For about one week between August 10 and 15, leaders of the Apostolic Churches in Africa gathered at the LAWNA Territory of the Church in Lagos for its biennial conference. It was no ordinary meeting. It was time for the church to reinstate values that would make it endure for years to come.
The meeting also attracted leaders of the Church from outside Africa. The president of The Apostolic Church, Britain, Ivin Parker and the President of the Church in Ghana, Aaron Amiba, who is also the coordinator of the leaders in Africa, were at the event along with many other foreign participants.
Emphasis on holiness
For the days that the pastors gathered, they took time to visit the age-long tradition of the church, which emphasises holiness and integrity of heart. The conference also brought to the fore the age-long values of the apostles of old. The goal was to keep the fire of past on.
The president of the church in Nigeria, Pastor Lawrence Oladele, addressed the media on the last day of the event. He gave a rundown of the five-day conference and gave a hint of the direction the church would go in the coming years.
Oladele spoke on the theme of the conference, which is Building the Church with God’s Word
He said the conference afforded participants opportunity to learn and unlearn many things while expressing assurance that they were ready to go and impact the world around them.
His words, “We have cross-fed ourselves on topical issues that border on our beliefs and practices to bring the church to the unity of faith, knowledge of the son of God, unto a perfect man and the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
The onus, according to him, now lies on the leaders to go to their nations and spread the news because the nations of Africa need the understanding that the word of God supersedes any other thing.
No more going to court
Oladele further urged members of the church who have taken their leaders to court for one reason or the other to withdraw their cases. He informed that the church has a better way of resolving conflict. “Let it be known that we have a better way, the scriptural apostolic and council way of resolving critical issues within the church,” he said.
He called on all the leaders, given what transpired during the conference, to obey the constitution guiding their operations to avoid unnecessary litigation. “Justice, fairness and righteousness should start from the church of God, which is the ground and pillar of truth,” he charged.
African leaders
He pleaded with all presidents of the various countries in Africa to allow the fear of God and care for their citizenry to be their main agenda in governance. “They should stop oppressive policies against Christians, persecutions, and even killing of Christians directly and indirectly by known and unknown bandits without justice for the victims. There must be freedom of worship for everyone, and the government must protect the lives and properties of the populace,” Oladele said.
As the new president of the Apostolic Church in Nigeria, Oladele promised that his administration would take the church to a new height. “We are strongly going to pursue the mandate of Jesus as contained in the Book of Luke 4v18-19 which had earlier being prophesied in Isaiah 61v1: For the spirit of the Lord is upon us and has anointed us to the take the Church to the next level of the five-fold JESUS mission in the context of the Church’s Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat.”
He solicited the support of all stakeholders of the church in Nigeria.
Despite the deficit of infrastructure and resources in the Apostolic Church, he promised that his administration would work conscientiously for its progress.
Apostolic Church, Britain
The President of The Church in Britain, Ivin Parker, expressed great excitement about coming to Nigeria to see the great work being done in the Church.
He noted that the Apostolic Church in Nigeria is one of the churches that was nurtured by the church in Britain in the early 20th century. He expressed joy that the church is now in 115 countries.
On the implication of the Nigerian church severing administrative link from the church in Britain in 1981, he said, “We are still one family. Nigeria’s success is our success. We have given our best. We sent missionaries to this country years back, and we are glad to see that God has truly blessed the church here. We invested our money wisely. To see these flourishing churches is a great delight. Our churches are growing.” He quipped.
Revival in Britain
He debunked insinuations that the church is on the decline in Britain, noting that the Body of Christ is under severe media attack in that part of the world. “It is true that some aspects of the church are going down. But that does not truly represent the state of the Church in Britain. There is a move of God in the UK. It has been going on for two years now. But the media in the UK tell the world that the church is in decline. Not all churches are declining. Pentecostals and evangelicals are growing.” Parker said.
Recalling how the church started in a little room in Wales, Parker said, “We may feel like a little loaf of bread and fish. But God has expanded us to what we are today. We expect separation. But it does not affect us. As a family of churches, we are highly relational.”
Gay issue
On the issue of gay rights and the implications for the church in the UK, he said, “We have not been able to stop the legislation, but there is legislation behind legislation. The Evangelical Alliance, which has good lawyers, are on the matter and they are fighting behind the scenes to protect believers. Our vision is to promote the gospel; to keep telling people about Jesus, and to model the life of Christ. It is clear from the scriptures that homosexuality is a sin. We can’t compromise that. We love sinners and would keep teaching and telling them the truth.’”
According to him, people in the West are beginning to see the lie and the futility of the world system. “People are coming to church and by implication, to Christ in droves because they know there is no authenticity in what is being promoted by the world. That is why we don’t condemn people. We condemn sin in them.”
Why Africans are deceived by pastors
Aaron Amiba, President of the church in Ghana and lead coordinator for the Apostolic Church leaders in Africa, in his submission, lamented the preponderance of all manners of people performing some wonders and forming churches. He added, however, that the word of God is the only authentic doctrine.
People, according to him, believe pastors easily, and they end up sometimes in the wrong hands. “Some are losing money and even losing their lives,” he said
He said the conference was an opportunity to remind pastors that “the word of God is sufficient to build people. We are telling our people to emphasise that. Africa has a poverty problem. The people want prosperity. So, they easily get deceived by churches that place undue emphasis on prosperity.
“If you go to some countries where things are okay, you have to change your message. But that should not be. True preachers should make sure their messages are Biblical. Unfortunately, some genuine pastors are getting carried away. They should know that God will judge them if they fail to declare his complete counsel. We should not deceive people,.” he warned
He expressed hope that there will be some sanity in the Church in Africa, adding, however, that the change we are expecting must come from within.
“We must do it in a way that we don’t infringe upon our freedom of association. In our church, we discipline erring pastors. What the government can do is to make rules that will ensure that every church belongs to an ecumenical body that will regulate them. As long as churches are not accountable to anybody, it will be difficult to call them to order.” He stated.
