Sunday school as a conflict resolution mechanism in churches of the Nigerian Baptist convention

Abstract

The world is full of conflicts of many kinds. The churches of the Nigerian Baptist Convention are not exempted as many of the churches are confronted with many of these conflicts. These conflicts have to be resolved. This paper identifies some of the types of conflicts common in the churches of the Nigerian Baptist Convention. The paper presents Sunday School as a mechanism to resolve these conflicts and prevent and deescalate them. These are done by giving a brief definition of Sunday School, tracing its history to its origin in the eighteenth century, and then explaining how Sunday School can be used as a conflict resolution mechanism. The paper concludes with some recommendations. Amongst these recommendations are: stakeholders in the church should pay more attention to Sunday School activities in order to use the activities to prevent, deescalate, and resolve conflicts consciously; church leaders should, as much as possible, live exemplary lives devoid of conflicts; and the society in general and governments, in particular, should explore how to adapt Sunday School in resolving conflicts.