Biblically appropriate marriage relationship as a model for membership stability in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Omoku, Nigeria

Abstract

The problem addressed by this research was the loss of membership through interfaith marriage in Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church in Omoku. Located in the southern part of Nigeria, this town is an urban community currently serving as the administrative headquarters of Ogba, Ndoni, Egbema Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria. The purpose of this in-ministry dissertation was to discover authentic reasons for interfaith marriage, which led to the perennial loss, or nominal standing of some members of SDA Church Omoku. Following this was the intentional development of a sustainable scheme for membership nurture and retention. The procedure followed in this research made it one that could be replicated very easily. Both the quantitative and, qualitative methods were used. A total number of one hundred questionnaires were administered to members of the target congregation, and the method used in selecting the participants was free sampling. The essence of this was to achieve a balance in the information given. It was discovered that intefatth marriages in Omoku SDA Church was caused by several factors; some of which are poverty, inadequate sporutla nurture, family values, acculturation, and inaccessbility of Adventist education and influnce of social media. Expectedly, the research resulted in (a) greater awareness of church members’ obligation towards intra-faith marriage; (b) increasing passion for Bible study among the members, especially regarding the marriage ordinance; (c) reduction of interfaith marriages among church members, and (d) development of goal-oriented programs from the family ministries department of SDA Church Omoku. In conclusion, the researcher believes that the project was a success, not only because the process can be replicated elsewhere, but that it will enhance the mission of the church in the context of the study.