The Redeemed Christian Church of God, New York, and the Disconnect Between Evangelism and Social Action

This project arose out of my concern that the splitting of proclamation from demonstration undermines God’s keen interest in the overall welfare of humans. Focusing mainly on the Redeemed Christian Church of God, New York (RCCGNY), the dissertation explores the perception of pastors about evangelism and compassion ministry so that pastors, with the findings, could move the church to become the holistic church in consonance with the model handed down by Jesus Christ.
The study entails survey questionnaires sent out to 72 pastors of RCCGNY. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were adopted. Interviews with a focus group were also employed, in conjunction with workshops attended by forty of the pastors who participated in the surveys. Through the findings, it was determined that the churches already have the awareness that evangelism cannot be in isolation of service, spirituality, and social responsibility, yet their primary pursuit is the gospel of salvation. Finally, a clarion call to bring about a paradigm shift in the mission of RCCG in North America was made for the churches to integrate spiritual formation and evangelistic fervor with identifying and meeting social and economic concerns of congregants and those of the people in the communities. For the benefit of pastors and church leaders, the results were linked with the recommendations that will help churches to integrate evangelism with social action.