The Pros and Cons of Social Communication in the Mission of the Church in Nigeria

Abstract

To foster encounters between people through information-sharing, social communication is open to the Church’s mission. Sadly, these encounters are confronted by debased use of communication-media which prevents effective communication. The researcher used Multimedia Theoretical Framework to assess the situation of the use of the means of Social Communication in the Mission of the Church in Nigeria. Through the qualitative method of study, it was discovered that despite the rich extant documents of the Church on effective use of the means of communication, there is a wrong understanding of communication, lack of will-power to incarnate media use into the Nigerian pastoral context and suspicion concerning the use of virtual reality. Engaging the media of communication, supporting the Directorate of Social Communications and establishing a National Pastoral Plan were recommended for efficient use of social communication in the mission of the Church in Nigeria. It concluded that shying away from engaging the media for the purposes of evangelisation amounts to playing the ostrich which has dire consequences.