ABSTRACT
Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) is an African Indigenous Church which was formally registered in 1947 but had been in existence since 1918 as a prayer group known as Egbe Aladura (Prayer Society) which metamorphosed into several other names over the years before 1947. The researcher’s interest for embarking on this study was to investigate the challenges encountered by Christ Apostolic Church in Ondo State. The study aimed to understand the challenges facing CAC churches in the Ondo by considering the aspect of evangelism, the personnel at all levels, in the area of economic and finance and suggest solutions to those challenges.
The study aims to assess whether the contemporary CAC maintains the unique spirituality that distinguishes it from other AICs. The research adopts a historical critical approach with a focus on spirituality, investigating the historical origins of faith and spirituality among selected founding Fathers of CAC in comparison to present-day practices, specifically within CAC in Babalola Region in Oyo state in CAC demographical spread. Data collection involved participant-observation methods, interviews, gathering first-hand information on doctrinal emphases and spiritual practices from past and current CAC members in Ondo state. Secondary data sources such as literature reviews, church publications, magazines, learned journals, and online sources were consulted. Findings revealed that the major challenges facing Christ Apostolic Church in Ondo state are the leadership and lack of adequate funding which is needed to facilitate various programmes and make headway in this direction. The friction between the authority of the CAC and its ministers in the area of incorporating the churches and ministries founded by the CAC field evangelists into the parent body as the fear of unknown emanating from poor remuneration and pension benefits for CAC ministers and lack of fund responsible for the inability of the Church to be able to manage effectively and efficiently programmes of evangelism through which souls could be won into the Church and consequently the kingdom of God.
It is therefore recommended that the church leaders must see leadership as an opportunity to serve God and humanity by focusing on the reasons for their calling rather than struggling for position of authority at the expense of the sheep they are expected to shepherd. And also the Church headquarters and the other buoyant branches Churches in big cities should work on assisting the smaller Churches at the local level in terms of financing to execute programs as the average member of the Congregation is relatively poor and lives below the average per capital income which is affecting the evangelism.
