The Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Nicholas Okoh, on Monday opposed the call for emergency rule in parts of the country affected by armed conflict.

Mr. Okoh said this in Abuja at a press conference on the forthcoming 2013 Synod session of the Abuja Diocese of the Anglican Communion.

He said that government should rather support a national dialogue by various interest groups to address the myriad of problems militating against the country's quest for socio-economic development.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Police/Fire • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

The Archbishop of Nigeria Nicholas Okoh has warned that a blanket amnesty for the terror group Boko Haram would see Christians driven from Northern Nigeria. In a position paper prepared by the church in response to the creation of an amnesty commission by President Goodluck Jonathan, the archbishop warned that amnesty without reconciliation would not solve the problem.

“If the Federal Government goes ahead through the amnesty committee to make peace on BH’s terms, it would have inadvertently and effectively banned Christians and Christianity from the North. In the amnesty committee, who will speak for the right of the church, not to be tolerated, but as Nigerian Christians to exist side by side with Islam and Muslims, build churches, worship freely, move about freely without being hunted down with all sorts of weapons?,” said the document entitled “’The rough edges of the amnesty proposition”.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine

An Anglican Communion clergy[man], Godwin Daramola, has condemned the Nigerian government for its inability to prevent many woes befalling the nation.

Mr. Daramola, who delivered the sermon at the 10th year remembrance service held in honour of Atinuke Ige, late daughter of the slain Governor of the old Oyo State and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Bola Ige, at the St. Anne's Church, Molete, Ibadan on Wednesday, identified some of the social ills defying government's efforts as corruption, insecurity, materialism and selfishness.

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The President of AYF, Wuse Archdeaconry Council, Barrister Isaac Harrison stated this during a workshop organised for youth, with the theme; “Empowered To Impact The World”, in Abuja.

According to him, “We cannot grant amnesty to people we do not know, we cannot also grant amnesty to people who had already made up their minds that whether there is dialogue or not, they will go on with whatever they are doing, If Boko Haram actually need peace, they will not be killing those that are moving towards that peace.

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Primate of the Church of Nigeria, (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, yesterday stated that there was an evil force behind the Boko Haram sect.

Okoh said this in his sermon, titled “Alleluia! Christ is Risen”, at the Easter Sunday service of the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Life Camp, Gwarimpa, Abuja.

He said the dreaded group is challenged to the good fortunes of Nigeria., assuring that it shall soon become history.

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A car bomb attack in a Christian enclave of Kano, the largest city in mainly-Muslim Northern Nigeria, has heightened religious and ethnic tensions throughout the country.

At least 25 people have been killed and at least 60 others injured, following the 18th March suicide bomb attack in a bus station in the Christian district of Sabon Gari. The bus station is primarily used by passengers heading for the mostly Christian South of the country. Five buses were destroyed, one reported to be full of people.

No group has yet claimed responsibility. The manner of attack is, however, similar to previous ones by the Islamist Boko Haram group. Its scale prompted Christian, Muslim and political leaders to urge the federal government to take urgent measures to avert a major crisis.

Read it all and please pray for the situation in Nigeria and for Christians there

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

..Okoh warned people to be wary of ongoing campaigns by promoters of the practice which was now in vogue among Anglican priests and others in Europe, stressing that the practice specifically contravened the law of marriage as instituted by God.

He also said such sustained campaign in the United States, Europe and some political forces in Nigeria to force “us to accept and approve same sex marriage” was misplaced.

“We are proud to say we stand by our belief in the true word of God, as we will never be part of such unholy practice presently destroying the Church of God in Europe,” Okoh said.

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The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) consecrated three bishops, last Sunday...

Read it all in the Nigerian Guardian

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

As the remains of former Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, the late Most Revd Abiodun Adetiloye were Friday committed to mother earth at his Odo-Owa country home, Arch Bishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria, Most Revd Nicholas Okoh decried acquisition of wealth among religious leaders, a development he said had robbed the country of its core values.

Delivering a special sermon during the funeral service for Adetiloye who died on December 14, 2012, held at St Paul’s Millennium Anglican Church, Odo-Owa-Ekiti, Bishop Okoh lamented that corruption had eaten deep into the fabrics of religious leaders, who were expected to preach the gospel of Jesus to the people.

Dignitaries who graced the burial include wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, former Governor of Western State, General Adeyinka Adebayo, his son and first civilian Governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, former Governors Ayo Fayose and Segun Oni, and the Director General of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Mr Femi Ajayi among others.

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Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, has warned that Nigeria must fashion a way to rekindle the selfless nature of its citizenry as well as the Christian virtue of humility and sacrifice if the country must survive.

In a sermon he delivered at the funeral of a former Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Most Reverend Abiodun Adetiloye, held at the St. Paul’s Millennium Anglican Church, Odo-Owa in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State, the cleric contended that unless Nigerians repented and returned to the values of God, the country would not make any headway.

Okoh, who took his sermon from 2 Timothy 4: 7 and 8, noted: “We are not here to help Archbishop Adetiloye but to help ourselves to see if we can realign with God and make a meaning of our life.”

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"On one occasion I was travelling with the late lamented Bishop Weeks, then a simple minister. I went with him on a visit to a friend in the country. While I was in the railway carriage with him, a gentleman attacked him, knowing that he was a friend of missions. The gentleman said, 'What are the missionaries doing abroad? We don't know anything about their movements. We pay them well, but we don't hear anything about them. I suppose they are sitting down quietly and making themselves comfortable.' Mr. Weeks did not say anything in reply, I having made a sign to him not to do so. After the gentleman had exhausted what he had to say, I said to him, 'Well, sir, I beg to present myself to you as a result of the labours of the missionaries which you have just been depreciating;' and I pointed to Mr. Weeks as the means of my having become a Christian, and having been brought to this country as a Christian minister. The gentleman was so startled that he had nothing more to say in the way of objection, and the subsequent conversation between him and Mr. Weeks turned upon missionary topics. On the banks of the Niger, where we have not been privileged to be ushered in by European missionaries, native teachers have maintained their footing among their own people. Their countrymen look upon them as very much superior to themselves in knowledge and in every other respect, and listen to them with very great attention when they preach to them the Gospel of our salvation."

On St. Peter's Day, 1864, perhaps the most important event of his life took place, when in Canterbury Cathedral Samuel Crowther was consecrated as the first Bishop of the Niger. The scene was a memorable one, and is not likely to be forgotten by those who stood in the vast crowd which filled every aisle of the grand cathedral that day. The license of Her Majesty had been duly promulgated in these terms:--

"We do by this our license under our royal signet and sign manual authorise and empower you the said Reverend Samuel Adjai Crowther to be Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in the said countries in Western Africa beyond the limits of our dominions."

When the service began it was an impressive sight to see the Archbishop of Canterbury, attended by live other Bishops, enter the choir; and following them the three Bishops to receive the solemn rite of consecration, viz: the new Bishop of Peterborough, the new Bishop of Tasmania, and the new Bishop of the Niger. Remembering, as doubtless many did, the touching history of his childhood and early struggles as a slave, not a, few in that vast building were moved to tears as [118/119] the African clergyman humbly knelt in God's glorious house to receive the seals of the high office of Shepherd in His earthly fold. Most of all must one heart have been affected, that of Airs. Weeks, the missionary's wife, at whose knee he received his first lessons in the way of the Lord.

No one could fail to see how God had called forth this native from the degradation of a boyhood of slavery, to become a chosen vessel in His service. He had proved himself as a true-hearted standard-bearer of the Cross in much toil and patient endurance, and it was meet that to him should be committed the spiritual interests of the district in which he had spent hitherto nearly the whole of his life since he became a Christian.

On his immediate return to the Niger, the work began afresh with renewed energy. Special attention was given to the Delta, for King Pepple, having been on a visit to England, made an application to the Bishop of London to send missionaries to his dominions. A more degraded district was not to be found in Africa. Although its trade was very flourishing, being one of the chief markets for palm oil, the people were sunk in the lowest vices and superstitions. At the time of which we speak, when Bishop Crowther was forming the Christian Church there, the shocking practice of cannibalism was not yet wholly given up, and the people were entirely under the power of the priests of the Juju or fetish worship. As in Dahomey, no regard for human life seems to have existed; men were sacrificed at every high festival, and at the burial of any of their chief men a number of poor creatures would be slaughtered. The ghastly spectacle of their temple, paved and elaborately decorated with human bones, showed the ferocity of their religion.

In the midst of this awful darkness came Bishop Crowther and his fellow-helpers, bearing the light of the Gospel, and in due time many believed and were saved. It was as in the early Church of the first centuries, the adherents of the new religion were mostly slaves, and to escape their persecutors had to meet for worship and counsel in retired places.

--Jesse Page, Samuel Crowther: The Slave Boy Who Became Bishop of the Niger (London, 1892), Chapter Ten (emphasis mine)

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • CoE Bishops • Church of Nigeria • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • Missions • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth • * Theology • Anthropology • Christology • Soteriology • Theology: Scripture

The Church of Nigeria has about 17 million members and Uganda another 8 million. As in other African provinces, most members in these two countries are regular churchgoers.

The Church of England counts about 26 million baptised members, but says only about a million of them attend services every Sunday.

--Reuters from a story last week entitled "African Anglicans denounce Church of England gay bishop rule"

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The African church's objections were not to the appointment of men to the episcopate who had a same-sex sexual orientation, but to clergy who had contracted a gay civil partnership being appointed to the episcopate. The proviso that such relationships were celibate only when they involved the clergy of the Church of England was preposterous, one African bishop told Anglican Ink.

Archbishop Stanley Ntagali of Uganda said the House of Bishops’ decision “to allow clergy in civil partnerships to be eligible to become Bishops is really no different from allowing gay Bishops. This decision violates our Biblical faith and agreements within the Anglican Communion.”

The decision to permit partnered gay clergy to serve as bishops “only makes the brokenness of the Communion worse and is particularly disheartening coming from the Mother Church,” he argued.

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1. The Bishops of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) meeting for their annual retreat held from Jan 7/11, 2013, at the Ibru Centre, Agbarha Otor, Delta State, Nigeria, heard with dismay the news of the recent action of the Church of England House of Bishops. The decision to permit homosexual clergy in civil partnerships to now be considered for the episcopacy is one step removed from the moral precipice that we have already witnessed in The Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada.

2. When the Church of England failed to exercise its legal and moral right to opt out of the civil partnerships legislation in 2005 warnings were given in England and around the Anglican Communion that this was a first step towards the recognition and institutionalization of behaviour contrary to the plain teaching of scripture and reaffirmed for all Anglicans by the 1998 Lambeth Conference in its Resolution 1.10. Sadly those warnings were ignored and we now face the next step in a process that could very well shatter whatever hopes we had for healing and reconciliation within our beloved Communion.

3. We are also grieved by the timing of this decision coming only days before the retirement of Archbishop Rowan Williams and before Bishop Justin Welby becomes the new Archbishop of Canterbury. We urge the House of Bishops to reconsider their decision so as to allow for a full, prayerful and sober reflection on the call on all clergy, especially bishops, to live holy lives and not encourage what are, at best, morally ambiguous partnerships that make it impossible for a bishop to be a wholesome example to the flock. Especially since the supposed assurances of celibacy, while perhaps well intentioned, are both unworkable and unenforceable.

4. As a House of Bishops, while we acknowledge that we all fall short of God's call to holiness, we dare not compromise the clear teaching of our Lord on faithfulness within Holy Matrimony and chastity outside of it. Sadly we must also declare that if the Church of England continues in this contrary direction we must further separate ourselves from it and we are prepared to take the same actions as those prompted by the decisions of The Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada ten years ago.

5. In all of this we continue to give thanks for the mercy of God newly revealed to us in this season of The Epiphany and we are filled with gratitude for the millions of faithful Anglicans within the GAFCON/FCA community who have not ‘bowed the knee' to the contemporary idols of secularism and moral expediency.

6. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

In Christ's service,

--(The Most Rev.) Nicholas D. Okoh is Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of Nogeria

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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.

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With a profound sense of loss, but in total reverence to God, the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion announces the death of our dear former Primate, Archbishop, Metropolitan of our Church, father, grand and great grandfather, the Most Revd. Dr. Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye who passed away peacefully in his sleep at his Millennium house country home, Odo-Owa in Ekiti State in the early hours of Friday 14th December, 2012.

Archbishop Adetiloye died at 83 years after working actively and conscientiously as an enigma. A multi dimensional personality, an icon, a great and true disciple of Jesus Christ was born in Odo-Owa in the Ijero Area, Diocese of Ekiti West in Ekiti State on 25th December, 1929.

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The Primate of All Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, on Saturday dismissed calls in some quarters for Churches in the country to be mandated to pay tax to government.

Okoh said this in Abuja at the 2012 Carnival for Christ, organised by the Abuja Diocese of the Anglican Communion.

The Carnival for Christ is an annual gathering of the various archdeaconries in the diocese to praise and worship God.

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The Anglican Bishop of Enugu North Diocese, [the] Rt Rev Sosthenes Eze has said high level of corruption in Nigeria is cause of the general instability in the country.

Addressing the church's annual diocesan synod in Olo, Enugu State recently, the bishop noted that corruption has led to serious breakdown of law and order and lack of peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

He advocated setting up of a National Solemn Assembly and repentance meetings across the nation as a way of dealing with corruption.

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A group of Bishops and senior clerics from Nigeria and Kenya issued a call for the Archbishop of Canterbury effectively to be replaced as leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion by an elected chairman.

Meanwhile the Anglican church in Uganda offered Bishop Welby its support but warned the Church is “fractured” over questions such as homosexuality and the interpretation of the Bible.

The remarks come following a meeting of Anglican leaders from around the world in Auckland, New Zealand, which ended this week, attended by he current Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

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Nigeria - By Will Ross in Lagos

If Bishop Welby wants a frank report card on the state of the Anglican Church he can get it from Bishop Nicholas Okoh, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria.

He described it as "grievously disunited" and said attending church meetings was like "working in a police state with agents all over the place trying to catch people with their words".

The Anglican Church says it has some 18 million followers in Nigeria and the new Archbishop of Canterbury will have to tread very carefully on the controversial issues of homosexual priests and same-sex marriage if he wants to ensure rifts do not deepen further.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Global South Churches & Primates • Global South to South Encounter 4 in Singapore April 2010 • * Culture-Watch • Globalization

Announcing the conference in Abuja on Wednesday, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Rev Nicholas Okoh said the conference will draw participants from the UK, USA, Kenya, Uganda and West African states.

The primate explains: "One thing joins us together. That is biblical orthodoxy. This we mean people who uphold the teaching of the scripture and will want to promote it.

"It sounds strange that we will be talking about people who uphold the teaching of the scripture in church. The truth is that in some sections of the church, they're riding rough on the message of the scripture. In fact, some are outright attacking and destroying it....

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[Archbishop Nicholas] Okoh, who a fierce critic of the outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury, described the selection process for the new church leader as “politicised”.
The cleric said, “The Prime minister of Britain will have to appoint (the Archbishop of Canterbury), whether he is a member of the Church or not.
“When you consider the political involvement, you can see the point we are trying to make.
“In other words, we are trying to say the Anglican Communion should be separated from the politics of Great Britain.’’

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The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) met for its Standing Committee Meeting (SCM) at Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Okesa, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, September 11-15, 2012.

The well-attended event had the theme: ‘Resist The Devil And He Will Flee From You’ (James 4v7)....

At the formal opening of the SCM on Thursday, September 14, while delivering his opening address to delegates, the Primate of All Nigeria, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, described the Devil as a spiritual being. Quoting John Piper, the Primate said: “Satan lies, and is the Father of lies (John 8:44); Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Cor. 4:4); Satan masquerades in costumes of light and righteousness (II Cor. 11:13-15), and has disciples within the Church through whom he teaches doctrines of demons (I Tim. 4:1).

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Christians in Nigeria are coming under siege as terrorist group Boko Haram attacks churches to try to drive out Christians and destabilise the country. The Archbishop of Jos, the Most Rev Dr Benjamin Kwashi, describes the situation in Jos, Plateau State, to Release's Andrew Boyd.

Listen to it all (from earlier this month, but still relevant and useful for our awareness and prayers--KSH)..

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The Archbishop Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, on Thursday. said that the survival of the Nigerian nation and respect for human life were the two main factors restraining Christians from fighting Boko Haram which had thrown the country into an insecure state.

Primate Okoh also described the proposed bill for Fulani Commission in which government seeks to create permanent routes and reserves in all states for Fulani pastoralists as a recipe for endless crisis.

The cleric, who stated this in his primatial address during the official opening of the standing committee meeting of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Ado-Ekiti with the theme “...Resist the devil and he will flee from you,” called on President Goodluck Jonathan to act fast in tackling the prevailing insecurity in the nation before it gets out of hand.

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[The] primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh has rejected the proposed introduction of N5000 notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the coining of some lower denominations.

Speaking in Abuja at the weekend at the consecration of Nathaniel Oladejo Ogundipe as Bishop of Ifo, Most Reverend Oko said there are other economic challenges for the CBN to tackle than the introduction of [a] higher denomination....

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Sunday, August 19, 2012, was a memorable day in the history of the Anglican Communion Worldwide.

It was when the Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh; the Primate of the Anglican Church in North America, Most Rev. Robert Duncan, accompanied by three Nigerian Archbishops (Most Rev. Olu Akinyemi, Most Rev. Ikechi Nwosu and Most Rev. Ignatius Kattey), and nine other Bishops, inaugurated a new diocese in North America.

The duly elected and consecrated Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev Amos Akinseye Fagbamiye, was also enthroned at the Anglican Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, Indianapolis.

The new cathedral was filled with the glory of God and people from within and outside the United States of America and Canada who gathered to witness the historic event.

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(The Rt. Rev.) Duke Akamisoko, the Bishop of Kubwa Anglican Diocese, Abuja, has pleaded with Nigerians to heed the warnings of God’s true prophets as the nation prepares to mark its 52nd independence anniversary.

Akamisoko gave the advice in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by Venerable Foluso Taiwo, the Director of Communication, Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion.

“We have an option to listen to God’s true prophets, take their warnings seriously and obey them or to continue to sin with impunity and earn the terrible wrath of God almighty,’’ the statement said.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

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.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

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.”

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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.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • CANA

[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,".

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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....

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[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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.


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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.

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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.

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(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

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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

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The evidence around us today points to the unwelcome fact that the message of the gospel can degenerate in just a few generations. It seems almost impossible for the missionary zeal of any congregation to rise above that of its priest. If this is correct, then most congregations will be operating at 50% of the missionary zeal of their priest - and this is only when they are doing very well, and where there is good teaching, good fellowship and good prayer meetings. A few from that congregation, a very few indeed, may rise up to 70% or 80% in their zeal towards that of the priest. Suppose that from this congregation there is recruited someone who goes for training for the priesthood. If this man is operating at 50% when he goes to the seminary, and if the seminary is very orthodox and non-evangelical or liberal, then he is panel-beaten and sprayed down to 25%, and in that state he is ordained and sent to another congregation. Since he is now operating at 25%, his congregation will be at 11.5%. As time goes by, a member of that congregation may be selected and sent for training, operating at the same 11.5% and comes out from the seminary operating at 5.75% It is only a matter of time, as the downward spiral takes its toll, that the work of mission and evangelism in his church will die. This is the end result of discontinuity!

The mission of the church, however, cannot, will not, and will never be discontinued. We may choose to neglect it and be careless about the whole mission of God, and indeed in a given generation with a particular group of people the baton could be dropped and the mission discontinued in that place and at that time. God.s mission, however, will move elsewhere and continue.

There is so much to be done in the church and world today. In the same way in which Jesus spoke concerning the harvest in Israel, "The harvest is plenty, but the labourers are few" (Matthew 9:37), so is he speaking in our time and in our context.

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A chill has descended over relations between the Church of Nigeria and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) in the wake of the creation of a diocese for Nigerians in America by the Church of Nigeria.

While official statements from Archbishop Robert Duncan of the ACNA and Bishop Martyn Minns of CANA – the Church of Nigeria’s American outreach — have been upbeat, sources at the top of the ACNA tell The Church of England Newspaper the situation surrounding the formation of the Diocese of the Trinity has been a “mess”....

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The structures of the Anglican Communion have continued to deteriorate since the 2008 Lambeth Conference. That same year, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) took place in Jerusalem, which gave birth to the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, a global movement committed to the renewal and reformation of the Anglican Communion around a common confession (The Jerusalem Declaration). GAFCON was not just a moment; it is a movement. The purpose of the 2012 leadership conference will be to gather existing and emerging FCA leaders – laity, clergy, theologians, youth, bishops, women and men – to promote the ongoing renewal and reformation of the Anglican Communion. These leaders will truly represent this global movement of Anglicans all over the world. We hope and pray this will set the stage for a larger “GAFCON II” meeting to be held in 2013.

The American Anglican Council will be helping the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans develop this conference. We are committed to supporting this global movement of biblical Anglicans and to the renewal and reformation of the Anglican Communion around a common confession. Be sure to monitor our website and emails for more news on these exciting events.

Last night, there was a reception for supporters and those interested in the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya and Chairmen of the FCA, Eliud Wabukala, was present, along with the Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, Peter Jensen, the retired Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, as well as the former Bishop of Rochester, England, Michael Nazir-Ali.

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The Church at its second Synod in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, also expressed concern over the fact that the reports of panels set up to investigate major crisis in the country have not been released to the public.

This may have also contributed to the reuption of more violence.

Delivering the Bishop’s Charge at the Synod, the Bishop of the Diocese of Egba West, Anglican Communion, Rev. Samuel Ogundeji, deplored the spate of violence and other forms insecurity in the land. He named Boko Haram, post election killings, bloodletting in Jos, the beleaguered Plateau State State capital and other parts of the city, as well as other forms of insecurity rocking parts of the country.

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As Nigeria celebrate her 51st Independence from colonial masters, the Archbishop of Bendel Province, Anglican Communion, Most Rev’d Friday Imaekhai has implored Nigerians to tap more on the positive side of the nation’s diversity rather than the negative aspect that tend to tear the nation.

The religious leader who gave the admonition in his independence celebration message, also called on the government to tackle poverty in order to bring to an end, social vices such as kidnapping, assassination, terrorism and the likes.

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“It’s through marriage that people should enter into true sexual life. It’s not the process of re-inventing the third person because God did not invent the marriage between two same-sex persons as the cases in homosexuality and lesbianism.” He admonished those practising it to repent and come out of it because it’s evil.

The cleric argued that if God considered that yet another man was what Adam needed as companion and help mate in the Garden of Eden, He would have created another man, not a woman for Adam, stressing that, “He did not do that but rather created a unique person in the form of a woman different from the man.”

He lamented that there is moral decadence pervading the labyrinth of society in so much a way that hitherto despicable acts like lesbianism and homosexuality are gradually being decorated with public appeal and now receiving tolerance and even applause in today’s society.

Read it all (another from the long queue of should-have-already-been-posted material.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • Global South Churches & Primates • Instruments of Unity • Lambeth 2008 • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • * Culture-Watch • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Theology: Scripture

Listen to it all (a little under 28 1/2 minutes).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Church of Nigeria • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • Preaching / Homiletics • * Culture-Watch • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

What is your opinion on the Federal Government directive that the Minister of Defence should take over security in Jos?

I think it is a better step in the right direction that the Minister of Defence should take over because the way we see the whole thing, it seems that the security in Plateau State has collapsed. And this is the failure of the Inspector-General of Police. The police is to protect lives and secure the lives and property of people but since all these days, these killings have continued and we wonder when it would stop and so, I think, we have lost confidence in the police. I think, therefore, the IG (Inspector-General of Police) should be retired with immediate effect because this was what happened when there was kidnapping in the East....

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The Archbishop of Jos Province and Bishop of Maiduguri Anglican Diocese Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Kanamani has called on Nigerians to be united and promote peaceful co-existence even as he commended the Borno State Government and the security operatives in the state for their cooperation and maintenance of security in the state.

The Archbishop in a 10 point communiqué issued by the Diocesan Synod at the end of the third session of the 7th Synod held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Maiduguri, stated that as stakeholders in the progress and development of Borno state they called on the relevant bodies to work hard in achieving lasting peace in the state and the country at large.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

Catholic and Anglican Bishops weighed in on economic and security matters at the weekend, as both groups criticised the approach of President Goodluck Jonathan to the menace posed by Boko Haram in the North, and expressed concern over Islamic banking.

Over 20 Bishops of the Anglican Communion who congregated at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Ogharefe Delta State at the First Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Sapele condemned the introduction of Islamic banking. They urged Abuja to review the conditions for the approval of non-interest banking and make all possible amendments that would ensure the interest of every religious group in Nigeria is protected....

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Archbishop Akinola called on the Church of Nigeria and “all other well-meaning Nigerians to wake up and appreciate the situation.”

“Well-meaning Nigerians must resist all of this by all lawful means and the National Assembly must see the whole thing as an affront” to the Nigerian constitution “which states unambiguously that no particular religion shall be adopted as state religion.”

“Government must take decisive action and promptly cancel everything about the proposed Sharia banking,” the archbishop said, imploring Christians to “rise to defend our faith which is currently on trial” from pro-Muslim government policies and violent Islamist terror attacks.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Banking System/Sector • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

The Church’s commitment to human rights rooted in the Biblical founding of human dignity is amplified in God’s covenant promises and supremely revealed in the incarnation of Jesus as the true image of God. Our understanding of human rights must be measured by the Bible’s revelation of human worth.

Governments at all levels should not by their actions or inactions, be seen to project or succumb to pressure from any religious, cultural, ethnic or interest groups to enable it have or appear to have dominance over others. A typical example is the promotion of Islamic banking (Sharia-compliant) by the Central Bank of Nigeria over and above other forms of non-interest banking institutions. For a state institution to promote one view sanctioned by one religion violates the rights of others. Instead, the CBN should give general guidelines for non-interest banking for all: whether Christian, Traditional or Islamic.

Political leaders are urgently charged to be cautious not to adopt self centered instrumentality of religion, cultural or ethnic sentiments to propagate their ambition for power and undermine the rights of the electorate.

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What is your view on the vexed issue of Islamic banking in Nigeria?

It is a time bomb that is about to explode. This nation is secular in nature. It is a constitutional stipulation that no religion should be adopted as a state religion. The fact remains that Christians cannot claim to be the sole owners of Nigeria. Muslims and African Traditional Religion practitioners cannot equally claim to be owners of Nigeria. If that is the case, foisting or attempting to foist the religious practices of a particular religion on this nation is a time bomb that will explode.

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The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) at its Episcopal meeting held at IBRU Centre Agbarha-Otor has elected four new Bishops and an Archbishop.

The new Archbishop for Aba Province is the Rt Rev Ikechi Nwosu, the incumbent Bishop of the Diocese of Umuahia.

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The Bishop of Kubwa Diocese (Anglican Communion), Rt. Reverend Duke Akamisoko, has said that the proposed Islamic Banking is making some people to be apprehensive, saying that the development is overheating the polity.

The cleric, who spoke to journalists at the Pre- Synod press conference in Abuja yesterday, added that World Bank statistics had revealed that 60-70 per cent of citizens of countries like Pakistan, Kuwait, Sudan that had practiced Islamic banking for over 40 years lived below poverty level.

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Primate of Anglican Communion, Nigeria, Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh, has described the introduction of Islamic banking by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, as a religious oppressive instrument and a tool for social coercion of the poor to convert to Islam.

Okoh, who spoke to newsmen, yesterday, at Agbarha-Otor, Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, said it was a follow up to demands by Boko Haram for the application of Sharia all over the country.

He said: “In 10 years from now, it would have grown and matured to what it is intended to be- a religious oppressive instrument and tool for social coercion of the poor to convert to Islam. It is heavily skewed to put other non-interest banking at disadvantage.

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Angry reactions have continued to trail the planned introduction of Islamic banking system in the country by the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

The condemnation was part of a 14-point communiqué issued at the end of the third session of the first synod of the Diocese of Oru, Anglican Communion, and signed by the Bishop and Synod Secretary, Rt. Rev. Geoffrey Chukwunenye and Ven. H.U Nnaoma respectively.

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[Bishop Idowu Fearon of Kaduna]... lauded the establishment of federal universities, noted that the development of any nation was hinged on the level of education of its people.

He urged the president to sustain the leverage given Nigerians to be educated from primary to tertiary levels with less stress.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Education

The Anglican Synod of Enugu Diocese Sunday joined the growing condemnation of the forum of state governors over their call for removal of fuel subsidy, saying doing so would render useless, the new minimum wage.

Accordingly, the Synod advised the government to among other ways reduce cost of governance as a means of paying the new wage, explaining that cost of running the democracy of the country has continued to increase by the day.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Energy, Natural Resources • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Nigeria

Church leaders in Nigeria have urged the government to act swiftly in combating terror attacks on Christians.

The murder campaign in the North waged by Islamist Boko Haram sect known as the Nigerian Taliban could ignite a sectarian war in the South with Christians seeking revenge against Muslims, the Anglican Bishop of Awka warned.

Last week, the fundamentalist sect bombed a Roman Catholic Church and a police station in Maiduguri, killing eleven people, while on June 7 a Church of Christ in Nigeria pastor the Rev. David Usman and the church secretary were gunned down by members of the cult. Last week’s murder follows a 2009 attack on Mr. Usman’s church by Boko Haram militants, who burned it to the ground and killed several members of the congregation.

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The Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, has urged Moslem leaders in the country to call their members involved in the killing of Christians in the North to order, warning that Christians could no longer continue to be on the receiving end during riots in any part of Nigeria.

In a speech delivered at the second session of the 28th synod of the Diocese on the Niger, taking place at the Immanuel Church, Onitsha, the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev. Owen Nwokolo, wondered why Christians should be massacred in the guise of protesting in favour of a political candidate who lost during the recent general elections.

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The Diocesan Bishop of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Oke-Ogun Diocese, the Rt. Reverend (Dr) Solomon Olaniyi Amusan has assured missionaries, especially those serving in Oke-Ogun Diocese, that a great reward awaits them, provided they served the Lord willingly and cheerfully.

While addressing the second session of the First Synod of the diocese recently at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Oke-Abe, Igbeti, on the theme Missionary Reward, the bishop defined a missionary as a person commissioned to take the gospel to another culture and reward as payment for good or evil.

He, however, noted that a reward is thought of as the return for good while punishment is thought of as the return for evil.

Amusan also reiterated the fact that ‘the missionary’s reward is glorious, it is forever and ever, it is abundant, it is according to God’s standards and the gifts are both temporal and eternal.’

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Christian Life / Church Life • Missions

Church leaders in Nigeria have denounced the introduction of Sharia banking in the West African nation, saying the introduction of religion into the financial services sector violates the law and will further divide the country along sectarian lines.

On May 8 the Diocese of Ughelli released a statement calling for the government to force the Central Bank of Nigeria to back down from its proposal to issue licences to Sharia banks.

The Ughelli synod noted “with suspicion the haste with which approval was granted for the issuance of a licence for Islamic banking in Nigeria, without any known or overt legislative support from the National Assembly.”

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Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Rev. Benjamin Kwashi, has advised Gov. Jonah Jang of Plateau to appoint only God-fearing people as commissioners.

Kwashi gave the advice on Sunday in his sermon at the inauguration of Jang and his deputy, Ignatius Longjan, in Jos. He tasked the governor to ensure that he cared for the less privileged during his second term in office. Kwashi also advised Jang to drop some of the commissioners who served in his first term.

"The list of your commissioners would have been ready by now but I advise you to review it.

"Godly people, who feel the plight of the poor, orphans and widows, should be brought on board in your second term to execute your programmes for the people," Kwashi said.

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The synod said the 84 churches were burnt in riots that took place in Kaduna, Niger Adamawa Bauchi and Kano states, but did not give a breakdown of the churches burnt in each state.

A communiqué issued after the third session of the Seventh Synod of the Diocese of Minna Anglican Communion held at St James Anglican Church, Suleja Niger State also bemoaned the death of a number of members of the National Youth Service Corps taking part in their national service during the crises.

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Primate of the Anglican Church[Nigeria] , Most Rev. Archbishop Nicholas Okoh Friday in Abuja urged President Goodluck Jonathan not to derail in the task of unmasking the sponsors of the post-election violence that swept across some northern states after the announcement of the 2011 presidential results.

The Anglican head was speaking at the First Session of the Eight Synod of the Abuja Diocese.

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Bishop Danbinta spoke on Thursday in a sermon at the opening of the first session of the 10th Synod of Remo Anglican Diocese....[He] disclosed that it was becoming increasingly difficult for Christians to openly carry the Bible in some areas in the North.

Although he did not mention such places, the Kaduna-born bishop said he had had nasty experiences of hostility against adherents of the Christian faith in Kano and Zamfara states, where he is currently a bishop.

“Those of you who are Christians in the South here do not know what it really means to be Christians. In the North, we live daily preparing to be killed for the sake of Jesus Christ. And we suffer a lot for Christ sake...."

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The Anglican Diocese of Ughelli, Delta State, has condemned the recent approval of a license for Islamic Banking in Nigeria without any known or overt legislative support from the National Assembly.

In a 14-point communiqué at the end of the second session of the fifth synod of the diocese held at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Otorho-Orogun from April 30 to May 4, 2011, the Diocese of Ughelli, also called for expeditious hearing of cases arising from the polls at the tribunal, while appealing to INEC to bring all electoral offenders to face prosecution to serve as deterrent to others.

The synod also condemned the initiative of Islamic banking, which, it noted, could provoke negative reactions from other Nigerians who are non-Muslims and strongly calls for a revocation of the said license.

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The team leader at the centre for Gospel Health and Development in Jos, Nigeria, has warned that blankets, mattresses and medical care are urgently needed for victims of post election violence in Jos.

Ven. Noel Bewarang, who is also steering group member of the Anglican Communion's Anglican Alliance, undertook a needs assessment on Easter Monday at the camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) at Jos East local government area. He found about 3,000 people, mostly Christians, who had been attacked in Toro, Tilden Fulani and Magaman Gumau in Bauchi state.

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The creeping acceptance of homosexual conduct as a moral good may be a sign that the end times are near, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria has warned.

In an interview published by the Church of Nigeria News, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh said the cultural hostility towards Christian morality in the West and the celebration of lust as godliness was a sign that “we are getting deeper and deeper into the age that was spoken of by Timothy when people will love themselves more than God, when the pleasure and comfort will determine many things.”

“We are in the end time and in this end time there are boundless opportunities of evil,” the archbishop said on April 7 drawing upon 2 Tim. 3:2, but added “but the joy of it all is that evil will not win in the end.”

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The opposition of Nigerian Bishops and their congregations to any softening of attitudes towards homosexuality has made them increasingly uneasy with the notion of being in full communion with overseas churches which allow - in their view - an unacceptable latitude in sexual matters. The size and faithfulness of this province means that in any ensuing schism, to be able to claim communion with the Church of Nigeria will be invaluable for a body seeking to present itself as the genuine inheritor of the Anglican tradition. As British, Australian and North American churches fight within themselves over the status of women Bishops and active homosexual clergy, the Church of Nigeria, along with the other African provinces such as South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda, finds itself courted by traditionalists and reformists, Anglo Catholics and Evangelicals, as a fountain of legitimacy for whatever schismatic or unifying agency can claim it. In an extraordinary moment of thwarted ecumenicism the low church, evangelical, and frequently anti-Catholic African Anglicans even found themselves rejecting an advance by Pope Benedict XVI, who wanted to bring them into his newly formed Personal Ordinariate, where they would have been permitted exceptional latitude in liturgy and practice, including the ordination of married men.

The irony of this is that the Church of Nigeria itself is relatively untroubled by internal dissent. The old debates between Anglo Catholicism and Evangelism which wracked British and North American Churches in the 19th century barely touched the African Provinces, where Anglicanism was always defined by its distance from both the Catholic Church on one side and the Baptist and Pentecostalist movements on the other.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Commentary • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

The Archbishop of the province of Jos, Dr Benjamin Kwashi, said that “solidarity” with Christians in Nigeria, who have been subjected to violence in recent years, “is missing” from the wider Anglican Commun­ion.

Speaking in London on Thursday of last week, during his two-week visit to the UK, Dr Kwashi said that the Primate of Nigeria, the Most Revd Nicholas Okoh, had “shown deep interest and concern over the situation in Jos”. The Primate had “not only visited but . . . made rehabilitation possible for some of the displaced and suffering people.
“Unfortunately, you can’t say the same thing for the rest of the Anglican Communion,” Dr Kwashi went on. “We do get letters and encourage­ment, which is wonderful . . . but the solidarity is missing.”

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The delegation was well received by the Nigerian High Commission in London. There was a brief meeting and an interactive section. The group also visited the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace. Our message:

The need to allow Nigerians to worship “the Nigeria way” in abandoned Church buildings or allow them a scheduled time in parish Churches where they could express themselves unreservedly in worship, to save us from the unceasing and intense bleeding of our young executive Anglicans moving over to the New Generation Churches due to what they describe as “cold” worship style. Our request was viewed positively by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England. We also visited the Lord Bishop of London and the Bishop of Southwark. Other places visited include Manchester and Birmingham. In summary the Archbishop requested us to put our proposal into writing. He assured us that it is a practical proposal. We addressed a group of Nigerians of different age brackets in London, Manchester and Birmingham and had a special session with representatives of Nigerian Clergy in the UK. Our visit was said to be timely. But a few had their reservations.

Another issue which has emerged in this visit is the status, sponsorship and future of the Nigerian Chaplaincy in the UK. At the moment they are enjoying the last part of the generosity of the CMS, and the grace and benevolence of St. Marylebone. These are issues requiring urgent attention.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

In February 2006 a band of people reportedly hired to kill me came to my house. Believing that I was there although I was in another country, they tortured my wife, Gloria, from 1:30 to 3:30 a.m. They left Gloria half-dead and blind. Our son Rinji was left unconscious and our little boy Nanminen had a broken mouth. Through the miracle of medical science, Gloria healed thoroughly and regained her sight in five months.

The next year the attackers were back: this time they met me. They took me downstairs to the field outside my house, where they were going to kill me. They changed their minds and decided they would rather kill me in my bedroom. They brought me back to my bedroom and I pleaded with them for an opportunity to pray. They agreed and I got on my knees to pray. A few minutes later my wife was holding my hands in prayer.

A few more minutes later my son Rinji walked in. I screamed at him, “What are you doing? Why are you here?” He said, “Daddy, they’ve gone.” We got up and brought the whole family together and we praised the Lord until the police and the soldiers came, and throughout the day it was a song of praise.

Read it all (or watch the video which was posted a while back).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth • * Culture-Watch • Violence

Clergy and laity of the Esan Diocese, Anglican Communion at the weekend embarked on a procession in Uromi, over the burning of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State by suspected arsonists.

The Anglicans, who were dressed in black, marched through the ever busy Ubiaja Road from Eguare Primary School to Angle 90 before returning to the burnt church.

Read it all (and it includes a picture which was not in the report posted yesterday).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

Clergy and laity of the Esan Diocese, Anglican Communion during the weekend embarked on a procession in Uromi, over the burning of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State by suspected arsonists.

The Anglicans who were dressed in black, marched through the ever busy Ubiaja Road from Eguare Primary School to Angle 90 before returning to the burnt church.

They carried placards with various inscriptions and sang songs of lamentations as they marched through the road.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

A four-man gang of armed robbers Monday burgled the Bishop's Court, the Anglican Diocese of Asaba in Delta State, taking away N800,000 and other valuables.

The bishop, [the] Rt. Rev... [Justus Mogekwu], and his wife were held at gun point inside their bedroom by the hoodlums at about 1 am who operated for about three hours.

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Reminder: Justus Emeka Mogekwu was elected the new bishop of Asaba in 2009 to replace Nicholas Okoh, now Nigerian primate

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues

All is now set for the standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria(Anglican Communion) holding in Owerri, Imo State capital from March 1-5.

The twice in a year event, which is the executive arm of the General synod of the Church of Nigeria, would be Presided over by the Primate, His Grace, The Most Rev'd. Nicholas Okoh. No fewer than 1000 delegates including 14 Archbishops and 165 Bishops are expected to congregate at the Cathedral Church of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (CATOL) in the Eastern Heartland of this ecclesiastical brainstorming event.

Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province and Bishop of Orlu, His Grace, Most Rev'd Bennett Okoro PhD disclosed these facts to journalists, at the Bishop's Bourne Owerri, during the pre-event briefing.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria

The Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, the Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), says the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), is no longer under the jurisdiction of Nigeria....

“We are not interested in territorial ambition; our main reason for going to America was to provide for those who were no longer finding it possible to worship in the Episcopal church.

“A new structure has been put up in the U.S. which is ACNA.

“CANA now belongs to ACNA even though they still relate to us;but essentially it now belongs to Anglican province of North America,” he said.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • CANA

THE Primate of Anglican Communion in Nigeria, The Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, said that the communion remained “strongly’ opposed to homosexuality and gay marriages in church. Okoh said this when he led a delegation of four Bishops to the Nigerian High Commission in London.

“We have not repented from our initial stand; we remain strongly opposed to homosexuality and other anti-Christ like life in the Communion,’’ he said.

He explained that though the relationship between the Church of Nigeria and the Church of England was cordial, there was still disagreement on the same sex marriage issue.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Global South Churches & Primates • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

A spokesman for Archbishop Okoh said this week’s visit will be his first to London since his election as primate. A trip set for December 2010 was postponed due to inclement weather. The trip will also provide an opportunity for Dr. Rowan Williams to mend fences with the Nigerian Church, which along with a majority of the African church has become estranged from Lambeth over the past three years.

Regaining the trust of the estranged members of the Anglican Communion would be a “long task” and would be “difficult”, Dr. Williams said at the closing press conference of the Dublin primates meeting last month. However, that is the “task we’ve been given, it’s part of the gift of living in the Church” and “part of the cross we carry.”

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Primates • Partial Primates Meeting in Dublin 2011 • Anglican Provinces • Church of Nigeria