SUNDAY NATIONAL PEOPLES NEWS:THE ROLE OF CHURCH IN A DEVELOPING ECONOMY: A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE: CAN A NATION STATE CALL FOR SUPPORT FROM CHURCH FUNDS TO FINANCE ITS CAPITAL AND RECURRENT EXPENDITURES? SHOULD CHURCHES PAY TAXES?


BISHOP OYEDEPO
SUNDAY NATIONAL PEOPLES NEWS:THE ROLE OF CHURCH IN A DEVELOPING ECONOMY: A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE: CAN A NATION STATE CALL FOR SUPPORT FROM CHURCH FUNDS TO FINANCE ITS CAPITAL AND RECURRENT EXPENDITURES? SHOULD CHURCHES PAY TAXES?
The globalization of the Judeo Christian History and pattern of ethics is a great blessing to mankind and the CHURCH and SYNAGOGUES became the flag ship of that culture order.
The history of the church and synagogues dates backs to the origin of mankind and has gone through thick and thin to survive and bloom in contemporary time with general acceptability due mainly to the premises of ethical morality of love, goodwill, order addressed for mankind to be at peace with his fellow man and at concord with his creator.
Whence their role in molding, the behavioral ethics and motivation of devotees is commendable. This has become a great legacy that has boxed the Hobe’s nature of man’s carnality where life becomes brute and short to the corner albeit still growing to achieve full conquest in this context..
THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF NATION STATES:
The church was very supportive to the development of many Nation States the world over in the context of governance, statehood, diplomacy, & financial support to governments and in many other ways, in its great turbulent history.
The Roman Empire that embraced the Catholic order was a Nation built around the philosophical and political system of the Bible, adulterated here and there with the doctrines of men in most instances addressed to jockey the society to acceptable standards…Church funds, offerings, tithes and contributions became very supportive in the infrastructural developments of these nations as well as in the capital, and recurrent budget expenditure of these nations.
After the Roman Empire, the Russian Orthodoxy, the Renaissance period of central Europe of Zuigily movement, John Calvin and the times of Ignatius Loyola all paid loyalties to their respective states…
Though at this juncture we need to quickly mention the Crusaders wars that were financed with church money waged by Christian Nations…
A major milestone was recorded in history, in the context of the great use of Church money to finance state budgets in the Era of King Henry, the Grand Father of Elizabeth 1 who for other reasons of search for a male hare to the throne of England Devoiced his wife ,Queen Mary the Nice of the Roman Papacy  for the inability to born him a male child, and was subsequently excommunicated by Rome.
He quickly formed the Anglican Church and mandated Lord Cranners the Archbishop of Canterbury to Nationalize all Catholic churches to the Anglican faith and got independence form Rome…This was a great mile stone in the spread of new marketable variation of same underlying reality of God worship among men and subsequently this great risk of King HENRY paid off as the Church Money was able to consolidate in the British society, rather than the est while capital flight as in church money being sent to Rome all the time.. Britain soon became capitalized and with support partly from these Church funds was able to kick start the British Industrial Revolution and today Britain is arguably the centre of Western Civilization…There are countless other examples of how great Nations looked up to the churches for funding their capital and recurrent expenditures…
ANALYSIS OFF CHURCH FUNDS IN NIGERIA:
Nigeria is a country with a per capital income estimate of above $1500.. with a GNP of above $300 billion annually and a large population of above 250 million people according to the 1963 census; so an estimate of growing number of the believers may put at an estimate of more than 100million believers in Nigeria and the tithe from these people 10% of their total earning, coupled with church offerings every Sundays, Wednesday and lots of offerings and harvests of churches, the Church institution in Nigeria has an access to colossal sums of money put at an estimate of above $80 billion annually.
 And when the new systems of having foreign branches as in big churches like the Redeem group of Adeboye, Christ Embassy of Pastor Chis Oyakilome, Bishop David Oyedepo’s Church group etc, with numerous branches in more than 80 Nations of the world the capital repatriated from these Nations all goes to the head office in Nigeria.
 Whence the Nigeria Church has become a great money spinning industry on a global scale and if one is not being conservative with the truth the Nigerian Churches collectively generate over 60% of the GNP of Nigeria i.e. above $200billion dollars annually. This is a colossal amount of money left to the hands of a few church leaders who unfortunately are not sensitive to the plight of the devotees paying the money in slavish reverence, as many devotees are redundant, jobless and poor, while the Church leaders globe trot round the world buying Airplanes, riding Jeeps all over the places with countless of security escorts and are living in breathtaking mansions etc.. Really living like oil sheiks….
The question is:
1] Should the Federal Government and State Governments pay deaf eyes to the cry of the devotees who are crying out for equity in shearing the dividends of the church money?
2] Should the Govt look up to the churches to cough out some of this colossal capital in their hand for National Developments of infrastructures which we all know are in bad shape…?
3] Should the government collect taxes from Churches as they also benefits from the general spending of the government in keeping the sovereignty safe, and prosperous for them to ply their trade..?
These are a few pressing questions that the States and Federal Governments has to look into with a view to come to equity in the aspect of Church money in the Nigerian State.
Whence there is the urgent need for the Federal and State Govts to invite all church leaders to a table conference and appeal to them for support in this hour of need of the Nigerian Federation.

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