Strengthening Integrity and Accountability in the Leadership of the Lutheran Church of Nigeria

Ekong, Christian Okon

Etd

Strengthening Integrity and Accountability in the Leadership of the Lutheran Church of Nigeria

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Ekong, Christian Okon. Strengthening Integrity and Accountability In the Leadership of the Lutheran Church of Nigeria. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/c696b188-636b-4ca0-beeb-3c69e782f00d?q=2018.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

E. C. Okon. Strengthening Integrity and Accountability in the Leadership of the Lutheran Church of Nigeria. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/c696b188-636b-4ca0-beeb-3c69e782f00d?q=2018

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Ekong, Christian Okon. Strengthening Integrity and Accountability In the Leadership of the Lutheran Church of Nigeria. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/c696b188-636b-4ca0-beeb-3c69e782f00d?q=2018.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Ekong, Christian Okon

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Abstract

In today’s world, people with accountability and integrity are hard to come by. It is quite disheartening that some church leaders no longer show integrity and accountability. Church leaders fail in their responsibilities to others in the church because most of them are not conscious of the fact that they can be tempted to misuse authority. The shepherding of the church is in the hands of the Bishops, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, Elders, etc. Yet, this is not an excuse to abuse the influence granted to them by exploiting people, misdirecting and misapplying the resources at their disposal. Promotion from one position to another in the church is not to make leaders forgetful of the fact that they are called to represent Christ, the Chief Shepherd, and Bridegroom of the church, as stewards. Some leaders are fine Christians until they are selected to positions of leadership. Once the position is gained, they start teaching the people in demeaning and derogatory ways and sometimes making excessive demands on the people as well as showing some levels of dishonesty and non-accountability. Also, church leaders fail in their bids to discharge their responsibilities acceptably. Besides ignorance, they can be tempted to abuse their authority. The truth is that the role of Bishops, Pastors, Evangelists and other church leaders are not given so that they might hold down the people and have them serve the leader’s needs and wants, but rather that they, the leaders, equip and elevate those they lead to serve Jesus and change the world. We have the example of Jesus’ leadership who came to serve and not to be served. When church leaders understand that the authority God has given them is not for themselves, but for all sorts and conditions of people placed under them, then the virtue of integrity and accountability will be strengthened. Church leaders are exposed to the temptation to profit because of their privileges. When church leaders decide to profit from the privilege of leadership, it gives people reason to question their motives. That notwithstanding, Pastors can be appreciated with godly generosity by the members of the church. With devotional exercises done to curb or reduce the prevalent level of lack of integrity and accountability not only in the Lutheran Church of Nigeria but also in other churches as well, leaders who are still involved in wielding authority selfishly — the exact opposite of practicing faith in Christ Jesus, are sure to mend their ways. Peterson puts it nicely that “faith is an act of submission to the Lordship of Christ, a willing response to his commands.”1 This project is conducted to fill the existing gap by developing curriculum to strengthen integrity and accountability of the leadership of the Lutheran Church of Nigeria. 1 Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, New ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993), 167.

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