Do not leave the Anglican Church- Bishop Nwosu entreats youths
CONN/460805
Owerri, August 15, 2005- Worried by the exodus of youths from the Anglican Church, the Bishop of Umuahia, the Rt. Rev Ikechi Nwosu has appealed to youths to stay put in the Anglican Church.
Addressing delegates at the 48th National Bible Study Conference of the Anglican Youth Fellowship held in Owerri, Bishop Nwosu encouraged young Anglicans to remain in the Anglican Church even after they have had a fresh encounter with the Lord.
The Bishop argues that the youths should remain 'so that the blessings the Lord has bestowed on them will spread out to others in the Church.'
Sharing his boyhood experience with delegates from the 94 dioceses of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Bishop Nwosu said: "I grew up in the Anglican Church of those days where if you said 'Praise the Lord', you will receive a very hard knock and you will be almost chased out of the church."
He continued: "But today by God's grace, I am a leader within the Church (a Bishop) and that means that God doesn't find it easy to abandon the Church He has raised up in spite of sin and failure", he said.
In a passionate appeal the Bishop of Umuahia cried out: "Let the spirit of God move in you, let Him reveal the person of Jesus Christ more to you, let Him enable you to be born again and to be renewed; but for goodness sake and for the sake of the Kingdom do not leave the Anglican Church, remain there. "
Over 7000 delegates who filled the mini stadium of Federal Government Girls College, Owerri applauded the Bishop's appeal.
Bishop Nwosu was among the conference speakers in the 4-day ceremony, who had the opportunity to minister through teaching based on the theme ' Going with God In Times Like This'- Exodus 34:9.
Speaking on the topic The Strategies for Victory- in going with God in Times Like this-, he illustrated his teaching using the motif of a student who desires to pass an examination.
He identified listening to the word of God, studying the word of God and experimenting on the word of God (laboratory) as three important strategies that will ensure victory for the student.
According to him the Anglican Church was not bereft of trained theologians and Bible scholars, as most of the youths would say- but the problem was the impatience of young people to listen to instructions and teachings.
“We (the youth) may say some clergy are carnal, we may say we have unbelievers who are preachers and lay readers, but I insist that you (the youth) must listen first. If you are going to be of help to the person or institution you must listen first”, he said.
The Rt. Rev Ikechi Nwosu is famed to have contributed to the emergence of the youngest Bishop in the Church of Nigeria, the Rt. Rev Chigoziri Onyegbule, 36, of Ikwuano diocese. Until his election, he was a priest in the diocese of Umuahia under Bishop Nwosu.
