The General Overseer of Pentecostal Congregation, Bishop Abraham Olaleye has urged church leaders to make sound theological education a priority if they are to lead the present day church successfully.
He made the plea at the inauguration service of Pastor Rufus Dada as the General Overseer of Upper Room Baptist Church on December 31
The former General Overseer of the church, Pastor Oluleke Akinola served the church for 21 years before his voluntary retirement and handover to Pastor Dada.
The church has experienced three seamless successions since it was founded in 1987.
Change of Baton
At the service which was tagged, change of baton, Olaleye said, ‘apart from the salvation of a church leader the next critical thing is that the leader must have sound theological knowledge. It is sound knowledge of the Bible that will enable such leader to rightly divide the word of truth.’
While noting that the Church in Nigeria is going through challenging times and season, he said, ‘It has become imperative to restore quality leadership to the church adding however that :God is not lacking men to do ministry.’
According to him, the Church should not be in a hurry to put men in leadership. ‘God is raising men that are saved. Without salvation there should be no ministry. If God has not saved us we cannot be called to work in his vineyard. If preachers are not saved, how will they produce godly men.’ he said.
He added, :God is raising men and women who are theologically sound.’
Vision not enough
Bishop Olaleye said ‘having vision to start ministry is not enough. A pastor must go to a good Bible College whether by correspondence or full time. It is important that every pastor is taught how to rightly divide the word.’
He however pointed out that the theological knowledge he was rooting for should not be based on denomination. ‘the Bible college must be such that has global relevance and not the type that is tied to our denomination. Any teaching that has it’s own variant and different from the globally acceptable theology will lead to confusion.
The theological knowledge I am talking about has to be universal such that the knowledge from there can be preached anywhere in the world.’
He noted that there are many pastors who have mixed Christianity with traditional religion to the extent that what only differentiates them from others is the name of Jesus they mention. Apart from that such ministers according to him do what other faiths do.
‘That should not be. What we are talking about is a theology that puts Christ and Christ alone at the centre. It must be about Christ and it must go back to the practice of the apostles.’
Awards
The event attracted church leaders from across Lagos and beyond. It was also an opportunity to honour those who have served the church over the years. Many were given awards including wife of the former General Overseer, Pastor Boade.Akinola.
Pastor Akinola who was full of gratitude to God said his wife played critical role in ensuring his success as General Overseer
Many testified at the event that Akinola’s tenure as overseer was scandal free and also that the church did not witness any disintegration.
Pastor Akinola later led Pastor Dada to take affirmations after which he was installed as the General Overseer of the church. A crop of pastors from across other denominations were on ground to pray for him and his wife.
The new G.O.
The new General Overseer, Pastor Rufus Olalekan Dada is a trained accountant. He had his theological training at both the Redeemed Christian Bible College and Haggai Institute Lagos chapter.
He got born again in the church in 1991and had held leadership positions right from his student days. He worked in the secular environment until 2002 when he received divine call to go into ministry but was ordained full pastor in 2007.
He has since played crucial roles in the church including being convener of National Youth Congress. He got married in 2003 and the family is blessed with children.
