YMCA turns church giving into social impact: When church money leaves the church
Nigeria has no shortage of young people in church, or money moving through those churches. The more interesting question is what happens after the offering is collected.
On Sunday, there will be no shortage of reasons to go to church in Nigeria. People will dress up, sing, pray, give offerings, listen to sermons and head home. Young people will be there too, filling the pews, joining youth fellowships, singing in choirs, volunteering and giving their own money. Some will return the following Sunday and do it all over again.
For millions of Nigerians, faith is not a once-in-a-while activity. It is part of everyday life. And despite the growing scepticism among younger Nigerians about religious institutions, many remain deeply engaged with their faith and the communities built around it. Christianity alone accounted for an estimated 43.4 percent of Nigeria’s population in 2020, according to Pew Research Centre. And where there are millions of believers, there is also a lot of giving.
Money moves through churches in offerings, tithes, donations and fundraising. There are building projects, welfare programmes, conventions, youth programmes and special appeals. Some churches run schools and hospitals, while others support members through difficult periods. Yet money and religion remain a complicated conversation in Nigeria.
The country’s churches have faced criticism over prosperity preaching, fundraising practices and the lifestyles of some religious leaders. Questions about accountability are not new either. When people are giving from salaries, businesses and savings, it is fair to ask what becomes of those contributions beyond keeping the institution running.
But perhaps there is another question worth asking. What if more of that money, time and energy was deliberately turned into opportunities for people? That is where the Young Men’s Christian Association of Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral offers an interesting example.
Faith that leaves something behind
The YMCA at Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral recently marked its 59th anniversary, but its celebration was not simply a thanksgiving service followed by a reception.
The association spent part of the anniversary programme outside the church. On July 11, members visited the Federal School of the Blind in Oshodi, Lagos, where they had a fellowship with the school’s management and students and donated material items to the institution.
The following day, during the association’s anniversary thanksgiving service, it presented its annual bursary awards to 11 students studying different courses at higher institutions. The awards were presented by the President of YMCA AVMCC, Dr Olorunfemi Ojo, on behalf of the association.
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It is a relatively simple idea: members contribute, the association organises its resources, and some of that support ends up with people who need it. But that simplicity is precisely what makes it interesting. A bursary can help a student meet a practical need, while donated materials can provide immediate support to a school serving people with visual impairment and its students directly that day.
This is the part of religion that is sometimes lost in the noise. A church community can be a place where people gather to worship, but it can also be a place where people organise themselves to solve problems in their community and create social impact.
Young people are already in the room
There is another reason this matters. Nigeria has a huge young population, and churches have something that governments, businesses and many charities would struggle to replicate: regular access to young people.
Young Nigerians are already sitting in these congregations. They are in youth fellowships, choirs, volunteer groups, campus ministries and community associations. They are donating money, organising events and giving their time. The question is what happens when that energy moves beyond the church programme.
That is where religious organisations can have a much bigger social footprint than the number of people sitting in their pews suggests. The debate does not have to be religion versus money. Religious organisations need money to function. The more useful conversation is about what those resources achieve.
The YMCA AVMCC’s anniversary activities are a modest example of that possibility. They are not presented as a solution to Nigeria’s education, poverty or disability challenges, and they should not be treated as one.
But they show what happens when religious celebration is connected to practical action.
There is something particularly fitting about the YMCA being involved in this. The organisation has historically been associated with youth development, community service and social responsibility, so its anniversary is not only about looking backwards at 59 years. It also offers a reminder of what a faith-based organisation can do with the community it has built.
Because somewhere in Lagos, an anniversary of a church association has not ended with applause and photographs alone. A student has received help towards an education. A school has received donated materials. And a group of believers has spent part of its celebration doing something for people outside its own walls.
That is where the conversation about religious money becomes more interesting. It is not only about how much is collected, but also about what that money makes possible.
