The Dark Side Of Creation Of Dioceses In The Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)

Having been created in the image of God, grants humans authority and power over creation, highlighting the significance of humanity’s divine nature. However, when people disconnect from their sacredness, they become vulnerable to disasters and moral decay.

The loss of sacredness leads to unimaginable heinous acts currently attendant in our communities and not excluding corrupt practices. The deadly sins of greed, gluttony, and lust are matters of great concern, drawing parallels between contemporary church leaders and the corrupt sons of Eli – Hophni and Phinehas – who abused their priestly authority for personal gain.

Sacred Institution for Sale

The Church of Nigeria may soon be grappling with a troubling trend in certain dioceses of the Church, where critical decisions in such dioceses are driven by personal interests, materialistic consideration and socio-political agenda rather than advancing the Gospel. This phenomenon will yield to far-reaching consequences eroding the Church’s integrity and spiritual authority. The current exercise of processing bids for creation of New Dioceses comes into mind, judging from some scandalous development in certain dioceses. This commodification has serious consequences:

Political Power Play: New dioceses should not be established for political reasons, and thus undermining their spiritual purpose.

Lack of Transparency and Accountability: The processes should not be opaque. Otherwise, that may lead to allegations of corruption and favoritism.

Erosion of Trust and Integrity: The focus on materialistic considerations and personal gain damages the Church’s integrity and erodes trust among members.

Damage to Reputation: The Church’s moral authority becomes compromised when reputation is damaged and hinders its spiritual mission and growth.

Way Forward
Several solutions may be proposed to address these issues:

Transparency and Accountability: The guidelines and stipulations for creating new dioceses as enunciated by the Church of Nigeria should be faithfully obeyed.

Spiritual Imperatives: Ensure that diocesan creation is driven by spiritual and worthy deliberations rather than financial or political motives, or other mundane considerations.

Reform and Renewal: The Church must focus on maintaining its integrity and moral authority, and institute a process of Reform and Renewal aimed at restoring such integrity in certain renegade dioceses.

Words of Caution
Decisive action is required to combat the commodification of sacred institutions. This necessitates a commitment to transparency, accountability, and adherence to spiritual imperatives in the quest for creation of new dioceses. The layers of authority in the Church of Nigeria should make haste to superintend over certain actions being undertaken in a particular diocese in relation to the exercise.

Reflective Questions
Members of the Church are urged to reflect on some recent actions in light of biblical teachings:

* Is the recent “Turning of the Sod” in Ukpo consistent with the letters and spirit of resolutions made during the General Synod of Church of Nigeria on this subject?

*Were financial exchanges involved in this decision?

*Has due process been observed by the particular Archbishop/Bishop on this matter? What is emanating is a disgusting betrayal of everything Christianity stands for in such dioceses.

*Are we engaging in a “cash and carry” approach to serving God?

*If we criticize Hophni and Phinehas, yet we replicate their sins; what is our standing before God?

*Are we genuinely demonstrating faith in God, or merely deceiving ourselves and our congregations?

The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) leadership is urged to nip in the bud the dangers of prioritizing materialistic engagements, personal interests and political agenda over spiritual imperatives in the creation of new dioceses.

The Church of Nigeria must take decisive action. It is necessary to embrace transparency, accountability and adherence to spiritual imperatives to restore the Church’s integrity and moral authority.