Ninety-one years after it was first established, the Anglican Church of Nigeria has become the largest active Protestant church body in the world. Most of this growth, however, has occurred during the last twenty years.
Each Sunday around 20 million Nigerian Anglicans gather together in worship.
A Christian Post reporter recently contacted the recently retired Anglican Bishop, the Right Reverend Peter Akinola to find out the story behind this remarkable growth.
In Akinola’s opinion, a significant change occurred when the Nigerian Anglican church stopped treating their bishops as ecclesiastical statesmen, and instead made evangelism their foremost priority.
“Today, every bishop (in the Church of Nigeria) is first and foremost an evangelist,” said Akinola. “And from that, other things follow.”
Rapid growth occurred when the Church created what Akinola terms “missionary dioceses.” Essentially evangelically minded bishops are appointed to strategically nominated areas where they are expected to form fully-fledged dioceses within five years.
In this way an Anglican presence was brought to “every nook and cranny of the country,” according to Akinola.
Statistics back up Akinola’s statements. While Akinola became a bishop there were 46 in office, while now there are 167 bishops operating. Akinola himself created from nothing a diocese that involves 55 separate churches.
Akinola is also convinced that good leadership is central to this growth.
He stated, “Without a leader, how much can we really accomplish? When a leader is focused, when a leader is determined, when a leader is genuine, when a leader is being led by God, I am sure that good things will result. But when a leader does not give attention to these matters or has a different agenda, of course the fellowship will be affected.”
Akinola stressed however, that none of this would have been possible without God by asserting that: “It is one thing to lead, it is another thing for what you do to be led by God. So for me again it is certainly God’s mighty blessings upon our leadership that is responsible for our achievements.”
Summarising the missionary focus of the Anglican church, Akinola stated, “We believe very strongly that when a church ceases to evangelize and to plant new churches, it will not have the right to exist.”
Akinola envisions the Anglican Church in Nigeria eventually growing to half the 150 million population of the country.
“My successor is a firebrand in the area of evangelism and orthodoxy,” he concluded.
(To read the full story, please go to http://christianpost.com).