ON THE NIGER CHURCH TEACHERSEND ANNUAL TWO-MONTH COURSE, CHALLENGED TO EXCEL IN QUALITY LEARNING, CHARACTER

(By Alex Uzoigwe)

   The two-month capacity building course which the Diocese on the Niger annually mounts for her church teachers ended Thursday, September 28, 2023 with a challenge for the teachers to consciously aspire towards ideal spiritual, intellectual and moral heights. 
   They were emphatically admonished to take their vocation seriously by attending to their responsibilities with dedicated candour, humility and exceptional studiousness.
     The Diocesan Accountant, Ven Francis Orah, threw the challenge in a brief interview with journalists shortly after the formal end of the programme held at the Bishop Crowther Retreat Center, Onitsha,
       He explained that the primary purpose of teachers' call into the ministry was for the service of God and humanity.
    According to him, "that singular purpose therefore demands that they should put in extral hardwork in their study of the scriptures, fine tuning of their character and in their conscious effort towards the expansion of their intellectual horizons".
    Although he commended the church teachers for what he described as their wonderful performance during the programme, he advised them to still put in more efforts, entreating them to beware of unnecessary distractions.
    He said that the ministry demanded absolute attention and sacrifice without which he remarked that one would always be confused and invariably become a victim of errors.
    The venerable appealed to the church teachers to endeavour to internalise what they had learnt during the course and be diligent enough to translate them  into practical reality for the growth of their ministries.
    Ven Orah had during the course delivered series of  financial accounting lecture topics to the church teachers. Among the topics included: Church Financial Management and Control, Church Uniform Account Coding, An Overview of Financial Reporting in Church and Basic Elements in Evaluating a Church Worker Using Mission Statement.
    The Rector of the Diocesan Center and Coordinator of the programme, Ven Dr Sylvester Nwagbo, had also in an interview expressed profound satisfaction concerning what he called the overall performance of the programme participants in the 2023 session.
   According to him, "They exhibited intimidating performance for which I must duly commend them and advise them to keep up. They should continue to try. It has not been easy, l must tell you".
  Describing the year's edition of the course as very wonderful, Ven Dr Nwagbo who took the participants in Liturgy and Worship,  disclosed that the church teachers, themselves, had confessed in honesty that what they received there were comparable with what could be gotten elsewhere.
     He consequently paid glowing tribute to the diocese for mounting such a programme for the church teachers, adding that it had been a veritable phenomenon in the annals of the diocese, "especially for broadening the theological, moral and intellectual foundations of our church teachers".
     In a similar tone, one of the course lecturers, Ven Dr Eric Anozie, who handled Research and Development for the church teachers, on his own, did not mince words in his description of the participants and the course.
       In his words, "I see the church teachers' disposition towards the programme as very, very interesting. You can see the reaction of our candidates, how they displayed enthusiasm and interest. In fact, it is our wish and pray that they will grow in leaps and bounds".
      While maintaining that this year's edition was captivating to the glory of God, Ven Anozie explained the very purpose of the programme, saying that its essence was for capacity building, "for them to be functional in their various churches and assignments".
       He urged the diocese to continue in the programme and that the church teachers should take the opportunity very more seriously, pleading, "They should not play with it".
      Lecturers that participated in the 2023 session were; Ven Orah, Ven Dr Anozie, Ven Dr Nwagbo, Ven Dr John Nweke  and Rev Canon Kenneth Anukwu each of who took the participants in various subject areas.
     The programme covered the following courses: Church History, Anglicanism, Pastoral Ethics, Research and Development, Mission and Evangelism, Church Teachers' Management, Constitution of the diocese, Church Finance, Liturgy and Worship among others.
     The session wound up with a two-hour examination administered on the church teachers.

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