier, one-on-one interview could not be conducted with the leader of the CCC Mobiyina Oschoffa who is fluent in spoken French, but struggles to speak little Yoruba. Because of this gap, he requested for a print of the interview questions, which he responded to through the General Secretary of the church Emmanuel Adegoke. The Primate of the Church of the Lord Aladura could not be reached for a face to face interview due to his scheduled visits to dioceses and provinces that coincided with the period of field work. However, the researcher had direct e-mail correspondence with the Primate. A personal interview was conducted with the renowned televangelist Gabriel Fakeye of the CSMC, Apapa-Oshodi express way, Lagos.

Other key interviewees included branch church ministers/heads, high ranked members, prophets/prophetesses, choir leaders and members, principals and lecturers of theological institutes of the churches being studied, youth fellowship members and attendees at consultation/healing sessions. These are significant members who have adequate information about their respective sections of their churches. Both male and female members of the churches formed the interviewees. The interviewees were drawn from across the age ranges that were also designed for the administration of questionnaires: from 25years to 75years and above. This is because members who are twenty five year old and above are assumed to have

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considerable information about previous and current operations of their churches over a period of time either as born or converted members.

Fifty three interviews were conducted most of which were in Yoruba. This was based on the choice options of interviewees. Those who preferred to share their experiences did that on the ground that they felt more comfortable to reveal lots in their mother tongue than English, which requires them to search for some English words to explain some issues which at the end would be inadequate. Yet, a number of Aladura members who chose to share their experiences in English provided essential data on continuity and change in their respective churches. Data obtained in Yoruba language were transcribed and translated into English by a linguist who specialized in Yoruba language. The bulk of members who gave information to the researcher in English were the student youth, graduates and well-read elders. Data obtained from the interviews were enormous. All the data were transcribed. The most relevant data that addressed the focus of the study were selected, thematized, chapterized and developed, while relevant publications were reviewed and used to corroborate oral data from interviewees.

The insider/outsider question: This research was carried out in Nigeria, the home country of the researcher, and on Aladura churches of which he was a member of the CSMC one of the major strands of the Cherubim and Seraphim. These two instances qualified the researcher as an insider. His voluntary but gradual withdrawal from the membership of the CSMC, which began in 1995 placed him on the outsider category. This dual position placed the researcher at a vantage position to do a critical inquiry through interview and observe phenomena in the absence of membership affiliation, and to use a number of familiar members to access data from the church leadership and other significant members. However, the experience was not totally pleasant because there were instances where the researcher’s withdrawal of membership of the Aladura resonated and seemed to block his access to key informants. The question of whether the researcher would come back to the CSMC was always on the front burner as he negotiated his way towards getting information from the significant members of the church. The researcher’s experience in the CCC visited was similar to what he went through in the CSMC, except that some of the shepherds contacted doubted the objective of his research bearing in their minds the “green water” and “ritual” rhetorics which they claimed some none members use to deconstruct the salvific essence of Christ which CCC stands for. The researcher’s participation in some worship sessions and healing service provided a platform on which he was able to build some mutual relationships with shepherds

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and other key actors in the church. Encounters with members of TCLA did not pose any suspicion as members who volunteered to be interviewed did not raise any doubt or critical questions about his religion or church denomination.

1.5.4 Questionnaire

Questionnaires enabled the researcher to obtain relevant data for the study. The questionnaire items were classified into biographic, membership dynamics, liturgy, and evangelism. The questionnaire items in biographic and membership dynamics categories were framed in ways that elicited reliable demographic data with which statistics were generated in chapter two of this study. Data obtained from the liturgy and evangelism categories were integrated into the descriptive analysis in chapters three to eight of the study. Although the researcher was unable to access statistical records in the churches visited, a considerable statistics that was generated formed the basis on which the study arrived at a position on some biographic and membership issues about the churches studied. The statistical analysis was done in comparison with existing data in previous studies. One hundred and fifty questionnaires were given out to members who belonged to the age categories of respondents designed for this study, namely 25yrs to 34yrs, 35yrs to 44yrs, 45yrs to 54yrs, 55yrs to 64yrs, 65yrs to 74yrs, 75yrs and above. The questionnaires were used to generate information from members of the C&S, TCLA, and CCC in each of the three cities of study, giving a total of four hundred and fifty (450) questionnaires. Out of this number, three hundred and eighteen (318) were filled and returned through research assistants. Responses to items on biographic and membership dynamics in the churches were collated, coded, entered into the excel database that was created, analyzed in frequencies and percentages and presented in bar and pie charts. The statistical results were discussed and the biographics that are provided in the previous literature were used to corroborate the new demographics where applicable.