MINISTRY

There is a gender gap in many employment settings, including the Church, as a result of the underrepresentation of skilled women in leadership roles because women do not match the stereotype of good leaders, society in general and the church in particular continue to make it difficult for them to obtain leadership positions. Many reasons have been made in favour of male chauvinism, which is largely widespread in African civilization, despite the undeniable roles of women as homemakers and builders of nations. Many factors, including culture, church traditions, biblical evidence, the fundamental biological makeup of women, and religion itself, contribute to the prejudice against women in leadership positions in the church. The discrimination, unfairness, and injustice experienced by women appear to be ingrained. Even worse and more scandalous is the fact that religion has been and still used to justify the oppression and subjection of women in modern society. This study was carried out to
examine Nigerian Women in ministry and gender discrimination, the case of Deeper Life Bible Church in Nigeria. Descriptive statistics was used to examine the objectives of the study. Out of the 71 respondents, the males are 38 (representing 53.5%), while the females are 33 (representing 46.5%). The findings of the study showed that the majority of the sampled respondents are males as it has the highest frequency score. In terms of district investigated, out of the 71 respondents, 23 (representing 32.4%) were from Church 1 (DLCF BDPA), 27 (representing 38.0%) were from Church 2 (DLCF-OSASOGIE) and 21
v (representing 29.6%) were from Church 3 (DLCF-EKOSODIN). The findings of the study also showed that majority of the sampled respondents were members of Church 3 (DLCF EKOSODIN). Also, in terms of membership, out of the 71 respondents, 60 (representing 84.5%) were Lay Congregation, 4 (representing 5.6%) were pastors and 7 (representing 9.9%) were women leaders. The analysis showed that majority of the sampled respondents was the lay congregation of the church. Majority of the respondents submitted that women to be appointed for leadership positions in the church. Also, out of 60 respondents who responded to 70.0% which is majority that they know women that are spiritually gifted in your church and 45.0% majority also responded that women should participate in decision making forums like church boards. The study also showed that 46.7% majority responded that women in the church allowed to function in the leadership roles in church and 30.0% majority responded
that women are not discriminated in the church and also, 85.7% majority responded that women in the church are allowed to function in the leadership roles in church and they want women to be church leaders in the church.