THE IMPACT OF DIVINE HEALING ON CHURCH GROWTH: A CASE STUDY OF ASSEMBLIES OF GOD GHANA, BANTAMA DISTRICT

Abstract

The study examined the effect of divine healing on Church growth with Assemblies of God Church being used as a case study institution. A literature review was done on the study. A survey design was employed for the study. The convenient sampling technique was used to select the sample. The research instrument used to gather the data was questionnaires. The data obtained from the questionnaires were coded for the purpose data analyses. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyse the data. The study revealed that only 4.1% of the respondents joined the church through crusades or personal evangelism, reflecting the doctrine of the church’s enthusiasm to evangelise. The results of the study show that 26.5% of the respondents were born in the Church and 46.9% made personal decisions to join the Church. About the growth of the church, 98% of the respondents noted that the practice of divine healing positively drive and significantly contribute to church growth. Specially, 75.5% of the respondents indicated that they would seek divine healing outside their main church if their pastors failed to practice it. However, 93.9% of the respondents agreed that education of church members is the most measure to reduce or curb the abuse of divine healing in the church. It is recommended that the church should adopt education as the main channel to reduce the abuse of divine healing by some ministers of God recently. It is further recommended that the Assemblies of God Ministers should intensify the practice of divine healing in order to prevent their church members from leaving for Churches where divine healing is being practiced. Finally, evangelism must be intensified in the churches.