Ibadan, Sept. 7, 2020 Prof. Emiola Nihinlola, the President, Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary (NBTS), Ogbomoso, says the Church will continue to pray for improvement of the nation’s economy, which has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said this on Monday in Ogbomoso during a news conference to herald the 2020 NBTS Ministers’ Conference.
Newsmen reports that the year 2020 edition of the annual NBTS ministers’ conference is scheduled to hold from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16.
Nihinlola said that a revived economy was essential for improved finances for all sectors of the nation, including the church.
He said the Church would continue to pray for improvement in the economy of the country.
Nihinlola said that though the income of churches had been affected, church activities were being sustained by the faithfulness of God and exploration of various uses of the Internet.
The NBTS president urged church ministers and parishioners to remain fervent in their prayers for an end to COVID-19 across the world.
“The 2020 ministers’ conference will offer opportunity to examine the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of the Christian and church life.
“The income of the church has been greatly affected by COVID-19 but we have been coping.
“God has been faithful. When the economy is revived, the church’s finances will also be improved.
“So, the church will continue to pray for improvement of the economy of the nation,” the cleric said.
Nihinlola allayed fears of huge convergence of people at the conference, noting that several ministers and participants would join online.
He stressed that COVID-19 protocols would be strictly adhered to for those physically present.
The NBTS president explained that the theme of the conference, “Church Revitalisation” was in recognition of the need for the church to be revitalised.
He said that the revitalisation of the church would help it lead Nigerians away from vices such as corruption, rape, kidnapping, banditry and ritual killing.
“The church has a critical role to perform in the plan of God, not only for spiritual redemption and nurture of people, but also for transformation of citizens and development of societies.
“The church needs to be revitalised to lead the Nigerian nation to repent of the contemporary evils of corruption, rape, kidnapping, ritual killing and other social vices.
“In this conference, we will encourage Christians facing victimisation and persecution all over the world to continue to contend for the Christian faith,” he said.
On the controversial CAMA law, Nihinlola urged the Federal Government to focus on building the country’s integrity and addressing the various challenges facing the nation.
He said that regulation of the Church’s business activities could be permissible, but not regulation of its spiritual activities.
According to Nihinlola, “it was not the business of government to regulate spiritual responsibilities and obligations of churches.”