IMPACT OF THE WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN NATIONS ON THE WIDER SOCIETY IN COLONIAL TIMES 1932-1960

Abstract

Most Churches, including Pentecostals, have women’s fellowship under different appellations. But the women’s fellowships across the church denominations do not operate the same way. Many people in contemporary society do not fully know the activities of the Women’s Fellowship of the Church of Christ in Nations. Such people often assume that the women’s fellowship is a group of Christian women who meet during weekdays to rehearse songs in preparation for singing on Sunday during worship services only. This study aims to unravel the impact of the Women’s Fellowship of the Church of Christ in Nations in the wider society during the colonial epoch. The qualitative research approach was used for the study. The findings reveal that during the colonial era, the women’s fellowship of the Church of Christ in Nations did not look up to the church or European missionaries to fund its activities. In the spirit of ‘self-help,’ the women raised money by taxing one another or by engaging in farm work during the rainy season, or by selling the craft fellowship of the Church of Christ in Nations impacted the wider society in the area of healthcare, childcare, hygiene, home economics, helping the needy, and skill acquisition. The study recommends that women’s fellowship in the Church of Christ in Nations, and in other church denominations, should imbibe the spirit of ‘self-help’ and work to generate funds from among themselves to have money to impact the wider society, like the women in the Church of Christ in Nations during the colonial period.