The Kaduna Diocese of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) said on Friday that worshippers’ attendance in its churches has dropped by 30 per cent.

The Diocesan Bishop, Most Rev. Josiah Fearon, after the First Session of the 19th Synod in Kaduna, attributed the poor attendance of faithful to the current national security challenge.

Fearon said the drop in church attendance had also contributed to a 60 per cent drop in financial support to the church through the offering of tithes and the Church fund raising for the development of projects.

Read it all.

The Prelate of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, warned that the country was drifting to anarchy.

He said, “At the rate we are going, the country is drifting fast into anarchy and if people now capitalise on that situation, it will degenerate to dog eat dog.

“If dog eats dog, that is the end of the country. So for me, we go back to government whose responsibility it is constitutionally to provide defence for the people.”

Read it all.

In September 2011, the General Synod of the Church of Nigeria passed a resolution supporting the formation of the Missionary Diocese of the Trinity (MDT), under the oversight of the Rt. Rev’d Amos Fagbamiye. The MDT is currently comprised of congregations and clergy in both the United States and Canada. Bishop Fagbamiye leads the Anglican Cathedral Church of the Resurrection in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Plans are underway for the inauguration of the MDT on August 19, in Indianapolis with the Most Rev’d Nicholas Okoh, Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) officiating. Everyone is welcome to attend the celebration….

Read it all and there is more information there.

[Archbishop Nicholas] Okoh…described Nigerians as being innately corrupt, ]and] noted that enforcement of existing laws that are expected to act as checks and balances against corruption has remained a great challenge to the country, saying: “it is not so much a problem of constitution but people are dedicated to evil.”

He emphasised that politicians are not the only set of Nigerians that indulge in corrupt practices across the country, but also local people and vandals who engage in destruction and theft of bridge railings and stadia facilities across the country.

Speaking to journalists at the first session of the second Synod of the Communion in Abuja, with the theme: “Behold obedience is better than sacrifice,” Okoh stressed that all that is required for true repentance of people, adding, “People need to repent. We need to be righteous,”.

Read it all.

The Federal Government has been scored low in its efforts at ensuring peace in the northern part of Nigeria.

This was contained in the communique issued at the end of the first session of the fifth Synod of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Ibadan-South Diocese, held recently and presided over by the Right Reverend Jacob Ajetunmobi, at the St Luke’s Anglican Church, Molete, Ibadan.

Read it all.

1. The Synod condoled with all the families of the persons that lost their lives in the DANA Airways plane crash which happened on Sunday 3rd June 2012. The Synod prayed that God will grant all the families the fortitude to bear the loss. The Synod also urged the Government thoroughly to investigate the cause of the disaster and do all that is required to make the Nigerian airspace safe.
2. In line with the Synod theme, “Passing on the Baton to the Youth” (2 Timothy 2:2), emphasis was laid upon the importance of the home and the role of parents, as well as upon the role of church leaders and members.
3. Synod emphasized that the gospel must be passed on in a never-ending chain from generation to generation.

Read it all.

Speeding up his vehicle, the attacker approached a checkpoint near the church in Bauchi State, which has previously been hit by Islamist group Boko Haram and where tension between Muslims and Christians has led to violence in the past.

“We have a checkpoint not far from the church which prevented the bomber from gaining access to his target,” said state police commissioner Mohammed Ladan.

“So he rammed the car into a security gate and the car exploded, killing him and eight other people,” he added.

Read it all.

Okoh admitted that situation in the country calls for concern, President Jonathan should not fear to administer the country, noting that with God things can not be out of control, therefore people should have faith that they would not sink.

“This synod called the whole of the country not to loss faith, because of the bombing and insecurity people were beginning to loss faith in God as if God is not able to protect them, we are trying to remind them not lose control.

“People are beginning to lose faith in the entity called Nigeria and we want them to restore that faith that God is able to solve whatever problem we have. Individuals also are beginning to loss faith in themselves, losing courage in themselves, they felt that every thing is collapsing, but again with God things can not be out of control, God is in control and individual will not sink, Nigeria is going ahead to progress”….the Primate advised.

Read it all.

The cleric noted that the all social vices confronting the country had continued to increase on a daily basis, despite several calls to governments at all levels to checkmate those problems.

The Bishop said, “ As Nigerians, we have no other country than this one. Therefore, we must make it as Nehemiah to seek the welfare of this nation. While so many social evils have been identified in the past year in our charge, there seems not to be respite yet for Nigerians.

“Kidnapping is still in place, the power sector is still in comatose, and corruption has become an established evil staring at us in the face as a nation in all the three tiers of government.

Read it all.

Speaking at the opening of the first session of the ninth synod of the Diocese of Osun (Anglican Communion) at Saint Andrew’s Anglican Church, Ada, [Governor Rauf] Aregbesola said the recent noise of purported plan to Islamise Osun was a ruse aimed at creating religious disharmony with a view to getting a state of emergency declared on the state.

The Governor said: “I believe so strongly that the Federal Government and security agencies deserve our prayers at this time. Instead of plotting mischief and fomenting trouble in a peaceful state like Osun here, they need to take a grasp of the depth of the security challenges facing the nation.

“Some evil people are bent on blowing the nation apart, and the security agencies seem to have no clue on how to tackle this menace.”

Read it all.

The Primate of the Church of Nigeria has denounced as “satanic” the calls for the impeachment of the President of Nigeria after an Italian construction firm refurbished a church in the president’s home town.

Speaking to reporters last week, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh said the claim put forward by the opposition ACN party that there was an element of corruption in the refurbishment of a church was nonsense.

“The call for the impeachment of the president over the renovation of the church in his town is satanic and it is capable of causing religious bigotry which we don’t want. The ACN should apologise and retract the statement. We call on the National Assembly to disregard the call,” the archbishop said.

Read it all.

Britain’s drift away from its Christian moorings is impacting its ability to support Christians being attacked in other countries, the Archbishop of Nigeria has warned.

Archbishop Nicholas Okoh made the comments during a meeting at the House of Lords on Tuesday night where he gave a report on widespread attacks against churches in Nigeria.

Read it all.

Easter celebrations will be taking place in Nigeria under the threat of terrorist attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

“In the past celebrations of the major feasts, Boku Haram has attacked the Christian Churches,” said Father Patrick Tor Alumuku, director of social communications for the Archdiocese of Abuja.

Last Christmas, Boko Haram killed 41 people in a series of shootings and bombings.

“There is a feeling of uncertainty and of worry, generally, about how these celebrations will be concluded” Father Alumuki told Vatican Radio. “However, we have hope, and we pray everything will go well.”

Father Alumuki also pointed out most Muslims in Nigeria do not support Boku Haram, and prominent leaders of the country’s Islamic community have sent messages wishing Christians a happy Easter.

Listen to it all.

From here:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd and Rt. Hon. Dr. Rowan Williams took over the leadership of the Anglican Communion in 2002 when it was a happy family. Unfortunately, he is leaving behind a Communion in tatters: highly polarized, bitterly factionalized, with issues of revisionist interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and human sexuality as stumbling blocks to oneness, evangelism and mission all around the Anglican world.

It might not have been entirely his own making, but certainly “crucified under Pontius Pilate”. The lowest ebb of this degeneration came in 2008, when there were, so to say, two “Lambeth” Conferences one in the UK, and an alternative one, GAFCON in Jerusalem. The trend continued recently when many Global South Primates decided not to attend the last Primates’ meeting in Dublin, Ireland.
Since Dr. Rowan Williams did not resign in 2008, over the split Lambeth Conference, one would have expected him to stay on in office, and work assiduously to ”˜mend the net’ or repair the breach, before bowing out of office. The only attempt, the covenant proposal, was doomed to fail from the start, as “two cannot walk together unless they have agreed”.

For us, the announcement does not present any opportunity for excitement. It is not good news here, until whoever comes as the next leader pulls back the Communion from the edge of total destruction. To this end, we commit our Church, the Church of Nigeria, (Anglican Communion) to serious fasting and prayers that God will do “a new thing”, in the Communion.

Nevertheless, we join others to continue in prayer for Dr. Rowan Williams and his family for a more fruitful endeavour in their post ”“ Canterbury life.

–(The Most Rev.) Nicholas D. Okoh is Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria

What is the Anglican position on the issue?

The Anglican position is very clear. We stand on upholding the sanctity of human life. We condemn in totality the terror called Boko Haram. And that we denounce it because it denounces human worth by what it is doing. We are in a democracy where people are free to practice their religion anywhere they are. So we stand on that. That Christians or people of other faith anywhere should be allowed to practice their own faith, provided they do not infringe on other people’s faith, which I know the Christians would not.

Are you satisfied with efforts the Islamic leaders and governors of the north have made to curb the menace of Boko Haram?

well! I don’t know of the efforts they have made so far. But what I do know is that it is there. This people live with them. They know them. They can fish them out, but they are not doing it. By so doing, they are obstructing the course of justice. As such they are not contributing to the well being of Nigeria. This is because people are doing certain things that are evil, and you know them. Like in Ekpoma here, if people are doing certain things we know them. And so, you see arrest being made. But when you shield them, like the man who escaped, is that not a case of protection? That is a case of protection. This thing is happening in the north. There is governance in the north. All of the governments are represented in the north. They cannot say they don’t know them. If they say they don’t know them, it means they are not doing their work.

Read it all.

Watch it all.

Arch-Bishop Peter Akinola, a retired Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), has urged Christians to remain peaceful and shun retaliatory attacks against their Muslims brothers.

Akinola made the plea at a thanksgiving service to mark the 80th birthday of Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte at St Cyprian Anglican Church in Port Harcourt.

Read it all.

The Bishop of Lagos has called upon the President of Nigeria to convene an all-party, all-ethnic congress to negotiate the future of the West African nation in the wake of a week-long general strike that followed the government’s lifting of price controls on fuel.

On 16 January 2012 President Goodluck Jonathan capitulated to union demands and partially restored the state-subsidy on fuel. The week of civil strike saw the military deployed in the streets of Lagos and most major cities.

President Jonathan conceded that the “government appreciates that the implementation of the deregulation policy would cause initial hardships” and agreed to subsidize the price of fuel.

Read it all.

According to the Primate [Nicholas Okoh], this rising wave of hostility is a dimension that is unheard of because it is the highest manifestation of intolerance.

Primate Okoh stated that all hands are on deck, the National assembly is concerned, the president is having sleepless nights and the Church is already facing serious temptation even though the Church does not initiate hostility. The head of the Anglican Church said the intense attack of Boko Haram is really tempting the Christians whether to continue to maintain peace, always turning the other cheek ,or fight back to find their safety.
He therefore made a passionate appeal to leaders in the country who can reach out to Boko Haram to dissuade them from dastardly acts of killing innocent Christian’s souls, asking them to dialogue with government if they have any axe to grind with her and leave the Church alone.

He said the attempt to drag Nigerians into militancy is something Nigerians must resist.

Read it all.

A couple of dozen years ago the Anglican Church of Nigeria was a sleepy outpost of British colonialism. White bishops from England presided over tea-sipping ex-pats and a few hundred thousand middle-class Europe-gazers from among the Nigerian population. All that changed when the Holy Spirit began reviving the Nigerian church””largely through a youth movement.

Into the Anglican Church of Nigeria poured young people eager to share their newfound love of Jesus with the staid, Anglicized believers in the pews. Eventually many of them rose to leadership, and today the Anglican Church of Nigeria is completely Nigerian, and alive with evangelistic zeal.

In 1990 when the global Anglican Communion announced a “decade of evangelism” the Nigerians responded by electing and consecrating ten priests as bishops and sending them into the north of the country to bring the Good News to Muslims there. Within a decade there were a dozen new dioceses formed, and today there are many converts from Islam in the northern part of the country. Today overall there are some 19 million Anglicans in Nigeria ”“ many more than in all of Europe, North and South America combined.

And this has hardly pleased the Mullahs and their followers….

Read it all.

[Rowan] Williams said he has been discussing with the UK government on how to support those living in fear because of the sect’s activities.

In a letter to the Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, which was read by his representative, the Bishop of Durham Rt. Revd Justin Welby, in Abuja, Williams said: “I write to assure you of my continuing prayers for you and for the work and ministry of the Anglican Church in Nigeria as unrest continues in many parts of Nigeria, both as a consequence of the national strikes and the continuing campaign by Boko Haram.

“The Rt Revd Justin Welby, newly enthroned as Bishop of Durham, comes to you, my brother in Christ, as my trusted emissary, and brings assurances of my prayers and concern for you and for your people. In addition to his time in Abuja he hopes to travel to Jos and to Kano. I have asked Bishop Welby to deliver my greetings to you in person when he meets with you as part of our continuing dialogue and mutual support.

Read it all.

You can find the speakers and agenda here. You all know enough about a conference like this to know that there is much more to it than simply the presentations. Please pray for the speakers travel and ministry here (a number are serving in Sunday worship after the conference locally), the time to develop new friendships and renew old ones, for the Bishop and his wife Allison in their hosting capacity, and especially for the the Rev. Jeffrey Miller of Beaufort, who has the huge responsibility of coordinating it all–KSH.

Anglican Bishop of Evo Diocese in Rivers State, Rt. Rev. Innocent Ordu, has urged Nigerians irrespective of religious and political affiliations to live in peace.

Ordu stated this on Friday night while delivering a sermon at Saint Barnabas Anglican Church, Elekahia, Port Harcourt during a thanksgiving church service to mark the end of a one-day fast declared by the Rivers State government to seek divine intervention in the crisis in Nigeria.

He noted that the political, economic, social, and religious atmosphere prevalent in Nigeria was an indication that the country is threading the same path that led to the 1967 civil war.

Read it all.

Almighty God, who didst rescue Samuel Ajayi Crowther from slavery, sent him to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to his people in Nigeria, and made him the first bishop from the people of West Africa: Grant that those who follow in his steps may reap what he has sown and find abundant help for the harvest; through him who took upon himself the form of a slave that we might be free, the same Jesus Christ; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The bishops discussed a recent decision of the General Synod of the Church of Nigeria, making provision for the creation of CANA missionary dioceses in North America. CANA’s Chancellor, Scott Ward, Esq., briefed the bishops on progress towards the formal inauguration of the Missionary Diocese of the Trinity which is to be led by Bishop Amos Fagbamiye.

Bishop Derek Jones reported on the rapid growth of the Chaplains Deanery and the significant ministry of military and civilian chaplains. The ministry of the Deanery for the Chaplaincy is to endorse and support chaplains in the US military, federal and local government, hospital and hospice, and other volunteers serving their communities.

The bishops rejoiced in the recent creation of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic where many clergy and congregations continue in their relationship with CANA. While acknowledging that the concept of ”˜dual citizenship’ continues to raise some questions we heard a number of testimonies from those who have embraced this gracious provision and celebrate this opportunity for a direct connection to the Anglican Communion through the Church of Nigeria. We believe that this can only strengthen the ongoing work of ACNA in its determination to demonstrate the transforming love of Jesus Christ throughout North America.

Read it all.

The Bishop of Remo Anglican Diocese, The Right Reverend Olusina Fape, has described the Mother of the Diocese and Iya Ijo of Our Saviour’s Anglican Church, Ikenne Remo, Ogun State, Chief (Dr) Mrs HID Awolowo, as a rare gift to humanity and a blessing to her generation.

Bishop Fape stated this on Monday in a short address at the laying of the foundation of a multimillion naira HID Anglican Church, Sagamu, a church whose construction is being financed by Chief (Mrs) Awolowo.

The diocesan mother had organised a launching for the construction of the church during the Synod of Remo Anglican last May and held at Ikenne. She made history as the first individual to solely sponsor the annual event.

Read it all.

The Anglican Church has declared a seven-day fasting and prayers for Nigeria and its leadership, Primate of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, has said.

Okoh disclosed this at the 2011 Carnival for Christ, a gathering of all Anglicans in the diocese of Abuja.

He said that the prayers and fasting would begin from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3 and that the prayers would be directed at God’s intervention for peace to return to the country.

Read it all.

(This was held at the National Christian Center in Abuja, Nigeria, from the 7th to the 11th of November 2011)

In the name of God: the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

The first Divine Commonwealth Conference was held at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, from Monday 7th to Friday 11th November 2011. It was an international, non-denominational spiritual conference initiated by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) under the leadership of the Most Reverend Nicholas D Okoh, Primate.

We, the participants, numbering over 5,000 Bishops, Clergy and Laity, deeply appreciated words of encouragement and goodwill from notable leaders from Nigeria, other parts of Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, including the retired Primate of the Church of Nigeria, the Primates of West Africa and Kenya, the Methodist Archbishop of Abuja and the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

1 We gathered as the People of God and members of the Divine Commonwealth determined to celebrate our oneness in Christ and reaffirm our unity around the fundamentals of the Christian faith; recognizing that we have been called into ‘One body … one Spirit … one hope … one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.’ 1 We reaffirmed our commitment to uphold our faith, loyalty and obedience to the Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth, and to prove ourselves faithful in season and out of season as His worthy disciples in all places and circumstances.

2 We are thankful for our Christian legacy established through the European missionaries who brought back the Gospel to Africa and the many African Evangelists who, like Bishop Ajayi Crowther, spread it far and wide. We hereby renew our own commitment to make disciples of all nations and our determination to reach out to the ends of the earth with the Good News of God’s transforming love through Jesus Christ our Saviour, the Sovereign Lord of the Divine Commonwealth.

3 We applaud the commitment of the GAFCON Primates to hold fast to ‘the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints’2 and to stand against the erroneous teachings that have infiltrated our beloved Communion. We also join them in declaring our refusal to be bogged down by relentless debates about matters we consider settled. Instead we move forward in proclaiming the whole counsel of God and doing all that we can to establish His Kingdom throughout the world. We reaffirm the faith articulated in the Jerusalem Declaration and its reminder that we have a rich heritage in Scripture and the historic tradition of the Church.

4 We came together as members of the Divine Commonwealth, not identified with any secular order but founded by God – what our great African theologian, Augustine of Hippo, called the City of God. It is described variously in Scripture as the Kingdom of God, the Body of Christ, the Church, and the Communion of Saints on earth and in heaven.

5 We recognize that in the Divine Commonwealth, all worldly distinctions are rendered secondary. We assembled as women, men, youth and aged, ordained and lay, from different tribes and regions, rich and poor, to celebrate and reaffirm our citizenship in the one Divine Commonwealth and to chart ways that promote that Commonwealth in the wider society and in the Anglican Communion.

6 We gathered to recall the principal features of the Divine Commonwealth as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. We maintain that all humanity is made in the image of God, is loved by God and is created for society, for relationship, and especially for marriage between one man and one woman. Yet due to sin and the Fall, ‘profound moral issues arise from the outrageous parodox of human dignity and human depravity’.3

7 We grieve with those of our own community who have witnessed this paradox first hand as they have experienced the outrageous and murderous behaviour of some who seek to terrorize, maim and kill Nigerians in defence of a misguided religious perspective. This shedding of blood of innocent Nigerians in Plateau, Bauchi, Kaduna, Yobe, Gombe, Borno States and parts of the Federal Capital Territory, especially that of Christians, is intolerable. It has been carried on with impunity for far too long. It demands decisive and immediate action from the Federal Government.

8 While we are grateful for the words of concern expressed by some national leaders we call on the Federal Government to rise to the challenge set by the terrorists, by giving solid and sustainable protection to the lives and property of all vulnerable and dispirited ethnic and religious groups in these places. This is the time for the Federal Government to act if we are to save the Nation from further bloodshed.

9 We know that the Divine Commonwealth is distinct from the ‘City of this World’, and yet it intersects it in our social and political life. We are ‘in the world but not of the world’4. As Christians we are called not to avoid or oppress unbelieving people but to meet them lovingly and to present them with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. In the light of the Church’s transforming agenda5 we call on our leaders and all Nigerians to challenge corruption and greed in our society and to live their lives in obedience to God’s commands.

10 We are convinced that no community without the living God at its centre is a true Commonwealth . Neither is a ‘Commonwealth of Nations’ a true commonwealth if it does not stand for righteousness. In this regard, we were shocked by the recent statement from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Right Honourable David Cameron, to the effect that his Government would aid only those countries that adhere to ‘proper human rights’. It is clear that his true agenda is to force the normalization of homosexuality and gay marriage as a ‘human right’. While acknowledging the sacred worth of every human being we reject this erroneous notion as contrary to God’s intention for humankind and harmful to those he claims to protect. Another implication of this is that the ‘Commonwealth of Nations’ is still being treated as a body of unequal partners, where, because of economic status, some nations are still vulnerable to manipulation. We urge the Federal Government of Nigeria to resist any such intimidation on this matter.

11 We believe that the family is an essential building block of the Divine Commonwealth and the institution of marriage worthy of our full support. We stand with those who are working to protect marriage, family life and values pastorally in local congregations. We also support the National Assembly in its efforts to protect marriage as between a man and a woman.

12 Finally, we proclaim that the Divine Commonwealth is not only a present but a transcendent reality, as ‘our citizenship is in heaven, And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ’.6 We have been reminded that the Second Coming of Christ is an essential teaching of the faith and we eagerly look for Christ’s return. We recognize that Christ will come unexpectedly and that it is futile to set human timetables for His appearing. We do know that His coming will be a time of distress, where the forces of order and religion will be utterly perverted by Satan and many will be persecuted for their witness to Christ. Many of these signs are present today and thousands of Christians have been martyred for their faith. However, the end is not yet.

13 As members of the Divine Commonwealth we heed the Prophet Micah’s counsel, ‘To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God’7 until the time when the Saviour will come with a shout of command and the events of the end-time – resurrection, judgment, reigning with Christ, a final Commonwealth, the new Jerusalem, and a new heaven and earth – will come to pass, and God will be all in all.

To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! AMEN.

The Most Revd Nicholas D Okoh
Primate of All Nigeria/Convener

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
1 Ephesians 4: 4,5
2 Jude 3
3 Professor James Gana address
4 John 17: 13-18
5 Luke 4: 18
6 Philippians 3: 20
7 Micah 6: 8