Nigerian Pentecostal Megachurches, Prayer Cities and the Environment: Assessing the Ecological Footprint of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s Redemption City

Nigerian Pentecostal Megachurches, Prayer Cities and the Environment: Assessing the Ecological Footprint of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s Redemption City

Babatunde Adedibu

Issue: Vol. 11 No. 12 2025 Issue Article 2 pp. 603 – 617
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202511122 | Published online 29th December, 2025.
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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ABSTRACT

This study investigated the environmental mission and public role of Nigerian Pentecostal megachurch leaders, explicitly focusing on Redemption City of God within the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria. Since the 1980s, these megachurches have sought to sanctify social, economic, and agricultural spheres, thereby altering Nigeria’s religious landscape. This transformation, however, has resulted in the commercialisation of nature through spiritual activities, campgrounds, and large congregations, a phenomenon scholars term ‘ecological sin’. Despite apparent environmental degradation, leaders and members frequently show indifference to ecological concerns. The research explored the disparity between the considerable religious influence of churches and their ecological responsibilities, identifying internal and external challenges to environmental stewardship. Using a descriptive method that integrated secondary literature review with primary data from discussions and interviews with church leaders, the study found that while creation care is occasionally mentioned in teachings, actual ecological stewardship is minimal. The emphasis on rapid growth, economic development, and spiritual empowerment often eclipses environmental responsibility. Campgrounds and religious sites, intended as sacred spaces, frequently contribute to deforestation, waste accumulation, and ecological imbalance. The research contributes to the discourse on religion and ecology in Africa by highlighting the contradiction of Nigerian Pentecostal megachurches: powerful social and religious actors with significant potential for positive ecological impact yet remaining largely disengaged from environmental responsibility.

Keywords: Ecological Degradation, Ecological Sin, Nigerian Pentecostal megachurches, Prayer Cities

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AUTHOR(S)

Babatunde Adedibu is a Professor of Church History and Missiology in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria. He is a Professor Extraordinary with the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Adedibu is co-editor of the book Megachurches in Africa: Trends, Politics and Pandemic (2024). Adedibu’s research interests include interrogating the new dynamics of spiritual experience(s) and expression(s) in Africa and the African Diaspora, with a particular focus on Pentecostalism, as well as the interconnectedness between theology, religious creativity and innovation, development, mission, migration, globalisation, media, and civil society.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Adedibu, Babatunde. “Nigerian Pentecostal Megachurches, Prayer Cities and the Environment: Assessing the Ecological Footprint of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s Redemption City.” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies 11, no.12 (2025): 603 – 617. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202511122.