SUMMARY
In explaining the role of the church in the society, Lonergan (as cited in Doran, 2015) argues that there are needed individuals and groups, in the modern world, organizations that labour to persuade people to intellectual, moral, and religious conversion and that work systematically to undo the mischief brought about by alienation and ideology. By "alienation" Lonergan means neglect of the exigencies of human attentiveness, intelligence, reasonableness, and responsibility, and by "ideology" he means any doctrine that would justify such alienation. Among such bodies persuading to conversion, he continues, should be the Christian church, which he describes as the community that results from the outer communication of Christ's message and from the inner gift of God's love. Ikenye (2010) has described church as a living organism, because it is vitally connected with the head of the body and it receives its sustenance, guidance and direction from the head (Eph. 4:15-16). The Church is alive (Rev. 3:1, 1 Cor. 12:12), it grows (Matt. 13:31, Luke 13:19), and is a natural system (Acts 1:8). The Church mission is therefore the effective communication of Christ's message, in collaboration with God in the missions of the Holy Spirit and of the Word. When that message is proclaimed effectively in all cultures, church growth is an expected outcome. Christian leaders therefore need to seek and discover “facts and truths which lead to priorities, goals, and strategies that increase the overall growth of churches” (Smith, 2014).
