By Princewill Ireoba
• Lauds Ndukuba
The Liturgy and Spirituality Committee of the Church of Nigeria held its yearly workshop and seminar for the Writers, Editors and Consultants of the Church of Nigeria Publications at the Ibru Ecumenical Centre, Agbarha-otor between March 8 and 11, 2021.
Welcoming participants, the new Chairman of the Liturgy and Spirituality Committee and Bishop of Osun, Rt. Rev. (Dr.) Folunso Babatunde, applauded them for sacrificing their time, resources, as well as making themselves available for God to be used to edify and encourage faith of the Church of God through their writings. Babatunde, who is chairing the Workshop for the first time, extoled the immediate past Chairman, who is now a Primate.
He said: “It is a thing of joy that our Church has been blessed by God, in choosing one of us, Most Rev Henry Ndukuba, our former and veteran chairman as her leader. He has shown to all that he is, indeed, a man of God in whom there is no guile, who had been prepared for this dispensation, to take Church of Nigeria to a greater height, both spiritually and ecclesiastically. He hit the ground running after becoming Primate, by orchestrating programmes that are spiritually-enriching and refreshing in the House of Bishops, as well as in other structured meetings of the Church of Nigeria, like the Standing Committee, DIVCCON, and even among the youth. No doubt, leading this group is one of the platforms from which our Primate had been prepared to lead this great Church.
“This letter L hung on my neck is an indication that this workshop is the maiden edition that I will organise. Brethren, you can imagine how ‘fearsome’ it is to put my feet in the shoes Primate Ndukuba left here. They seem oversized, but with God Almighty on our side, we shall not disappoint you, our Church and the Lord Jesus Christ Who paid the ultimate price for its redemption and sanctification. We, therefore, covet your prayers and support to be able to steer the wheel of this committee in the right direction, according to the standard of Jesus Christ, and not of man.”
The Chairman, said the workshop is to subject the writers of the Church of Nigeria publications to tutelage of the Holy Spirit for the power and inspiration to open up the scriptures and bring forth God’s Word for the readers, to make their Christian journey full of life and spiritual excitement.
In the Holy Communion service to kick-start the Workshop, Rector of the Centre, Ven. (Dr) Princewill Ireoba, urged participants to be courageous to overcome every challenge they might encounter. The Resource persons in the programme included Rt. Rev. (Dr.) Chidi Okparaojiaku; Rt. Rev. Emeka Mogekwu; Ven. Prof. Pic Onwochei; Ven. Niyi Ageshin; Ven. Dr Moses Omeke; Mr. Kiki Briggs; Prof. S. Enibe and Prof. (Mrs.) Stella Madueme.