Vol. 1 No. 1, February 2022

Prayer Camping and Convention Programmes as Faith-Based Recreation and Religious Tourism Activities among Redeemed Christian Church of God Faithful in Nigeria

Setonji, N.A., PhD & Adande, A.D.

Abstract

The study critically examined if prayer camping and convention programmes could be regarded as faithbased recreation and religious tourism activities. Descriptive survey research design was used in the study. Prayer Camping and Convention as Recreation and Religious Tourism Activities Questionnaire (PCCRRTAQ), structured and developed by the researchers, was used for data collection. The study involved 650 RCCG youth participants, made up of 316 (48.6%) males and 334 (51.4%) females. The pilot study was carried out, using 10 Anglican Church fellowship members in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State and reliability of the instrument was established with Cronbach’s alpha and test re-test after an interval of two weeks. The reliability coefficients based on Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was PCCRRTAQ (r=0.75). The data collected was entered into Microsoft Excel 2010 Software and later exported to SPSS 18.0 statistical packages for data analysis. The results of linear regression analysis used for testing the hypothesis revealed a significant r-value=0.0017 (t =1.014; P<0.05) obtained at <0.05 confidence level, which made the hypothesis to be rejected. This implies that the respondents saw prayer camping/convention programmes as recreation/religious tourism activities and also, a good way to enjoy recreation. Based on the findings, the study recommends among others that the pastoral hierarchy of Redeemed Christian Church of God should strive more to put in place standard motivating recreation and religious tourism facilities at the Redemption Camp so that the camping and convention participants would not only have spiritual benefits but also to have the very best faith-based recreation and tourism experiences.

Keywords

Redeemed Christian Church of God, prayer camping, convention, recreation, religious tourism

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