PLACEMENT IN GOD’S VINE YARD: UNEMPLOYMENT AND PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES PROLIFERATION AMONG THE URUM OF SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Pentecostal churches proliferation is a rising trend among the Urum of southeastern Nigeria. Spiritualism may be at the centre of interpretation of this development. However, empirical socio-anthropological studies are needed to unravel the factors that explain Pentecostal churches proliferation among the Urum of Southeastern Nigeria. This study adopts embedded mixed method research design. The sample sizes for the quantitative and qualitative data are 203 and four, respectively, derived from the households in Urum. The quantitative data collected from the field were processed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The data were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics and results were presented in frequency tables and simple percentage tables for easy understanding and clarity. Hypothesis formulated was tested using chi-square (X) statistics. In addition, the qualitative data were collected using phone recording. Data were managed and analyzed using a thematic method of data analysis. Unlike the initial speculation that the quest for spirituality is the reason for the high rate of proliferation of Pentecostal churches in Urum, available data show that the major factors are unemployment, hardship, tither and offering, position and power, among others. This implies that church proliferation is associated with the quest for materialism other than the manifest ideological clothing of spiritualism. This study presents an insight on the lucrativeness of church business and presents alternative interpretation of the proliferation of Pentecostal churches among the Urum of Southeastern Nigeria.