Conflict Management Mechanisms through Social Media among the Nigerian Baptist Pastors

Abstract

This article aims at exploring the conflict management mechanisms through social media that the pastors of the Nigerian Baptist Convention are using in their churches. Twenty pastors were randomly and purposively selected from the pool of Baptist church pastors in the Ibadan metropolis. Five key officers of the Nigerian Baptist Convention at the national level at its headquarters were also interacted with. Each of these pastors was orally interviewed. Some documents were used to substantiate or disprove the assertions of these pastors. It was revealed during the study that church members are faced with a lot of conflicts. It was also revealed that pastors have been unconsciously using various conflict management mechanisms to resolve these conflicts. Furthermore, the study revealed that pastors have started using social media to resolve conflicts. The study, therefore, recommends that Baptist pastors in particular and other pastors, in general, should be introduced formally to more conflict management mechanisms in order to more effectively and consciously resolve conflicts among their church members. The study also recommends that pastors should be more familiar with how to use social media to manage conflicts among their church members.