Days 17 & 18: The Diocese of Akure

On Thursday morning we had a relatively easy and quiet few hours before heading off for the Diocesan office about 11am. Although the Bishop was away for the day they were expecting me, and his admin assistant Revd Bobo came with Tolu and I to settle me in to St. Thomas’s Church and compound where I am being looked after by the Archdeacon Revd. Matthew. Tolu left us and I had a quiet afternoon resting, reading and writing. In the early evening we had a guided tour of the church and buildings here in the compound and then went for a drive to visit the buildings and clergy in the neighbouring parishes of Holy Trinity and Bishop Emmanuel Gbonigi (named after the first bishop of Akure). It was an interesting couple of hours, mostly because Matthew allowed me to question him about anything and everything, which this evening was mostly about clergy terms and conditions, stipends and ecumenical relations. Incidentally, archdeacons here are more like area deans at home: there are 12 in the Diocese of Akure which has 100 priests. Matthew is very welcoming and we get along fine. I will be here until Sunday afternoon.

We were back about 715 for a supper of rice and fish stew and by 8pm I was locked in my dark room, once again a prisoner of the power cuts.

No early morning preachers here – just a cockerel doing his job at 5am. Thank you Lord! I had breakfast with Matthew about 8 and soon after Michael and Anu –two other priests from the Archdeaconry - arrived to take me on a tour of churches. We visited St. Luke’s Church and met the curate; St. Stephen’s where there was no vicar around but the church was open so we had a look in; and then on to St. Matthias Secondary School which is run by the Diocese. We met the Principal Gladys who showed us around and it was an interesting tour. The conditions were much like St. Thomas School behind Tolu’s house – and better than Victory College, Ikare. From there we proceeded to FUTA – the Federal University of Technology, Akure – for a drive through the compound.

We were back by 11am for a cup of tea and then Matthew and I went to the Annual Conference of the Diocesan Women’s Guild which was meeting for a four day conference at St. David’s Cathedral in Akure under the Presidency of the Bishop’s wife – Mrs. Julie Ipinmoye. Now the Women’s Guild is not to be confused with the Mothers’ Union: the latter is only for monogamously married women; the former is for everyone else. In other words, this conference was for the polygamists. The Bishop’s wife was about to give her presidential address and it was a three line whip for all Archdeacons to be in attendance. The Bishop was also there as was the wife of the Governor of Ondo State together with perhaps 300 women most of whom were dressed in the Women’s Guild uniform of white clothes with green accessories and always a green hat. After the address – which, like the whole conference was delivered in Yoruba, and lasted about an hour – the Governor’s wife responded. Then the Bishop spoke, at the end of which he introduced me – though not before he had a little tirade about homosexuality in the Church of England. Once again I was struck by (1) the obsession with what is frankly a minor issue for the churches in the west; and (2) by the sheer hypocrisy of making such a big issue of “Christian marriage” in a church that openly tolerates polygamy. The new edition of the Nigerian Book of Common Prayer which I bought in Warri includes the 2008 GAFCON statement at the back of the book which states very clearly in point 8:

We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian Marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.

The Church of England has acknowledged monogamous gay relationships since the publication of ISSUES IN HUMAN SEXUALITY in 1992; the Church of Nigeria openly accepts polygamy. Why is anyone getting on their moral high horse? Once again, I am baffled!

The Bishop was not apparently going to invite me to say anything but I asked if I might bring a greeting and so I was allowed to do just that and of course I pointed out that my curate in Manchester is the Bishop’s wife. That brought a round of applause as it usually does with a crowd of women! Incidentally, I like the Bishop very much which makes his stance on the sexuality issue all the more frustrating. If I did not like him I could dismiss him as a crank!

We left the conference soon after and came back to St. Thomas’s compound for a spot of lunch and a visit to the cyber café. Later in the afternoon Matthew took me to visit Archbishop Vining Theological College (named after a 1950s prelate) which is one of three major training colleges in the C of N: so it is a feather in the cap of Akure that it should be here. There are 130 male students in residence at the moment, all training for ordination. We met the Dean and visited the chapel then continued on our journey. We called round at the home of the “Mother of the Church” – the lady whose 80th birthday is being celebrated with a service on Saturday morning. This is evidently an extremely wealthy family: the clans were beginning to gather and her children had just presented her with a new car – a large Nissan of some kind. This was a pretty expensive motor. Matthew was asked to bless it (I noted that I have never been asked to bless a car) and the said vehicle was soon edged out of the garage and the bonnet and boot opened so that they could receive the full benefits of the impending blessing. Matthew soon got into his stride and yes – you’ve guessed it – he was soon praying that every part of that car would be covered in the blood of Jesus. It would seem that Pastor Blood in the minibus to Abuja was not out of step. I am the one who is out of step in Nigeria! Even in England I never feel very happy when the church is called on to bless the lifestyles of the rich and I felt equally unhappy with this display. It will however be very interesting to take part in the thanksgiving service on Saturday.

We came back to the compound and over supper I questioned Matthew about the church and especially about weddings and funerals. It would appear that the C of N operates entirely as a “gathered church” and has no obligations to non church members. You are either in or you are out!

Another quiet evening, though easier because the generator was working so we had light.