From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche, has stated that after much bickering, the church has restored sanity at the Calabar Archdiocese and promised to grow the church spiritually.
His Eminence Uche, who stated this shortly after the enthronement of the Most Rev Chimezuo ON Nwankpa as the new Arch Bishop of the Methodist Church of Nigeria Archdiocese of Calabar at the Wesley Cathedral of the Church in Calabar South at the weekend, said he is happy that the challenges faced by the diocese have been addressed.
‘Before now, there were some challenges and the centre could no longer hold so I had to do some adjustment to restore sanity. I am happy and excited that we have restored sanity and you can see how happy the people are,’ the prelate said.
‘We are generalists, once we see that you can no longer relate with the people, we remove you and bring another person and that does not mean you are bad. And that is what happened in the case of Calabar and three others. And as a continuation of the peace moves, I would be at Okigwe, Uyo and Port Harcourt to also inaugurate new archbishops.’
On his vision for the church this year, he said: ‘We are committed to growing the church spiritually by preaching the word of God, numerically by the souls which will be won, financially because evangelism demands money and also in infrastructure.’
In his sermon with the theme “Prepare for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”, the 7th Arch Bishop of the Calabar Archdiocese, the Most Rev Chimezuo ON Nwankpa, said as Christian we should be ready to go anywhere God sends us.
He pledged to see to the spiritual growth of the cathedral and also ensure that the four-point address of the prelate is carried out.
Also speaking, Senator Florence Ita Giwa urged the new Arch Bishop to try and restore the dignity of the church and bring back the confidence the people had in the past.
‘I feel very delighted that a new Bishop has been installed after much bickering. I do know there is a lot of work to do. He should embark on total evangelism. Evangelism is a very serious work. The church is our last hope. There should no bring politics into the church any longer,’ she said.
At his party Sir Prof Okon Bassey, the Chairman of the Planning Committee for the enthronement, said he is happy because the turmoil has ended, saying ‘the coming of a neutral person will bring peace, harmony and the church can move forward.’