Missionary Strategies of Nigeria South-East Spiritans: The Application of New Methods of Evangelization; 1970-2020

Between 1885 and 1970, expatriate Missionaries of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) engaged in what was judged by many as a successful missionary activity in the former Eastern Nigeria. Many have equally argued that their successes in Eastern Nigeria were as a result of their missionary strategies. With the exit of these Missionaries from Nigeria in 1970, the Spiritan missionary baton in this part of the globe fell on their few indigenous members of the Province of Nigeria South-East, who then, could boast of missionary presence in only six communities and only in Nigeria. This situation came at a time when the Catholic world was beckoning more on ‘new evangelizing methods and expressions. By the end of 2019, members of this Province had missionary presence in two hundred and twenty-six communities in forty countries all around the world. Considering the instrumentality of strategies to the success of missionary activity, this paper, in descriptive/narrative and thematic approaches, tried to see to what extent the members of the Spiritan Province of Nigeria South-East employed the ‘new methods of evangelization’ in their missionary activity between 1970 and 2020. The findings show that amidst the wind of change in the world, they were able to adapt and profitably use functional and serviceable new methods of evangelization to spread their mission in the world