| The growth and development of the African Church over the years has been phenomenal, but within the African Church, signs of effervescence for the immediate can be observed from the constituency of the newly emerging African churches, known also as the neo-Pentecostal churches. Living Faith Church Worldwide, aka Winners Chapel International, is a significant member of the emerging church in Africa. The purpose of this case study, based on grounded theory, was to discover and describe factors contributing to the attraction of members and regular attendees to Winners Chapel in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Using the notes from my participant observation, official documents, and the categories from the coded interview data, four themes emerged. These themes addressed the main research question as well as the seven research subquestions The four themes were outreach focus, the altar system, the mystery ministry, and perceived church system benefits. From the description of the participants, each of these themes had benefits attached to them and they seemed to feed into each other, therefore I have titled the central understanding (or grounded theory) A Circle of Attractions. This sums up the study's framework as seen in the four key categories, and presents them as a seamless and continuous interaction of the factors.;Through motivations that emphasize biblical benefits to soul winners, the membership, as a workforce led by the leadership, embarks continuously on different formats of evangelism and programs that are attractive to the outside populace in the context of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.;Through individual zeal in practical evangelism, soul winning, and commitment to prayers complemented by the effort of the leadership in the ministry of the Word and the mystery ministry, people are attracted to Winners Chapel, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The operational manual of the corporate Church, called the Mandate, gave them a rule for their operations but what is on the ground is a good reproduction of the intentions of the ministry leaders and an exhibition of heightened zeal by the worshippers at the research site. The factors that attract people to Winners Chapel, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, are basic biblical practices emphasized at various levels in the general Christian community; but which are intensely emphasized at the research site. These factors might find application in Church growth and Christian response to folk religion in applicable contexts. |
