THE RISE AND BOOM OF NEO-PENTECOSTAL WOMEN MINISTRY IN NIGERIA: AN ENTERPRISE OF LIBERATION AND EMPOWERMENT
THE RISE AND BOOM OF NEO-PENTECOSTAL WOMEN MINISTRY IN NIGERIA: AN ENTERPRISE OF LIBERATION AND EMPOWERMENT

Summary/Abstract: In early Christianity and the orthodox churches that flourish in Nigeria, especially before the 1990s, women were seemingly absent in leadership, priesthood and performance of sacerdotal duties. The trend has changed since the rise and boom of neo-Pentecostal variety of Christian practice. This paper examined women’s stake in the development, with the method of phenomenological enquiry, balanced with indepth interview technique. In the qualitative report, women are identified as major beneficiaries of the gender neutral, open ministry enterprise and accommodationism praxis of neo-Pentecostalism. Unprecedentedly, women-founded and led neo-Pentecostal ministries are ubiquitous in Nigeria. Profoundly, women are liberated from the discriminatory patriarchal configurations of the church, ipso facto men’s priesthood hegemony and expropriation. Again, maintenance of equilibrium between spiritual and material empowerment finds deep structure of confluence in the praxis of women’s ministry. They build on the premise of sacred attributes and leadership calling to become entrepreneurs, managing enormous assets, as well as embracing the associated elevated social status. The husbands seldom challenge the changing status.

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