Church of Nigeria:

"PRIORITY IS MISSION, MISSION, AND MISSION" - Abp. Akinfenwa

CONN/200307

Sermon at Consecration of 20 Bishops

Archbishop of Ibadan, The Most Rev Joseph Akinfenwa, has stressed the importance of mission in the life and ministry of the Church, which seeks to find her place in God’s scheme of things.

In a sermon delivered Sunday during the consecration of 20 bishops at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Abuja. Akinfenwa said the Church existed at a time when evangelism has become important to `God more than ever before’.

Quoting from Matthew 24:14, Archbishop Akinfenwa said that the words of `our Lord Jesus Christ was being fulfilled in our days’, even though some persons will argue back and forth on this prophecy.

The Archbishop, who led a week-long pre-consecration retreat for the new Bishops, cited the rise of false prophets, rumours of war and wars in many nations, clashes of civilizations, famine and hunger, and natural disasters, as proof of end time events.

He observed there was rising intolerance of the truth of God’s word and warned that it was becoming more difficult for the church to preserve sound doctrine in the face of compromise.

He said: “Error is now broadcast so loud in the streets…in the name of ecumenism and religious dialogue many churches are being lured out of the faith of the apostles, and all these are happening in out times.”

Spelling out a charge to members of the Anglican Communion and indeed the universal church, Akinfenwa declared: ‘Every Church that seeks to find her place in God’s scheme and to stay or abide there must have only one priority…

He continued: “There are many things the church can do; there are so many things a bishop can do, but the Church that seeks to stay in the centre of God’s will and to enjoy His supreme blessings, can only have one priority, that priority is ‘mission, mission and mission.’

The Archbishop, whose sermon was greeted with intermittent claps from thousands of worshippers, declared that Church of Nigeria was significant today because Holy men of God have prophesized that it would be a marching instrument in the hand of God at the end time.

But, for the Church to fulfill that prophecy and the vision to bring in more converts into the fold, it must major in God’s priority: which is `mission, mission and mission, the Archbishop stressed.

Speaking to the new Bishops, Archbishop Akinfenwa drew from his years of experience, when he advised them on how to stay focused in the ministry and the priority of mission.

“Entrance into the Episcopate is a challenge. It is not an achievement. The burden is heavy, the road is rough, the path is narrow, the valley is dark, the mountain is frightening. But travel with Jesus… for by strength shall no man prevail,” he recalled 1Samuel 2:9.

He charged the new bishops- nineteen of them are being sent to missionary areas- to maintain the scriptural instruction to 'go and make disciples of all nations’.

He told them, 'if you decide to stay back and relax in the Bishops-court, you will have many problems because you will be available to receive the carriers of the problem. But if you are in the mission field, in the villages, you will have less problem because when they come, they will not meet you at home.’’

In his remarks, the Primate, the Most Rev Peter Akinola explained the reason behind the creation of more dioceses. "This church needs 400 bishops not 120 bishops. We need to establish effective presence of the Anglican Church in every part of this country.”

According to Akinola, "the era of ceremonial episcopate is over. We are now in a dispensation whereby the bishop is available everyday, every week, every month, to the people of God committed to his charge”

BISHOPS JOIN IN CONSECRATION PRAYERS

The Primate of West Africa, the Most Rev Justice Akorfi, was present at the service. He expressed delight about church growth in Nigeria and admitted that he considered the consecration of 20 bishops in one service, a rare occurrence.

More than 80 bishops of the Church of Nigeria attended the event including Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Dr John Onayeikan also attended.

The service lasted for nearly 5 hours and the Bishops had only some thirty minutes respite after the service before they entered into a closed door meeting that lasted nearly another 2hours.

The meeting elected another set of six new bishops to man five new dioceses and a new bishop was elected to replace the retired Bishop of Katsina, the Rt. Rev James Kwasu.

(Church of Nigeria News)