THE FORGOTTEN TREASURES OF THE CHURCH IN THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT IN CHURCH DEVELOPMENT
Taiye aluko
Department of Religious Studies,
Nasarawa State University, Nasarawa, Nigeria
E-mail:Tabaluko@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
In our understanding of the history of the church as it has been severally recorded and recounted, prominence and preference has been given to men more that the women in the order of events within the church as witnessed in the Nigerian situation. Women’s issue and involvement are often treated as irrelevant and where they are mentioned, they are always in the shadow of the men who have the dominating capability within the existing structure. Against this background, the paper aims at reviewing the church’s dominant posture thus bringing to light the women’s relative involvement in her developmental struggles. By this, we shall be bringing to light the various involvements of women as in evangelism, teaching, nursing which were the inherent contributions that early women gave in the history and development of the church when it began in the Nigerian experience. Sequel in this respect too, we shall also bring to bear the distinctive features in women’s remarkable act in guiding and directing church development as they have done severally in the past and subsequently we shall draw our conclusion which will inculcate a charge for women to walk in the light of the new demands. We shall attempt an evaluative approach in the course of the research thus assessing proceeding from the perspective that the 21st century event has afforded us evidence in assessing the recent development of women in the society as a whole. Key Words: Forgotten Treasures, Women’s Involvement, and Church Development