Christian Response to Poverty Among Congregations in Ibadan, Oyo State

Poverty remains one of the most pressing social challenges facing Nigerian urban communities, and Christian theological traditions provide both motivations and frameworks for social engagement. This study examines how selected churches in Ibadan, Oyo State, conceptualise and respond to poverty among their congregations and surrounding communities. A descriptive case study design was adopted, examining five churches of different denominations (Catholic, Methodist, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Living Faith, and Deeper Life) across Ibadan North and Ibadan South West LGAs. Data were collected through interviews with pastors and welfare coordinators, documentary analysis of church welfare programme records, and questionnaires administered to 200 church members regarding their awareness of and participation in poverty alleviation efforts. Findings reveal significant variation in poverty response approaches. Mainline churches emphasise structural advocacy and long-term welfare programmes, while Pentecostal churches focus on faith-based economic empowerment and seed-faith giving. Emergency food assistance reaches 18 to 35 percent of congregational need in surveyed churches. Only two of five churches have documented poverty response strategies linked to theological frameworks. The study concludes that Christian poverty response in Ibadan is largely reactive and institutionally fragmented, and recommends the development of a comprehensive theology of poverty and economic justice in Nigerian church life, informed by both liberation theology and biblical shalom principles applied to the Yoruba urban context.

Keywords: poverty response, Christian theology, church welfare, Ibadan, South West Nigeria