LATEST UPDATE: Thrills as Foursquare Church celebrates 59th convention
…Fashola, Amosun, Ajimobi, Alake, others expected today
Today, all roads will lead to the campground of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria in Ajebo, a community in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. The event is the grand finale of the 59th national convention of the church, which started on Monday, November 10, 2014.
The event which is tagged “Service of Grace,” is expected to be graced by the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; his Lagos and Oyo counterparts; Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and Senator Abiola Ajimobi. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; the Minister for Agriculture is also being expected at the event alongside his ministry’s permanent secretary, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote.
Also, expected at event is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing and President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Femi Adesina. Other dignitaries expected include the former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Rev Tunde Lemo; and the Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof Bamitale Omole.
The royal fathers expected at the service include the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Gbadebo; the Osile of Oke Ona and Olu of Ajebo, Oba Reuben Oluwole. The chief host is the General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev Felix Meduoye, who will be assisted by the National Secretary, Rev. Ikechukwu Ugbaja.
The convention, with the theme “In His Steps,” taken from I Peter 2:21, which kicked off on Monday had featured various programmes such as a business meeting, prayer sessions, teachings, expositions, awards, recognitions, a variety night, praises, debate, quiz, recitation, sharing of testimonies, etc.
Facilitators at the convention include the former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili; founder of Living Seed (Ministries), in Benue State, Gbile Akanni, a renowned cleric, Rev Azuka Obi; and wife of the General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church, Rev. (Mrs.) Olubisi Meduoye.
At the opening ceremony of the convention on Wednesday evening, the chairman, 2014 convention planning committee, Kehinde Lawanson, noted that many Christians in Nigeria have not lived up to the strong moral and spiritual expectations in their relationship with God. He further explained that when people fail in their spiritual life, they become like salt that has lost its taste.
Lawanson described the convention as a call for individual believers to return to the narrow path and rededicate themselves to God’s service. “The programme and speakers were prayerfully drawn with a belief that God will use His spoken word to draw people out of the moral and spiritual darkness that has compassed our nation into the incomprehensible illumination that comes with walking in His steps.”
Also speaking, the General Overseer, Rev Meduoye, described the theme of the convention “In His Steps,” as very apt, appropriate, relevant and instructive to the present generation. He enjoined Christians to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ so that they could be all that God wants them to be.
“As people created in the image and likeness of God, we must be conscious to ensure that we reflect Him in our dealings. It is doing this that will prepare us to be accepted to Jesus Christ – the Bridegroom, when He comes in His glory to take the church (the bride). It is walking in His steps that will attract the sinners/unbelievers to embrace the saviour,” he said.
Meduoye expressed the belief that the convention would provide all and sundry the opportunity to deal with and do away with “things that have hitherto hindered them from walking faithfully, conscientiously and consistently in His steps.”
In his subsequent ministration, Meduoye mentioned four things that Jesus Christ did that all Christians must emulate. According to him, they were obedience and humility, resistance to all kinds of temptations to sin, love of the downtrodden. He warned Christians against those things that could derail them from God’s way.
The cynosure of all eyes at the opening ceremony was a JSS III student, Marvellous Kumuyi, who recited the whole of first and second Corinthians by heart. As gathered, it would take her one hour and 30 minutes to recite the two books. But she was asked to recite only I Corinthians chapters one to five and she did as if she was preaching.
On Thursday morning, wife of the General Overseer, Rev (Mrs.) Meduoye, delivered a paper on the topic “In His Steps in the Family Altar.” She emphasised the need for each family to set up family altars, saying it would help their spiritual growth and development.
The Founder of Living Seed (Ministries), Akanni also ministered on the topic “Walking in His steps,” noted that walking in God’s steps was not for special people but for everybody who wants to go to heaven.
“You need to ask yourself if whatever you want to do will be in His steps. If you want to raise money in the church, you need to ask if it is in accordance with His steps. Church leaders should not allow charlatan pastors to deceive them in raising money that is contrary to His steps,” he stated.
Akanni explained that doing things in God’s way would also help Christians in resisting sins. “Jesus resisted sin and anything that could contaminate His ministry and that could put Him at loggerheads with his father. Jesus was tempted with power, money and so on but did not fall. If you are following the steps of Jesus Christ, money, power and women should not make you fall.”
Former Minister of Education, Dr. Ezekwesili, spoke on the topic “In His Steps In Integrity.” According to her, integrity is not complete until it is consistent, adding that integrity is an integral part of Christianity. When you are working in the footsteps of a person, you will arrive at his destination.
She said that she never took any money from her imprest accounts when she was minister at both Ministry of Solid Minerals and Ministry of Education. During a special interview session that followed the brief exhortation, she fielded questions.
Ezekwesili described as a blatant lie, the speculation that she wanted to sell the 102 Unity Schools across the country to private individuals when she was in charge of Federal Ministry of Education. The policy, she said, was evolved then towards returning the Unity Schools to the path of academic excellence.
The policy, she disclosed, would not have prevented the Federal Government from funding the schools, but it would have ensured that the schools were managed by the old students’ associations as well as the parents/teachers associations of those schools. She was not happy that the policy was thrown out after her exit as minister.
The National Coordinator of National Fellowship of Foursquare Students (NaFFS), Pastor Sam Adebowale, on behalf of NaFFS presented a plaque to Ezekwesili in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the development of the Nigerian youth.
The programme on Thursday featured Rev (Mrs.) Bola Adams and Pastor Akeem Oguniran, in another interview session. The thrust of the session was how to do a genuine business God’s way. While Adams told a story of how she built her business empire, Oguniran narrated how he rose quickly in the corporate world. They both charged Christians to rely on God and follow His steps.
After special sessions of ministration from Rev. Asuka Obi and others on Friday, the National Department of Christian Education of the church took the centre stage. The department announced the results of competitions it organised for various regions of the church in Nigeria. All the questions, as gathered, were set by Rev (Dr.) Dada Shonibare, Curriculum Director.
National Director of Christian Education, Rev (Mrs.) Kafilat Ayanbanjo, said the competition featured the recitation, quiz and debate. In the recitation, three regions – Lagos, Mid- West and North participated. The participants were asked to recite first and second Corinthians of the Holy Bible. Fantastic prizes were given to the winners.
The JSS III student, Miss Kumuyi (mentioned earlier), from Lagos Region emerged the overall best with 32 points. She was followed by Job Oden from the Northern Region, who scored 30 points. Also, Favour Nene from Mid-West Region and Duncan Agu from Lagos Region emerged third and fourth respectively. While Nene scored 28 points, Agu scored 26 points.
In the quiz, Omoike Nosakhare, from Mid-West Region took the first position by scoring 67 per cent, while Tunde Olowu, from Lagos Region, who scored 60.5 per cent emerged the first runner up and Ozigi Emmanuel from Northern Region, with 59 per cent, made the second runner up.
The fourth position went to Ajayi Iretiola from South-West Region, who scored 35 per cent and the fifth position to Obutor Ochoma Mildred from South-South Region, who scored 19 per cent.
Also in the debate session, the Mid-West Region, represented by Arinze Chinazom and Mbiaka Samuel came first with 98.8 per cent. The second position went to the Northern Region represented by Joel Sinou and Nkume Samuel. In the third position was the Lagos Region, represented by Uche Jephtah and Ada Onongaya with 85.1 per cent. The South-South Region, represented by Benson Pretty and Dickson Chidinma, came fourth with 80.1 per cent and the South- West, represented by Olagunju Anuoluwa and Adebanjo Blessing, came fifth with 75.1 per cent. Meanwhile, Joel Sinou, the chief speaker for the Northern Region was honoured for being the best speaker at the debate.
Also, in the 2014 District Evaluation conducted for the 131 districts of the church in the country, the Yaba District in Lagos emerged the overall best. It was closely followed by the Kubwa District, Abuja in the Northern Region as well as the Lagos Island District that came third.
The Resident Pastor of Foursquare Gospel Church, Yaba Headquarters, Rev. Zaccheaus Olaniyan; District Overseer, Kubwa District, Rev Olanrewaju Omigade and District Overseer of Lagos Island, Rev Joseph Lamidi, collected the gifts presented to winners by the church.
National Director of Home Missions, Rev. Yomi Oyinloye, who was the chairman of the evaluation committee, said the evaluation started in 2010 when the denomination had 36 districts. Now, there are 131 districts. “We know there is general heavenly reward that we are all waiting for, but at least this will serve as a form of recognition, of course, to make the workers know that somebody somewhere is checking out performances of various districts.”
The conventioneers also had a special teaching session with Prof. Bamitale Omole, the Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolwo University. By yesterday evening, 209 pastors of the church were ordained as Reverends. Also, new appointments were made by the church into some leadership positions.
The chairman, 2014 ordination planning committee, Rev Samson Alawode, said the ordained ministers were picked from 225 pastors that had applied.
“The highest title you can have in Foursquare is Reverend. Ordination in the Foursquare Church setting is a senior ministerial cadre and we have three levels of ministers. When you are inducted, you are called an exhorter. After five years, you will be licensed and after another five years, making it 10 years post-induction, you will become a Reverend after some rigorous exercises,” he had explained.
Secretary of the convention planning committee, Rev Niyi Alawode, told Sunday Sun that the convention was streamed live with feedbacks from United Kingdom, United States, Canada, United Arab Emirate (UAE) and Egypt. The convention, he said, was also being broadcast live on 100.1FM licensed radio station at the camp.
“The online registration before the convention also helped as the 24, 000 capacity auditorium has been filled up. Also, we sank additional eight boreholes to make water available to the campers. We also prayed for seven hours on Wednesday for Nigeria, the church, victims of terrorism and so on. This convention is a call to righteousness,” Alawode stated.
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…Fashola, Amosun, Ajimobi, Alake, others expected today
Today, all roads will lead to the campground of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria in Ajebo, a community in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. The event is the grand finale of the 59th national convention of the church, which started on Monday, November 10, 2014.
The event which is tagged “Service of Grace,” is expected to be graced by the Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; his Lagos and Oyo counterparts; Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and Senator Abiola Ajimobi. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; the Minister for Agriculture is also being expected at the event alongside his ministry’s permanent secretary, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote.
Also, expected at event is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun Publishing and President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Femi Adesina. Other dignitaries expected include the former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Rev Tunde Lemo; and the Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof Bamitale Omole.
The royal fathers expected at the service include the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Gbadebo; the Osile of Oke Ona and Olu of Ajebo, Oba Reuben Oluwole. The chief host is the General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev Felix Meduoye, who will be assisted by the National Secretary, Rev. Ikechukwu Ugbaja.
The convention, with the theme “In His Steps,” taken from I Peter 2:21, which kicked off on Monday had featured various programmes such as a business meeting, prayer sessions, teachings, expositions, awards, recognitions, a variety night, praises, debate, quiz, recitation, sharing of testimonies, etc.
Facilitators at the convention include the former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili; founder of Living Seed (Ministries), in Benue State, Gbile Akanni, a renowned cleric, Rev Azuka Obi; and wife of the General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church, Rev. (Mrs.) Olubisi Meduoye.
At the opening ceremony of the convention on Wednesday evening, the chairman, 2014 convention planning committee, Kehinde Lawanson, noted that many Christians in Nigeria have not lived up to the strong moral and spiritual expectations in their relationship with God. He further explained that when people fail in their spiritual life, they become like salt that has lost its taste.
Lawanson described the convention as a call for individual believers to return to the narrow path and rededicate themselves to God’s service. “The programme and speakers were prayerfully drawn with a belief that God will use His spoken word to draw people out of the moral and spiritual darkness that has compassed our nation into the incomprehensible illumination that comes with walking in His steps.”
Also speaking, the General Overseer, Rev Meduoye, described the theme of the convention “In His Steps,” as very apt, appropriate, relevant and instructive to the present generation. He enjoined Christians to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ so that they could be all that God wants them to be.
“As people created in the image and likeness of God, we must be conscious to ensure that we reflect Him in our dealings. It is doing this that will prepare us to be accepted to Jesus Christ – the Bridegroom, when He comes in His glory to take the church (the bride). It is walking in His steps that will attract the sinners/unbelievers to embrace the saviour,” he said.
Meduoye expressed the belief that the convention would provide all and sundry the opportunity to deal with and do away with “things that have hitherto hindered them from walking faithfully, conscientiously and consistently in His steps.”
In his subsequent ministration, Meduoye mentioned four things that Jesus Christ did that all Christians must emulate. According to him, they were obedience and humility, resistance to all kinds of temptations to sin, love of the downtrodden. He warned Christians against those things that could derail them from God’s way.
The cynosure of all eyes at the opening ceremony was a JSS III student, Marvellous Kumuyi, who recited the whole of first and second Corinthians by heart. As gathered, it would take her one hour and 30 minutes to recite the two books. But she was asked to recite only I Corinthians chapters one to five and she did as if she was preaching.
On Thursday morning, wife of the General Overseer, Rev (Mrs.) Meduoye, delivered a paper on the topic “In His Steps in the Family Altar.” She emphasised the need for each family to set up family altars, saying it would help their spiritual growth and development.
The Founder of Living Seed (Ministries), Akanni also ministered on the topic “Walking in His steps,” noted that walking in God’s steps was not for special people but for everybody who wants to go to heaven.
“You need to ask yourself if whatever you want to do will be in His steps. If you want to raise money in the church, you need to ask if it is in accordance with His steps. Church leaders should not allow charlatan pastors to deceive them in raising money that is contrary to His steps,” he stated.
Akanni explained that doing things in God’s way would also help Christians in resisting sins. “Jesus resisted sin and anything that could contaminate His ministry and that could put Him at loggerheads with his father. Jesus was tempted with power, money and so on but did not fall. If you are following the steps of Jesus Christ, money, power and women should not make you fall.”
Former Minister of Education, Dr. Ezekwesili, spoke on the topic “In His Steps In Integrity.” According to her, integrity is not complete until it is consistent, adding that integrity is an integral part of Christianity. When you are working in the footsteps of a person, you will arrive at his destination.
She said that she never took any money from her imprest accounts when she was minister at both Ministry of Solid Minerals and Ministry of Education. During a special interview session that followed the brief exhortation, she fielded questions.
Ezekwesili described as a blatant lie, the speculation that she wanted to sell the 102 Unity Schools across the country to private individuals when she was in charge of Federal Ministry of Education. The policy, she said, was evolved then towards returning the Unity Schools to the path of academic excellence.
The policy, she disclosed, would not have prevented the Federal Government from funding the schools, but it would have ensured that the schools were managed by the old students’ associations as well as the parents/teachers associations of those schools. She was not happy that the policy was thrown out after her exit as minister.
The National Coordinator of National Fellowship of Foursquare Students (NaFFS), Pastor Sam Adebowale, on behalf of NaFFS presented a plaque to Ezekwesili in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the development of the Nigerian youth.
The programme on Thursday featured Rev (Mrs.) Bola Adams and Pastor Akeem Oguniran, in another interview session. The thrust of the session was how to do a genuine business God’s way. While Adams told a story of how she built her business empire, Oguniran narrated how he rose quickly in the corporate world. They both charged Christians to rely on God and follow His steps.
After special sessions of ministration from Rev. Asuka Obi and others on Friday, the National Department of Christian Education of the church took the centre stage. The department announced the results of competitions it organised for various regions of the church in Nigeria. All the questions, as gathered, were set by Rev (Dr.) Dada Shonibare, Curriculum Director.
National Director of Christian Education, Rev (Mrs.) Kafilat Ayanbanjo, said the competition featured the recitation, quiz and debate. In the recitation, three regions – Lagos, Mid- West and North participated. The participants were asked to recite first and second Corinthians of the Holy Bible. Fantastic prizes were given to the winners.
The JSS III student, Miss Kumuyi (mentioned earlier), from Lagos Region emerged the overall best with 32 points. She was followed by Job Oden from the Northern Region, who scored 30 points. Also, Favour Nene from Mid-West Region and Duncan Agu from Lagos Region emerged third and fourth respectively. While Nene scored 28 points, Agu scored 26 points.
In the quiz, Omoike Nosakhare, from Mid-West Region took the first position by scoring 67 per cent, while Tunde Olowu, from Lagos Region, who scored 60.5 per cent emerged the first runner up and Ozigi Emmanuel from Northern Region, with 59 per cent, made the second runner up.
The fourth position went to Ajayi Iretiola from South-West Region, who scored 35 per cent and the fifth position to Obutor Ochoma Mildred from South-South Region, who scored 19 per cent.
Also in the debate session, the Mid-West Region, represented by Arinze Chinazom and Mbiaka Samuel came first with 98.8 per cent. The second position went to the Northern Region represented by Joel Sinou and Nkume Samuel. In the third position was the Lagos Region, represented by Uche Jephtah and Ada Onongaya with 85.1 per cent. The South-South Region, represented by Benson Pretty and Dickson Chidinma, came fourth with 80.1 per cent and the South- West, represented by Olagunju Anuoluwa and Adebanjo Blessing, came fifth with 75.1 per cent. Meanwhile, Joel Sinou, the chief speaker for the Northern Region was honoured for being the best speaker at the debate.
Also, in the 2014 District Evaluation conducted for the 131 districts of the church in the country, the Yaba District in Lagos emerged the overall best. It was closely followed by the Kubwa District, Abuja in the Northern Region as well as the Lagos Island District that came third.
The Resident Pastor of Foursquare Gospel Church, Yaba Headquarters, Rev. Zaccheaus Olaniyan; District Overseer, Kubwa District, Rev Olanrewaju Omigade and District Overseer of Lagos Island, Rev Joseph Lamidi, collected the gifts presented to winners by the church.
National Director of Home Missions, Rev. Yomi Oyinloye, who was the chairman of the evaluation committee, said the evaluation started in 2010 when the denomination had 36 districts. Now, there are 131 districts. “We know there is general heavenly reward that we are all waiting for, but at least this will serve as a form of recognition, of course, to make the workers know that somebody somewhere is checking out performances of various districts.”
The conventioneers also had a special teaching session with Prof. Bamitale Omole, the Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolwo University. By yesterday evening, 209 pastors of the church were ordained as Reverends. Also, new appointments were made by the church into some leadership positions.
The chairman, 2014 ordination planning committee, Rev Samson Alawode, said the ordained ministers were picked from 225 pastors that had applied.
“The highest title you can have in Foursquare is Reverend. Ordination in the Foursquare Church setting is a senior ministerial cadre and we have three levels of ministers. When you are inducted, you are called an exhorter. After five years, you will be licensed and after another five years, making it 10 years post-induction, you will become a Reverend after some rigorous exercises,” he had explained.
Secretary of the convention planning committee, Rev Niyi Alawode, told Sunday Sun that the convention was streamed live with feedbacks from United Kingdom, United States, Canada, United Arab Emirate (UAE) and Egypt. The convention, he said, was also being broadcast live on 100.1FM licensed radio station at the camp.
“The online registration before the convention also helped as the 24, 000 capacity auditorium has been filled up. Also, we sank additional eight boreholes to make water available to the campers. We also prayed for seven hours on Wednesday for Nigeria, the church, victims of terrorism and so on. This convention is a call to righteousness,” Alawode stated.
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