Dear people of God, We have gathered here at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Diobu, Port Harcourt this week, April 4 – 8, 2016 to kick-start the beginning of the fulfillment of another vision that God has given us towards the achievement of His calling on us. It will therefore go down as an epoch making event. The vision is that of ensuring that the church that God has called us to shepherd for Him is fully equipped in every manner for the task.
In May, 2013, a presentation was made to us on the activities of the Evangelism Leadership and Missions Institute (ELMI) of the Great Anglican Revival Team (GART), Port Harcourt. Together with our brother Bishops of the Province of the Niger Delta and Dioceses of Enugu North and Ohaji/Egbema we deliberated intensely on the benefits that the Church in this part of Nigeria has derived from their training activities. We concluded it is a wiser thing to extend these benefits to the larger community of the Church and therefore adopted that the Institute should reach out beyond our immediate borders.
On July 27th, 2013 we formally inaugurated the Institute as an International Training Institute, open to all denominations and nations. During the inauguration we stated, “The Primate of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh who himself is an Evangelist, will be briefed on this development at the appropriate time”. His Grace the Primate has accordingly been briefed and fully approved that the benefits identified earlier should be extended as intended. His acceptance to come and formally open this maiden edition of the Conference remains adequate testimony of his approval. We are grateful to him.BRIEF HISTORY
Some of the people that are present here today (especially clergy) may, perhaps, be able to trace the beginning of the Training Institute and its progress. Its beginning dates back to 1993 when the Great Anglican Revival Team (GART), under the leadership of Bro. Sosthenes I. Eze, (now Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Enugu North) started the training of Christians on evangelism, leadership and missions after the successful execution of the Anglican Church Port Harcourt citywide crusade of that year.
It started with a small beginning at the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre at Aluu, behind the University of Port Harcourt. The main focus was to train Christians who will be used to continue the work of revival of the church which started with the crusade. This they could do through their full involvement and participation in aggressive evangelism, prayer warfare and provision of quality Christian leadership in their churches. The focus also aims to help Christians identify their ministries and callings and be able to function in those capacities. A good number of ministers in some of our dioceses today realized God’s call on their lives after attending the training.
Up until now, the Institute had operated in “obscurity” and in a humble way during which not less than 2000 people were trained. But the year 2013 marked a turning point in the history of the Institute as stated earlier.
Having personally worked very closely with the ELMI since its inception in 1993 to date as one of its lecturers, and being abreast with some of its curricula, we are satisfied that it is to the overall benefit of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ that the training Institute be upgraded. It is this understanding that has led the bishops of the 15 dioceses mentioned earlier to throw their weight behind the drive to upgrade the Institute. We are glad we have the full support of our beloved Primate, the Most Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh (DD) to reach out to the wider spectrum of the Church instead of being limited to our local environment.
To achieve this, the Institute has a Board of Directors in which each of the constituent dioceses is represented. The Board will drive the seamless take-off and operation of the Institute. It will be accountable to the Patrons.
THIS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Good people of God, this conference that kicks off today is just the first of such to come. We have no doubt in our minds that God who inspired it is here with us to bless His Church. The caliber and quality of ministers for the conference also speak for itself. It is all about the growth and development of the Church to which God has called us to shepherd for Him. Therefore what you take from this conference will be directly related to what you put into it. Determine not to go empty-handed and you will not go empty-handed in Jesus’ Name.
THEME OF THIS CONFERENCE
The theme of this Conference is: In Times Like This – The Christian Leader and His Ministry”; and the objective is: To Raise Evangelism and Mission-minded Christian Leaders Who will Influence Their Churches and Society.
You will agree with us that in every society, organization or church, leaders play very vital roles. Leaders set the pace for their subordinates to follow. In fact leaders are looked upon as role models.
Unfortunately in our time, leaders seem to be losing grips of their subordinates respect. They no longer command the respect of their subordinates and therefore are no longer role models. In the church today, the story is not different. This has adversely affected our core assignment which is to aggressively evangelize the nations as we await the return of our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Many of us as leaders of God’s people have remained in our spiritual stupor, sleeping and snoring within our comfort zones while the task our Master gave to us suffers.
This Conference is expected to issue to all of us a wake-up call to aggressively pursue the Great Commission again. It is intended that we go home after the Conference, and use the materials to be provided to train those of our people who could not attend the Conference. It is a train-the-trainer conference.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion as we formally welcome you to this Conference, we commend our Primate, Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh (DD) for his personal presence in this occasion, and his full support to the work of evangelism and missions, and especially for his acceptance and approval for the Evangelism Leadership and Missions Institute (ELMI) towards the objectives earlier stated. May God continue to bless your ministry.
We commend also your bishops for allowing you to participate in this very special conference. We believe you will endeavor to justify the sacrifices made by them.
It is our desire and prayer that this leadership conference shall exceed the expectations of all the participants, ministers, organisers and sponsors.
Thank you and God bless you.
………………………………….
Most Rev. Dr. Ignatius, C.O. Kattey (JP)
Dean Emeritus, Church of Nigeria,
Archbishop, Province of the Niger Delta &
Bishop, Diocese of Niger Delta North.
