STRESS MANAGEMENT IN THE LEADERSHIP OF METHODIST CHURCH NIGERIA- PERSPECTIVES FROM EXODUS 18-13-27
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- Recommended for : Student Researchers
- NGN 3000
Background to the Study
The accounts of creation reveal God’s view on stress management, in that He worked for six days and rested on the seventh day (Gen 2: 2). God rested on the seventh day of creation, not because He was tired, rather He ceased from work after creation as a model for human beings, hence the necessity of rest which informed the Sabbath as a day of rest for the Jews. The creation of day and night also depicts the idea of rest for the benefit of human health and prevention of stress (Gen 1: 5). It was not the intention of God for man to undergo unnecessary stress, but to live comfortably. He put all the creatures in good place and prepared the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve as the first leaders on earth to enjoy life. The Garden of Eden was a comfortable zone for them until their disobedience ushered in stress and suffering as a penalty. Hence stress became inevitable to humanity consequent upon the fall of man (Gen 3: 16-19). Subsequently, stress in leadership cannot be denied in the Old Testament; even Moses the greatest leader in the Old Testament dispensation, as observed by Pfeiffer (2003), experienced lots of stress in his mission to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage to the land of rest, the Promised Land. The effect of stress was so much on Moses that Jethro, his father-in-Law, had to advise him on how to manage stress as a leader (Gen 18: 18-26). Since stress is inexorable in leadership, it then behooves the leaders to device means of coping with it by controlling and minimizing the stressors. In the same vein, the clergy and lay leaders of Methodist Church Nigeria are not free from the menace of stress, probably due to over commitment, economic and other social factors. In spite of the fact that the idea of teamwork is structured in Methodist leadership as provided by the constitution, some leaders still abuse it and monopolize duties for selfish 2 interests and other flimsy excuses. Consequently, the alarming rate of stress syndrome among religious and secular leaders in the society, especially in Methodist Church Nigeria, aroused the interest and curiosity of the researcher to embark on this work with the aim of discovering the causes and effects of leadership-stress in order to find possible solutions through a hermeneutical study of Exodus 18: 13-27. It is imperative to note that the exposure of religious leaders to stress may not be far from the experience of leaders in secular organizations in Nigeria considering the sociopoitical and economic impart on the citizens. The church as part of the society is not oblivious of what is happening in Nigeria since the clergy and other religious adherants cannot be exonerated physically and psychologically from daily events in the society. Thus, the state of economy affects all the inhabitants of Nigeria. Socio-economic status (SES) is a broad term that is used to describe factors about aperson’s lifestyle including occupation, income, and education. The relationship between socio-economic status (SES), physical and mental health; morbidity, disability, and mortality has been long and extensively studied. While the overallrelationship of SES to mortality may attenuate in older ages, socio-economic position continues tobe linked to the prevalence of disability, chronic and degenerative diseases, includingcardiovascular disease, many cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease. Low SES may result in poorphysical and/or mental health by operating through various psychosocial mechanisms such as poor health-related behaviours, social exclusion, prolonged and/or heightened stress,loss of sense of control, and low self- esteem as well as differential access to propernutrition and to health and social services. In turn, these psychosocial mechanisms may lead to physiological changes such as raised cortisol, altered blood-pressure response, and decreased immunity that place individualsat risk for adverse health and functioning outcomes. Not only may SES affect 3 health, but physicaland mental health may have an impact upon the various components of SES (education,income/wealth, occupation) over the life course. For example, bouts of serious illness may resultin a significant and sustained loss of wealth. In bridging the gaps, the World Health Organization (1995) states, ‘The world’s most ruthless killer and the greatest cause of suffering on earth is extreme poverty.’ This statement emphasizes the place of poverty as a variable adversely influencing health. Poverty is amultidimensional phenomenon, encompassing inability to satisfy basic needs, lack of controlover resources, lack of education and poor health. Poverty can be intrinsically alienating and distressing; and of particular concern are the direct and indirect effects of poverty on thedevelopment and maintenance of emotional, behavioural and psychiatric problems. Themeasurement of poverty is based on incomes or consumption levels. People areconsidered poor if their consumption or income levels fall below the ‘poverty line’, which isthe minimum level necessary to meet basic needs. It should be emphasised thatthe World Bank bases the poverty line on thenorms for that society in order to get theanalysis of poverty in a particular country.
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