BY PRINCEWILL IREOBA
The Primate of the Church of Nigeria, the Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba has said that the Church of Nigeria is well disposed to work with other churches to accomplish the mission of God. Addressing, via zoom, the Conference of the Provincial and Diocesan Directors of Ecumenism of the Church of Nigeria held at the Ibru Ecumenical Centre, Agbarha-otor from May 3 – 6, 2021 with the theme: “Ecumenism: Mission and Evangelism among Mission Partners”, the Primate said that mission is a team work and that different church denominations need one another.
Tracing the birth of the Church of Nigeria to a Holy Communion service with the Methodist Church on 25th December 1842, Ndukuba said that “the Church of Nigeria is birthed on the maternity of ecumenism”. He therefore urged the directors not to be afraid of relating with other churches but be conscious of the basis of such relationship and not allow themselves to be derailed.
The Anglican prelate emphasized that mission lies at the heart of ecumenism and loosing focus on mission breeds carnality and politicisation of spiritual matters, which said, is the cause of the dissension and acrimony among the ecumenical bodies that hinders the realisation of the Lord’s Prayer for unity.
One of the participants, Assistant Secretary of the All African Council of Churches (AACC), Bar. Mrs Chinelo Anazodo thanked the Primate on behalf others, for his admonition and pledged that they would heed his godly counsel and do ecumenism in godly way.
The Church of Nigeria’s national Director of Ecumenism, the Rt Rev. Dr Duke Akamisoko called the participants to a compound cleaning as a demonstration of community work to impact on the Ibru Centre Community and urged them to always seek to serve and impact on their local communities no matter the position they attain in the society. He directed that the conference should be organised at the provincial and diocesan levels
The conference featured the presentation of papers by Bishops Duke Akamisoko, Chidi Oparaojiaku, Godwin Robinson, Venerables James Lamja, Dennis Egboga, Oliver Ofoegbu and Prof. Durojaiye Adegboye. The Directors also shared their experiences and worked in groups to discuss the ecumenical challenges they face.
