Akinola: A divine journey into primacy

By the time Akinola became Primate, the Church of Nigeria had been structured into three ecclesiastical provinces, namely Province I, Province II, and Province III. It had 76 Dioceses and 76 Bishops. The office of the Primate was situated at whatever Diocese the Primate emerged from. Most of the Churches were located in urban settings […]

By the time Akinola became Primate, the Church of Nigeria had been structured into three ecclesiastical provinces, namely Province I, Province II, and Province III. It had 76 Dioceses and 76 Bishops. The office of the Primate was situated at whatever Diocese the Primate emerged from. Most of the Churches were located in urban settings with thousands of villages yet to be reached by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was manifest raw paganism and syncretism; spirituality was shallow and many adherents paid little attention to Bible study, prayer and fasting. The spiritual growth rate of the Church was significantly low, though the Church witnessed a significant numerical growth. Perhaps due to the lack of fund, many churches had evidently done away with works of charity and caring for the needy.

The new Primate, Akinola, used the occasion of his presentation in Abuja on March 25, 2000 to flag off the process of articulating the vision of the Church of Nigeria. Just two days after his presentation, Akinola embarked on a two-day retreat with over 400 leaders of the church, made up of all the bishops, some clergies and laities Nigeria. The propositions of the group were harmonized and eventually adopted as the Vision of the Church of Nigeria Standing Committee on June 5, 2000 at Owerri. The Vision states that: The Church of Nigeria shall be Bible based, spiritually dynamic, united, disciplined self supporting, committed to pragmatic evangelism, social welfare and a church that epitomizes the genuine love of Christ.

The Vision is made up of five essential elements namely: Sustainable Spirituality, Rustic Evangelism and Church planting, Caring, Playing of active roles within the Anglican Communion and Ecumenical bodies and Self Reliance.

Under his administration, some of the various Vision Committees—‘institutional requirements for implementing the Vision’ have developed into Directorates with Directors that handle the different aspects of the Church’s affairs.

These include:  Committee on Youth, Women’s Work and Social Welfare, Finance/Investment, Theological and Doctrinal Matters, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Global Inter-Anglican Relations, Mission and Evangelism, Communications.

With the General Synod and its Standing Committee, Archbishop Akinola has been able to harness the Church’s resources for greater effectiveness. The women were also carried along as they met and deliberated regularly on relevant issues at the Mothers’ Union and Women’s Guild national meetings under the leadership of Mrs. Susan Akinola.

The Church under Akinola’s Primacy identified the necessary connection between governance, propagation and sustainability and the need for the Church to be self-reliant in these matters. Accordingly, the Church has pursued these objectives in the following ways: The Endowment Fund – Archbishop Akinola led the Church to establish an Endowment Fund of One Billion Naira, thus positioning the national Church to be well resourced to pursue its programmes and activities without hindrance in perpetuity as the fund is wisely invested to generate superior returns in various ways.

Diocesan Assessment Reduction: Consequently, the Diocesan Assessments to the national Church has been reduced to a near abolition level of less than 3% of what it was in the year 2000 when the Primate assumed office. This token 3% is for the Dioceses to have some sense of belonging; and it’s intended to release funds for more evangelistic work at the Diocesan and Parish levels of the Church. The Bishops and their Dioceses were encouraged to relieve their parishes of the high burdens of assessment accordingly by exploring other ways of fund raising.

Increased Church Budget: The Church’s national budget has grown from less than N30m in 2002, all of which came from Assessment to N160m in2009 with a mere N3m coming from Assessment.

Church Investments and Developments – The Church has plans to develop a 21-storey Church of Nigeria Towers in the Central Business District of Abuja.  Similarly, with the help and financial support of one of the key leaders in our Church, a new National Secretariat and Conference Centre is to be built in the Gudu District of the city.

Economic Empowerment: The Church has twice, 2004 and 2009 organized Economic Empowerment Seminars for all the Dioceses. The diocesan leadership has been acquainted with the people and practices that can help them diversify their economic base and become less dependent on the unsustainable church assessments.

At its Ibru Retreat Centre, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State the church has erected additional 2 blocks of 124 en-suite rooms to provide a befitting accommodation for all the bishops and other users of the centre.

The Church keeps enhancing the operations of the Communication Department by linkage to the outside world through the Crowther-Net and Crowther Radio operations. The Church has continued to reposition the CSS Bookshops for greater effectiveness and delivery on its set aims and objectives.

Socio-politically, the Church has been expressing its concern for the national wellbeing by the organization of a National Political Awareness Conference with the theme: “Seek Ye the Welfare of the Nation” (Jeremiah 29:7) through which the attention of local, national and international governments and/or their agencies was drawn to various political, socio-economic and religious situations that threaten the peaceful co-existence of mankind. Examples include: the Niger Delta crisis and national security, fight against corruption, the 2006 population census, the 2007 general elections, the Darfur, Sudan crisis, the hurricane catherina disaster etc.

The Church of Nigeria in its pursuit of national rebirth has also established an Award for Integrity and Excellence for the recognition and appreciation of qualified individuals across the nation.

Educationally, the Church has been very forthcoming in the furtherance of theological education and ministerial formation and integration by the establishment of the Crowther Graduate School of Theology and Leadership Training, Igbein, Abeokuta for the advanced training of its membership (Bishops, Clergy and Laity). The School incorporates a Language School for the training of postulants in the three major Nigerian languages (Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa). This among other things will eventually reposition the clergy for cross-regional church ministry aimed at helping to break down ethnic and tribal prejudices both in the Church and in the nation.

Gbenga Onayiga is a member of the Anglican Diocese of Abuja.