In concluding, I wish to make two points:

a) The absolute necessity for economic empowerment in the Global South and

b) The treachery of another Gospel which is afraid of and denies the deity of Christ.

The first point: We in the Global South must realise that God has not cheated us in the area of natural and human resources. It is God’s will that we grow economically, to provide for our needs for the work of God and give to those in need. It is not God’s will that we remain perpetually dependent on the handouts from the sacrifice and self-denial offerings of other people. More so, when sometimes these handouts are given with strong strings attached to buy loyalty or compromise on critical issues of faith. We should dig deep wherever we are, and educate our members of the grave danger of living on other people’s resources. We must work together on equal partnership in the fellowship of the gospel with those who are sincere, and who live according to the truth of the Gospel. Grants, donations, gifts and any form of assistance given rather patronizingly should be rejected. We must relate and negotiate from the point of strength rather than a beggarly position.

In Being Faithful13, this idea is captured this way:

“…but there are ways of providing support and showing concern that are ultimately irresponsible, even if well-intended. We think, for instance, of the way that support to the poverty-stricken, both within individual nations and between nations, has sometimes helped create a demeaning culture of dependency and perpetuated problems of vulnerability and indignity rather than solving them”.

The LORD also gave us some talents (Mt. 25:14 ”“ 30). We must not condemn ourselves by sheer lack of enterprise. Secondly, the deity of Christ is increasingly becoming offensive in some quarters in our communion. For others the uniqueness of Christ cannot be taught in our pluralistic society. But pluralism was there, in the first …[century]. The Jewish religion was there, so were the Greek Philosophies and religions, hence it was said that the cross was foolishness to the Greeks, and a stumbling block to the Jews. The creeds, the 39 articles (see 2, 3, 4) and the Holy Scriptures, all uphold the deity and uniqueness of Jesus, the Christ. To deny these fundamentals is to abandon the way; it is apostasy; it is “another gospel”, which is condemned in scripture.

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The conference aims were described by our founding fathers as follows:

1. To meet, to know and to encourage one another in our faith and mission as Christians of the ‘South’.
2. To listen to God and to listen to one another.
3. To share our stories, our needs, our resources, our vision.
4. To explore and encourage ways of offering ourselves and our unique gifts as Christians of the South for the enrichment of the whole Church and for world mission.
5. To discover our unique identity as Anglican Christians of the non-western world.
6. To encourage qualitative and relevant leadership development for our rapidly growing churches so as to secure the future of the Church in the South and worldwide. To enable partnership, both South to South and South to North on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
7. To explore ways of being authentically Christian in our cultural milieu while remaining universally connected to the global Anglican Communion.

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New Primate of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, has restated the position of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria against the practice of gay marriage in the church.

This followed a call by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan on religious leaders in the country to collaborate with the Federal Government in transforming the country.

Jonathan was the special guest at the formal handing over of the reign of office to Archbishop Okoh by outgoing Archbishop Peter Akinola, on Thursday at the Cathedral of the Advent Church in Abuja.

In his short speech, the Acting President called on the church to shun corruption and discourage social vices.

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Nigerians this week buried the victims of a massacre near the central city of Jos. Many of the pre­dominantly Christian villagers who were killed were women and children.

Mechanical excavators were used to prepare mass graves for those who had been killed in three villages in the small hours of Sunday morning. Reported numbers of dead varied between 100 and 500.

Residents of the village of Dogo Nahawa, about 15 km south of Jos, say that herders from hills near by had attacked their village, shooting into the air before using machetes to cut down those who came out of their homes, one report said.

The Archbishop of Jos, the Most Revd Benjamin Kwashi, wrote in a pastoral letter that the attacks showed a new dimension, “revealing a system of well-trained terror groups. . . God knows which com­mun­ity will be next. Their merciless precision and fearlessness should give any government serious con­cern.”

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Nigerians this week buried the victims of a massacre near the central city of Jos. Many of the pre­dominantly Christian villagers who were killed were women and children.

Mechanical excavators were used to prepare mass graves for those who had been killed in three villages in the small hours of Sunday morning. Reported numbers of dead varied between 100 and 500.

Residents of the village of Dogo Nahawa, about 15 km south of Jos, say that herders from hills near by had attacked their village, shooting into the air before using machetes to cut down those who came out of their homes, one report said.

The Archbishop of Jos, the Most Revd Benjamin Kwashi, wrote in a pastoral letter that the attacks showed a new dimension, “revealing a system of well-trained terror groups. . . God knows which com­mun­ity will be next. Their merciless precision and fearlessness should give any government serious con­cern.”

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Warning–the content is very difficult to listen to in terms of the description of what happened. Watch and listen to it all (a little over 12 minutes)–KSH.

Update–There is a great deal more here.

What bothers my heart are a few questions:

Ӣ It was curfew time when these attackers came in and carried out their heinous activities. Who are responsible for these areas? What happened to those who should enforce the curfew? The purpose of the curfew is to stop events like this.

Ӣ Failure of government to provide full security for its citizenry leaves a people with very little option but to provide for their own kind of security. History has shown that these kinds of security are bred in vengeance, retaliation, bitterness, hatred and malice. This gives birth to an almost endless cycle of senseless violence as can be seen in many nations of the world today. Where is our government in all the levels of governance? Where were they on this night? Where were they on 17th January? Shall we continue to have the ugly sight of mass burials? Are there no leaders who fear God, who will swallow their pride and choose to be humble before God for the sake of those faces of slaughtered children?

Ӣ The new dimension these attacks are assuming is revealing a system of well-trained terror groups who rights now have attacked these villages, and only God knows which community will be next.

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Certainly, religion is one of the many dividing lines in Jos and elsewhere in Nigeria. But it is not the main one.

In Jos, as elsewhere, the cause of fighting has, more often been the struggle for resources than it has religion. In Jos, my AFP colleague Aminu Abubakar reports that the original cause of the latest clash was the alleged theft of cattle, blamed by a group of settler-farmers on a group of cattle herders. Often the fighting in the north is between the semi-nomadic cattle herders (who happen to be mostly Muslim) and settler-farmers (who happen to be mostly Christian), fighting about the diminishing access to land.

“For all those who will go out and fight their Muslim or Christian brothers on the streets, there are many more (Nigerians) who will take them into their home to protect them, when fighting breaks out,” a Nigerian Islamic law student once told me, attending an animist festival in the south.

The reason these conflicts turn deadly in Nigeria is not any greater degree of religious animosity there than elsewhere, however much exists. The reason is poor government: one that fails to send in troops early enough to quell trouble when it flares and never jails those responsible when it is over. Mediation of disputes is too often left to others, too.

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The outgoing Anglican Primate suggested that such approach to governance must change and advised the Rivers State Gov. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to join forces with other true democrats to bring about the needed change in the polity.

“This approach to governance must change and it is people like you who will be vanguards to bring about this change. I want to encourage you Mr. Governor to work with your peers and colleagues, those holding political power to lead the country,” [Peter] Akinola said.

He also condemned what he called “members of a cabal that engage in madness of self preservation and hold the entire nation to ransom”, and urged the state governor to work with his colleagues within and outside his party for the good of the country, “bearing in mind that should this nation collapse, you and I would not be spared”.

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At his meeting-house on an industrial estate in Kano, northern Nigeria’s largest city, Sheikh Ibrahim Khalil laments his country’s sporadic uprisings in the name of Islam.”I don’t know why this change has come,” says the 57-year-old Muslim preacher. “Twenty years ago we never used to have this. Everyone got along.”

Outside his vine-covered house, silence prevails on the Sharada estate. Most of the factories that once helped Kano honour its state slogan, “Centre of Commerce”, are shells. The economic slump worries the Americans, especially since it has strengthened the hand of the more militant of northern Nigeria’s Muslim leaders, who are rattling the mild-mannered sheikh.

The role of Islam in Nigeria is in the spotlight, especially in America, since Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up an aircraft landing at Detroit on Christmas Day. The young Nigerian’s failed attack has since been claimed by al-Qaeda, fuelling long-held fears that the jihadist group, already present in north Africa, could win recruits among Africa’s most populous country with some 150m people.

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It should be noted that in Jos we are coming face to face in confrontation with Satan and the powers of hell, and only God can save us. There are, however, many Muslims who totally disagree with violence as a means of settling issues, and of course it is not in accordance with the gospel to use violence to settle issues either. What seems to be a recurring decimal is that over time, those who have in the past used violence to settle political issues, economic issues, social matters, intertribal disagreements, or any issue for that matter, now continue to use that same path of violence and cover it up with religion. We must pray against the powers of hell. We must also pray for our state government, our Houses of Assembly at state and federal levels and our law enforcement agents, that they may choose the path of truth and justice, and deal with crime by its proper name, so that no-one, no matter how high or low, no matter of what faith or creed, should be exempt from facing the law.

The national leadership should be lifted up to God, that they may rise beyond a concern for political success and seek to do good and right in all things for the benefit of all people. This is a most urgent prayer request, because Nigeria as a nation has a large and ever-increasing army of leaderless, lawless, unemployable, unemployed, demoralized, and near hopeless youth. This, to my prophetic mind, is the big security issue which the governments at local, state and federal levels are not taking seriously. For example, every crisis in Nigeria in the last ten years has been executed by this generation of young people. With each passing year, they perfect their skills, and when they run out of a supply of money””or when they become bored with any situation””then any opportunity for action gives them satisfaction. This army has no religion, but can choose to go under the name of religion to achieve its motives. They are uneducated, and so their values are totally different, as are their ways of handling weapons or choosing how issues are settled. Please pray for us.

Read the whole thing.

The Anglican Archbishop of Jos has called for Muslims to hand back the bodies of any Christians shot in last week’s riots that he says could have been taken to the mosque in error.

The Most Rev Ben Kwashi said that Christians had been made the scapegoats for sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims that left nearly 500 people dead in the central Nigerian city. Those who took part in killings that nearly wiped out a village on the outskirts of Jos have yet to be found.

The Archbishop spoke to The Times as another Anglican bishop in Nigeria, the Right Rev Peter Imasuen of Benin City in southern Edo state, was ambushed and kidnapped shortly after arriving home from Sunday eucharist.

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The Anglican bishop of the Diocese of Benin, Church of Nigeria, was abducted at gunpoint from his home Jan. 24 after returning from a service of Holy Eucharist at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in the nation’s southern state of Edo, according to news reports.

Read it all and please keep him in your prayers.

Archbishop of Benin Diocese, Anglican Communion and Edo State Chairman of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Peter Imasuen, was yesterday abducted by unknown gunmen.
Imasuen was abducted in front of his official residence, Bishop Court, at Iyaro area in Benin City, at about 12:30p.m. while returning from church service.

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Yenagoa ”” The recent corruption rating of the nation by Transparency International is generating concern among the First Synod of the Diocese of Western Izon, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Patani, Delta State.

As a result, the synod has urged compatriots and the government to tackle the anti-corruption war seriously.

This was contained in a communiqué issued by the Diocesan Bishop, Edafe Emamezi, and Secretary, Church Enoya, at the end of its synod at Patani, Delta State.

The church was reacting to the nation’s credibility rating published by Transparency International, which brought down Nigeria from its 121st position to 130th.

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Nigerian authorities have relaxed the 24-hour curfew in the central city of Jos, where fighting between Muslims and Christians has left hundreds dead.

Army chief Lt Col Shekari Galadima said he was satisfied the violence which began on Sunday had been halted.

Officials said easing the curfew would allow people to find food and water and those displaced to return home.

Eyewitnesses say the army is patrolling the streets and people are wary about venturing too far.

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Three days of Muslim-Christian clashes in the Nigerian city of Jos have left around 300 people dead, clerics and a paramedic said Tuesday, as troops were deployed to control the unrest.

Authorities placed the central city under a 24-hour curfew amid reports of continuing armed clashes, with terrified residents saying they could hear gunshots and smoke was billowing from parts of the Plateau State capital.

Nigeria’s Vice President Goodluck Jonathan sent in troops and ordered security chiefs to “proceed to Jos immediately to assess the situation and advise on further steps,” his office said.

All flights to the city were suspended, aviation sources said.

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Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, on Saturday urged Nigeria’s political leaders to work toward the reduction of poverty in the country. Akinola made the call in Ile-Ife during the interdenominational service held to commemorate the 80th birthday anniversary of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II.

He noted that Nigeria had abundant resources that could be harnessed and used to enhance the citizens’ living standards, adding that the bane of the country was crass mismanagement, corruption and other forms of malfeasance.”In the midst of abundance, Nigerians now use second-hand clothes, cars and other materials, as they cannot afford to purchase new products due to hardship,” he said.

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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.

Which minister of God would tolerate any hindrance to the flow of thanksgiving/offering procession during any service or special church event?

This was the challenge the then Vicar of the All Saints Church (Anglican Communion), Ojuelegba, Surulere Lagos, Reverend Caleb Mmaduoma, now Bishop of Ideato Diocese, had 14 years ago.

What started as one young boy’s spirit filled dance to the offering box, whenever the church’s band started rendering exhilarating praise and worship songs during offering or thanks giving period, later became a teething problem which many parishioners had wanted to be done without.

From being a one man’s dance show to the offering box, many other boys joined the dance train and looked up to every Sunday or church event to pour their sorrow and joy to the Lord through their slow paced gyrating dance steps.

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Chancellor, Bishop Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State, Most Rev. Peter Akinola, has said the situation in the country indicates that the vision, sacrifice and labour of “our past heroes are now virtually in vain.”

He berated the nation’s leaders for sending their children to foreign schools with tax payers money after grounding the educational system.

Akinola argued that between 1990 and 2002, the federal budgetary allocation to the education sector only existed on paper, judging by the disparity between published figures and disbursments.

Akinola, who is also the Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), spoke at the university’s maiden convocation on Monday. He spoke shortly after his investiture as the chancellor of the university by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olajire Olaniran.

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Since the Vatican launched its bold bid Tuesday to make it easier for Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church, the question on everyone’s mind has been: How many will convert?

Will the much ballyhooed Anglican divide over the Church’s moves to accept openly gay and female clerics now cause hundreds of thousands of conservative Anglicans ”“ mostly in Africa and parts of the US ”“ to flock to Catholicism?

Early indications from African bishops are that most Anglicans, despite their fierce opposition to homosexuality, will be saying “thanks but no thanks” to Rome’s new offer, largely because of the autonomy that they enjoy within the Anglican church.

“I don’t think that priests in Uganda are going to leave and join the Roman Catholic church,” says Bishop Stanley Ntagali, head of an Anglican diocese in the east African country of Uganda. “Uganda is [already] a separate region from the Church in Canterbury. They are able to do things their way, and we have to do things our way.”

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African clergymen have been some of the harshest critics of their Anglican colleagues in the West, whom they accuse of liberally interpreting the Bible. But it’s far from clear whether churches here, many of which have already distanced themselves from Anglican churches in the U.S., Canada and England, would see the need to embrace the Vatican’s offer.

Unlike the more tightly controlled Catholic Church, Anglican churches in Africa are largely autonomous, operating with a level of freedom that they wouldn’t likely enjoy under Rome’s fold.

Archbishop Peter Akinola, head of the Church of Nigeria, and the spiritual leader of Africa’s 40 million Anglicans, is “still weighing the implications of the Vatican’s offer” and is consulting with colleagues, according to an aide reached by telephone Wednesday.

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The Communications Director for the Episcopal Diocese of ..[Southern] Ohio, Richelle Thompson, said Omosebi is a visiting clergy with limited privileges in the church. She said he would only fill in for ministers when they were sick or on vacation, but could not say when the last time he officiated was.

Thompson said Omosebi will not officiate in the church while his case goes through the legal system. “We take any allegation like this very seriously,” she said.

Read it all and say a prayer for all involved.

Elected to take up the leadership of the Church of Christ (Anglican Communion) by March 25 next year, the Primate-elect Archbishop Nicholas Okoh has already started drawing media attention. On Monday, September 28, he was widely reported as speaking out powerfully against the country’s rulers.

Okoh, speaking in Abuja, the nation’s capital, on the country’s independence, berated Nigeria’s leaders for the plight of the country, cautioning that unless they mended their ways, the country would remain stagnant.

Providing more details, he said unless leaders of the country change their attitude, have the fear of God, shun thuggery, ballot box snatching, political assassinations and treasury looting, that Nigeria would remain backward, “even if it celebrates its 1,000-year anniversary.”

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In his remarks shortly before he was given the Award, Rt. Rev Chukwuneye urged youth to acquaint themselves with skills to compete and fulfill their divine mandate globally beyond the shores of local church and not only concentrating energy in local churches or dioceses.

According to him, discovering the purpose for which every life and the society exit will go a long way in achieving excellence and making the world a better place for all.

“God has a purposed in forming Rising Stars Fellowship. God is God of purpose; in you discovered the purpose for which God brought you to existence? You must key to the global purpose of God, not only concentrating on localized worships, but global worships for all nations of the world. God expects you to be given thanks and in doing that, we will be able to affect the society positively”Chukwunonye said.

He urged Christians to always avoid living segmented, haphazard and divergent lifestyles faithful Jesus who lived an exemplary life while on earth not be fixed to a particular character.

“As Christians, we should avoid exhibiting to avoid disgracing the conflicting attitudes at home, office, church market and other places ,because as Christians we should approach life positively to affect our generation as if there is no tomorrow,” he said.

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From March next year when he will lead the over 18 million Nigerian Anglicans, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh will bring strict conservatism of his military background and years of close collaboration with out-going Primate Peter Akinola to bear on the Church, write Hendrix Oliomogbe (Asaba), Lawrence Njoku (Enugu) and Wole Oyebade (Lagos)

GENERALLY, Christianity is founded on strict conservatism. The heads of nearly all the old Christian groups are known for their conservatism. The heads practically take to heart the Biblical saying: As it was in the beginning, so it is now, and so shall it be, a world without end!

The world should not expect any thing less from the in-coming head of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria, Archbishop Nicholas Dikeriehi Orogodo Okoh who will assume office in March next year. Primate-elect Okoh will be an iron-cast conservative, given the constituency he is coming from: The military.

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A retired Army lieutenant colonel-turned-priest has been elected the new primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, one of the largest provinces in the Anglican Communion.

The Rev. Nicholas Orogbodo Okoh, 57, will lead Nigeria’s 20 million Anglicans following next year’s retirement of Archbishop Peter Akinola, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Episcopal Church’s acceptance of homosexuality.

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Archbishop Nicholas Orogodo Okoh attended the famous Immanuel College of Theology Ibadan Oyo State between 1976 and 1979. He was made deacon in 1979 preferred a Canon in 1987, collated Archdeacon in 1991 and was elected Bishop of Asaba in 2001.

On the 22nd of July 2005 the Primate elect was elected Archbishop of Bendel Province at St Matthew’s Cathedral Benin. He was in the Army and fought the civil war. He retired as a Lt Col in 2001 after his election as Bishop of Asaba.

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From here:

Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen, general secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) welcomed the news “Nicholas Okoh was present at the foundation of GAFCON and has played a leading part in the movement. Archbishop Okoh has made a significant contribution as the Chairman of the Theological Resource group. He is an able and committed Christian leader and we warmly welcome his appointment.”