Towards the Possibility of Internet Ministry as an Alternative Pastoral Ministry in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Many churches and other public places were closed, and social distancing is advocated by the World Health Organization to serve as a means to curtail the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. This has hindered the pastoral ministry of many pastors in Nigeria to their church members. This study explores how pastors are making use of the Internet as an alternative means of pastoral ministry and to what extent Internet ministry is effective in pastoral ministry during the pandemic. Some open-ended questions were sent randomly to some pastors through WhatsApp Messenger. The pastors responded either by WhatsApp or email. There were further correspondences with some of the respondents through WhatsApp and phone calls. The findings of the study revealed that while some of the respondents were using the Internet in their pastoral ministry before the pandemic, most of them started using it during the pandemic, and they agreed that Internet ministry, as an alternative means, is effective to a great extent in their pastoral ministry during the pandemic. Many of them are ready to continue their Internet ministry after the pandemic not only as an alternative means, but also as complementary means to the traditional means of pastoral ministry. Some recommendations and suggestions for further study are made at the end of the paper.