In the contemporary Churches in Nigeria, many
Pastors have become professional practitioners
without any positive witness to their pastoral ministry.
There is gross abuse among priests and ministers, not
only in the orthodox Churches but across
denominational affiliations in Nigeria. This has
questioned the authenticity of God‟s calling upon
many priest and tarnished their ministries. Such priestly
lasciviousness has led to materialism and the quest for
physical gratification and exploitation of the
members. The shepherd no longer care for the sheep
but desire to be fattened alone by the sheep. Both
the print and electronic media are occupied with
news of pastoral lewdness and inordinate desire for
money and properties. The situation has so
degenerated that pastors have been charged with
fraudulent practices, such as, internet scam, stealing,
sexual misconduct, etc. these challenges have grossly
affected the pastoral oversight of the Priests and
further polarized them from their flocks. It is this
challenge that this research undertakes; to reexamine
the context of shepherding in Psalm 23 and
its implications for the Pastoral ministries in Nigeria
contemporary denominations. The research
employed historical, and descriptive survey research
methods of approach. This became important so that
the research will be able to get to the background in
order to discover some facts and how this can be
appropriated in Nigeria churches. The research
concluded that Psalm 23 can be understood from a
leadership perspective, that Yahweh‟s shepherding
roles in protecting, providing, and comforting should be a model for Priests. The study recommended that the Nigeria head of churches should developed task and ministry oriented groups that shall be committed to reaching optimal health, physical and spiritual growth of the people through, communal life and caring for the congregants. Care-giving ministry should transcends the priesthood, hence, trained members should be incorporated to the care-giving ministry.