Greetings,
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, AMEN.
We welcome you heartily as we thank God for His guidance and protection over our lives. We also bless the name of the Lord for sustaining this Diocese through the years of crises. It is God’s doing that we are not consumed, and that we are able to convene in the second session of the fourth Synod.
The Synod is a once a year "Holy Assembly" of the leaders of the Church to deliberate and map-out the future direction for the diocese.
It is a special privilege to be elected by your various Churches or nominated by the Bishop to attend the Synod of any Diocese.
This privilege also places on you great responsibility. My prayer is that this will bring out the best in us so as to take our diocese to greater heights.
THE SCRIPTURE
THE SCRIPTURE STATES IN II CORINTHIANS, CHAPTER FOUR AND VERSE SEVEN:
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellence of the power may be of God and not of us".
We give thanks to the Almighty God who has made it possible for us to gather in this Holy Assembly.
APPRECIATIONS
We wish to express our gratitude to all who aided us from the day of our election through consecration and enthronement. God raised people willingly to assist us through provision of vestments, vehicle, generator, housing, etc; the list is endless, however I will name some churches and individuals, Cathedral Church of All Saints (Uyo), St. Andrews Ang. Church, Rumuobiokani(NDND), St. Matthews Anglican Church Nkpogu, (NDND) Dr. HerriettaOgan, Dr. Val Attah, Mr. ChimaDibiaezueand Many others.
May God richly reward you and continue to use you for his Glory in Jesus name.
We will also like to appreciate publicly the way were well received on arrival. Every Parish and Church station we visited during our familiarization visits, received us and extended a warm hand of fellowship to us. God will continue to bless you and use you for His glory.
OUR SPECIAL GUESTS
We are thankful to God for our special guests of honour who have indicated interest to be with us and support the work of God in this synod.
His Excellency Chief TimipreSylva, Governor of Bayelsais a great Anglican. He is God fearing and humble. He has always exhibited leadership qualities from his childhood days and we are not surprised at his being lifted by God to the position of Governor of a state. We believe God will use him for the advancement of Bayelsa State.
Dame Virgy Etiabais a knight of St. Mary of our Diocese. She is a true soldier of Christ who is always prepared to support God's work and his ministers. God has raised her to the position of Deputy Governor of Anambra State inspite of the battles of the enemy.
We welcome them and pray that the Lord will continue to bless and prosper them. They shall be worshiping with us in the thanksgiving service on Sunday.
OUR JOYS
We rejoice with all our members who won elections and who were appointed into various levels of government. We also thank God for those who were blessed in various ways. They include among others:
*Sir UffotEkatte-Successful tenure as secretary to the Federal Government (SGF)
*Lady Ekaette-Election as Senator representing EketSenatorial District.
*Lady NseOkereke-Promoted to Executive Secretary with AkwaIbomState Government.
OUR SORROWS
During the last few months the following jointed the Church triumphant. They are:
1. Chief EkaeteJoseph Ekaete
2. Mrs. EkaeteUdofia
3. D. D. P. EberechukwuChristian Ojaiko
4. Engr. Andrew BasseySam
5. Sir Dr. Daniel UkaegbuChukwu
6. SeniboEmmanuel Jaja
7. Mr. Clifford Cookey
8. SeniboFestus Jaja
9. Madam ClementinaEpelle
10. Madam VidanBrown
11. Celestine Jaja
May their souls rest in peace and may those they have left behind be comforted as we know we shall meet to part no more.
OUR GUEST PREACHER
We welcome the Rt. Revd. Edmond E. Akanya, the Bishop of Kebbi, as our synod guest preacher. He has and will always be an inspiration for us. We have been friends as long as we have known him. We were introduced at the wedding ceremony of my youngest sister in the year 1999 and since then he has been a father, mentor and great example of what an Anglican Bishop should be, humble yet outspoken respectful yet fearless for the truth.
He was born in 1958 to the family of Ven. & Mrs. Cornelius Akanya(both of blessed memory) of Akobein kogistate. As the son of an Anglican clergy man, he was exposed early to the Anglican Church.
He holds a B.Sc and M.Sc degrees in Sociology and a Diploma in Theology of Immanuel College of Theology, Ibadan. He has served in Kwara Diocese, Kaduna Diocese and Abuja Diocese before he was elected Bishop of Kebbiin 1996. Bishop Akanyais a missionary to the core. Through his leadership the Diocese of Kebbihas grown from less than ten to over one hundred churches. Bishop Akanyais happily married to his lovely wife Priscilla and they are blessed with four lovely children.
We are thankful to God to have this internationally acclaimed speaker to lead us in our Synod daily meditations and to preach the Synod thanksgiving service sermon. We have already began to enjoy the blessings of God's word through him.
MOVERS OF SYNOD MOTION
This year we have in our midst two great men who are accomplished in the various fields of endeavoursand yet gave themselves to serving God. We are privileged to have Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa and the Very Rev. J. T. Okon, as mover and seconderof our Synod motion which states:
"In view of the fact that as christianswe have become partakers of the kingdom of God by the death of Christ on the cross and that Christ shall reign as King and Lord of all, synod calls on all Christians to seek inheritance in a godly way and use their blessing to advance God's kingdom until, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom or our Lord and of his Christ"(Rev. 11:15).
Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwais a young, energetic, mission-minded, spirit-filled Christian. Sir Godfrey was born about forty years ago but his achievements are trice his age.
He holds a Bachelors degree in English Language. After his graduation he entered into business at a very young age. Today he is a director of several business; among which are
-Multimesh in USA
-Cable and Connectors warehouse
-MultimeshBroadcasting company Ltd., Etc.
And also a member of many professional bodies and one-time chairman Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce.
God has blessed and prospered him in many ways and he has used his wealth for the work of missions.
He is neck-deep in missions and evangelism. He is Chairman (Mission Board) of St. Andrews Anglican Church, RumuobiokaniDeanry. He has traveled through out Nigeria and beyond for the purpose of evangelism, Church planting and social work.
Infact it seems, he has been called to take the gospel to the less privileged, slum-dwellers and the neglected in the society.
He has undertaken missions to nations like South Africa, Kenya, and Madagascar. He is an example of people blessed to be a blessing.
This informed our "importing"him to move this motion. He is of the Diocese of Niger Delta North, and is the Bishop's Adviser on investment. He is married and they are blessed with two children.
The Seconder of the Motion is Very Rev. Joseph Tommy Okon, a servant of God, humble and unassuming. First son of Elder T. Okona renowned Qua IboeChurch Preacher and teacher of AfiaNsitNo. 1, NsitIbom Local Government Area of AkwaIbom State.
He attended IkotEdong High School for his primary education, Etinan Institute for his secondary school and the University of Lagos for his first degree. University of Uyo for his MBA degree and Trinity Theological College, Umuahia for his Diploma in Theology. He also attended several overseas and local courses with awards and certificates.
The Very Rev. Okon started his carrier as a Clerk in the Federal Civil Service and rose to the rank of Deputy Director of labour. He served in several places in this country and in Equatorial Guinea. He was appointed Secretary to NUPENG by the Federal Government immediately after his retirement from the Civil Service.
He came into full time Ministry in 1996 having been ordained in 1991.
The Very Rev. Okonhas been a seasoned administrator and a conciliator; a quiet and hard working child of God.
In view of all these attributes we find him the most suitable person to second the Synod Motion, from the theological point of view.
VENUE OF THE SYNOD
All Saints Church Uyowas started by the Igbo Settlers in the town. They were mostly traders and Civil Servants resident in Uyo. Since they were Anglicans, the motivation to worship God in the Anglican way compelled them to come together. Naturally they used the Igbo Bible, EkpereNa Abu, Igbo Catechism and Igbo choruses. The reason for the Anglican absence in Uyoat that time was due to an old Missionary understanding, "the gentlemen's agreement"that the area (AkwaIbomState) should be left for the Presbyterian and Methodist.
At the initial stage, the land acquired seemed enough for the moderate church building but the foresighted ones saw the need to extend to accommodate the Church teacher's residence and Mission school.
On 15th February, 1960, an application by the Parochial Church Committee was sent to UyoVillage Council through the Chairman, Chief UdoEkpoInyang. There were three signatories, Mrs. Esther Orok, an Opobowoman married to an Etinanman who was not an Anglican. The Secretary, a Lay Reader, Alfred Ahukannareported that it was not easy to break through, as a result of ethnic prejudices.
In his own words: "some of the land owners whose land surrounded the Church gradually yielded to our offer in exchange for their land for Church building but at a very high price".
Bishop Y. Fubara, whose duty was to supervise the congregation from St. Michael's Aba, was to administer the sacraments and give Pastoral oversight. With time, the congregation grew to the extent that it was constituted into a group headquarter. The satellite stations were St. Stephen's Ituand the congregations at NwanibaIfianyongmembers were drawn from Igbo, Bonny and Opobotraders. It was due to this development that UyoChurch became a Parish. As a result of this, Pastors were sent to Uyoto administer the Sacramentalsin the area. All Saints, Uyoremained at this transitory position until the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil was in 1967. The desertion of the strangers from their church locations marked the closure of the church services.
Unfortunately the members of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star forcibly broke into the church and occupied it during the war but thank God for the untiring effort of Mrs. Esther Orokwho with the help of the Police forced out the occupants at the end of the Civil war. All Saints Church, Uyothen became part of Calabar District instead of Aba District. It was the need to constitute the Calabar District into an Archdeaconry status in 1988 that led to the creation of Uyo District. Then due to Archbishop Joseph Adetiloye's vision of Evangelism through the creation of missionary Dioceses in every state where the Anglican presence was not strong that led to the process of constituting the Anglican Church in AkwaIbom State into an Archdeaconry in June, 1990.
The Archdeaconry headquarters was All Saints Church, Uyowhile the pioneer Archdeacon was the resident Vicar, The Revd. Emmanuel Nglass. In September of the same year, the Archdeaconry was elevated to the status of a Diocese and All Saints Church became the Cathedral and Ven. E. E. Nglasswas consecrated the pioneer Bishop.
The zeal the pioneer Bishop put in soliciting for financial aid in building the Cathedral won the sympathy of many outside Uyo. Through this effort, this present Cathedral building was completed. The church service for the inauguration of the Diocese as well as the Enthronement of Bishop Emmanuel Ebenezer Nglasstook place at the Cathedral on Friday, November 27, 1992 by Archbishop J. Adetiloyeon Monday, April 14th 1997, the Cathedral was dedicated by Archbishop J. Adetiloyein the presence of other Bishops.
SYNOD THEME
This year our synod theme is "Inheriting the Nations" which is from Psalm 2:8.
(Ask of Me, and I will give you the Nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession"(Psalm 2:8, NKJV)
The Book of Psalms
The book of Psalms is the largest and perhaps the most widely used book in the Bible. It is unique in that it explores the full range of human experience in a very personal and practical way. It is said to "speak" the mind of the reader often. Its 150 "songs" run from the creation through the patriarchal, theocratic, monarchical, exilic and post-exilic periods. The tremendous breath of subject-matter in the Psalms include diverse topics such as jubilation, war, peace, worship, judgment, praise, lament and messianic prophesy.
The Psalms were set to the accompaniment of stringed instruments and served as the temple hymn book and devotional guide for the Jewish people and to present day Church. While chanting them we are presented with great truth that guides our lives and helps our understanding of how God works to fulfill his eternal purposes.
The second Psalm, from which we chose our theme, falls into the category of messianic prophesy and predicts rebellion against God.
Definition of Terms
Before we enter an exigerises of the verse, let us define some of the terms used in the verse as we understand it scripturally.
ASK: This is to make a request in prayer. It is a call to God for an answer to a problem. It is to seek, or demand from God. Matt. 6:8 says "Ask and your shall receive".
GIVE: To grant a request usually an answer to prayer. To deliver to someone an authority, to release to or to hand-over to someone something of value. (Matt. 20:23)
HEATHEN: (Nation): This represents the unsaved world, a territory, usually a community of people. Some translations render it as 'Nations' that is "peoples", or "tongues".
INHERITANCE: A priced possession or territory. Ownership rights over a possession.(Gen.15:7-8)PSALM 2:1-8 EXPLAINED
PREDICTED REBELLION AND GOD'S RESPONSE.
Beholding in prophetic vision, the peoples and nations, as if in a tumultuous assembly, raging with a fury like the raging of the sea, designing to resist God's government, the Psalmist breaks forth into an exclamation in which are mingled surprise at the folly, and indignation at their rebellion he says:"Why do the Nations rage and the people plot a vain thing
?The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed saying..."(Psalm 2:1-2) This should not surprise any keen observer of times. There is a resistance against the truth and against true Biblical doctrine. There is a deliberate attempt to exclude God from His world in intellectual circles with the theories of evolution etc.
There is a pollution of the truth through wrong doctrine even within the church. There are new religions, originating from the Far East, that deny the existence of God and presents man as God to himself.
All these are evidence of the rebellion against God. This is Satan's resistance against God; it is the battle for the souls of men. It is the battle between light and darkness, the battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan (the world). Jesus tells the story in the New Testament (a parable) of a noble man who went to a far country to receive a kingdom for himself, but the citizens hated him. They said: "we will not have this man to reign over us"(Lk. 19:12-14). Jesus here speaks of the same rebellion against God and his rule. There is rebellion against God both within and outside the Church. Next the Psalmist then speaks of God's response to the rebellion:
"He who sits in the heaven shall laugh
The Lord shall hold them in derision
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure". ( Vs 4-5)
God will laugh at his enemies and will distress them in his deep displeasure. It is futile to fight against your maker. God is supreme and all powerful. The rebellion in the world led by Satan will be defeated.
SONSHIP AND THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST
Notwithstanding the rebellion of the heathen, God declares the Sonshipof Jesus and the promise that he has set him as King over His creation:
"Yet I have set my King
On my Holy hill of zion
I will declare the decree
The Lord said to me,
You are my son
Today I have begotten you". (Vs 6-7)
This is a declaration of the Kingship of Christ. Jesus Christ isthe Son of God and King of Kings.
This God makes clear at the baptism of Jesus: "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased"(Matt. 3:17).
CHRIST WILL INHERIT THE NATIONS
In the next verse (Vs 8) we see God's promise to his son, a title by agreement."Ask of me, and I will give youThe Nations for your inheritance,And the ends of the earth for your possession". (Vs 8).
The agreement, according to Matthew Henry, is "the son must undertake the office of an intercessor, and upon that condition,he shall have the honourand power of a universal monarch". That is Jesus will become ruler of the earth. This means that the Fatherwill deny nothing to his son which relates to the extension of his kingdom to the uttermost ends of the earth. It is here promised him he shall have the heathen for his inheritance, not the Jews only, but the Gentiles also. A great part of the Gentile world received the gospel when it was first preached and the gospel has continued to spread through evangelism. This is to continue until the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ (Rev. 11:15).
THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH
Eschatology agrees completely with the prediction of the reign of Christ over the kingdoms of the world.
Christ will come again with the saints and will bind Satan for a thousand years and will reign over the earth. At that time the lion will lie with the lamb and child and will not harm them. Jesus the Christ will reign for a thousand years, the kingdom of Satan will be destroyed, Satan will be bound and cast into the lake of fire or the bottomless-pit. God will make a new heaven and a new earth. The Book of Revelation and in fact the prophets of the Old Testament spoke extensively on this subject.
My interest is not on eschatology but on the role the church needs to play so that the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. I believe that the church, the Christian, you and me have a role to play. Let me share with you what I believe our role is:
(a)Every person must Declare for God's kingdom: The first and most important step is to declare for the kingdom of God. Every person must declare to whom he belongs. The Bible says in I Kings 18:21:
"And Elijah came to all the people, and said,
'How long will you falter between two opinions?
If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow Him;
But the people answered him not a word".
There are too many people in church, but faltering between opinions. There are too many who have not answered a word on which side they are on. Joshua said to the people of Israel:
"And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord,
choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river of the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house,
We Will Serve the Lord..
In this battle between light and darkness, we must make a decision to whom we belong. We must make a decision for Christ.
It is true the bible teaches that Jesus Christ has died for he sins of the world, but does that mean that we are all automatically saved? I don't believe so. The bible say it is as many as "receive him", as many as "believe in his name", that will be saved. This requires decision making. You and I must make a decision to declare for God's Kingdom.
(B)Christians must know that we are in warfare and be prayerful. Every Christian should know that we are in spiritual warfare with the kingdom of darkness. The Bible warns:"we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places". (Eph. 6:12). In another passage Peter warns:
"be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
Seeking whom he may devour". (I Peter 5:8)
What should a Christian then do but to be prayerful and vigilant. We must raise intercession at the individual, family level and corporate level.
We must intercede for the growth of the kingdom of God and the defeat of the kingdom of darkness. As though showing us the power of intercession, the Psalmist says "asks of me and I will give you the nations for an inheritance and the ends of the earth foryour possession". (Ps. 2:8).
Intercession is central to our victory as Christians and for theend-time harvest of souls.
(c)Christians must make Evangelism and Mission a priority. The third thing is that we must make evangelism our priority. It is the main task of the church and must be given its proper place.
Evangelism is the only way to win souls into God's kingdom and it is the assignment Jesus instructed us to continue to do. Matt. 28:19 states:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".
It is the last command Jesus gave the disciples and it is top priority. Infactthe end-time harvest of souls plays a part in the second coming of Christ.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then
the end will come". (Matt. 24:14)
If we desire the kingdom of this world to become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, we must be active soul winners and the church must make missions and evangelism to priority. It is onlythen that the word of God will be fulfilled:
"
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude whichno one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying; salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb". (Revelations 7:9,10)
Every Christian must live a kingdom minded lifestyle. This meansthat Christians should not live a self-centered, pleasure seeking lifestyle. We must live a life that gives kingdom purposes priority. We live in a materialistic world and if we are not kingdom minded, we will live like the world, with its insatiable desires.
It is God's desire to bless his people and through them bring the world to himself. The word of God assures us of God's blessing:
"And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayestknow that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel". (Isaiah 45:3).
"But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves". (Isaiah 61:6).
God intends for us to inherit his blessing but that is for a purpose. That is to advance his kingdom and supporting kingdom projects. May God make us instruments for the advancement of His Kingdom. Amen. When we partner with God for his Kingdom agenda we are candidates for his heavenly reward:
"Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give to everyman according to his work". (Rev. 22:12).
10. VISION STATEMENT
Permit me, before I state my vision and overall goal for the Diocese, to recall the Primates vision statement for Church of Nigeria.
At his presentation, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, His Grace, the Most Revd. Peter J. Akinola, D.D., outlined his vision for the Church of Nigeria. His vision was ratified by the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigerian. The vision statement is as follows:
"The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) shall be bible-based, spiritually dynamic, united, disciplined, self supporting, committed to pragmatic evangelism, social welfare, and a Church that epitomizes the genuine love of Christ".
He states that the Church will achieve its goal by:
-Recognizing and applying ministry gifts e.g. prayer, fasting, deliverance, healing, witnessing, etc.
-Recognizing evangelism, gifts and applying the ministry through crusades, revivals, church planting, etc.
-Employing and empowering evangelists, being a mission-oriented church, which encourage instruments of missions such as CCN, Bible society, women's ministries, youth ministries, etc.
-Establishing prayer ministry groups in the Church and emphasizing training in the ministry of prayer and spirituality e.g. each Diocese having a spirituality/prayer ministry Team, Publishing Prayer Bulletins, and having Night vigils.
Re-orientation in the method and content of ministerial training programme.
Recognize the peoples gifts, talents, and training and putting them to effective use for the gospel through the Church e.g. Finance andpersonnel management, ministry gifts, medical and Education etc.
In the Primate's inaugural speech, he said among other things:
"...........Many of our members have become specialist in fomenting trouble
And petition writing. We dissipate much energy and resources on quarrels. We seem to have lost our calling to a life of holiness and love.
I believe the time has come for us to take new steps forward in our religious journey, re-adjusting our focus and lay new emphasis on some specific area of urgent need. First, in what I call sustainable Anglican Spirituality. We Anglicans are a wonderful people who are educated, pay our dues,partake in Holy Communion and serve in various church committees. These we must continue to do and even do better. But I have noticed that we are weak in our knowledge of the word of God and in our prayer life.
The circumstance of our world make it imperative for the church not only to be faithfully evangelical but also to be deeply spiritual, for the battle is against principalities and powers of the dark place of our universe. The only effective weapon available to us as a church is the word of God.
It must become part of lifestyle. The church needs prayer warriors in cells, in homes, in offices, in the market, in the boardroom, in the barracks. Let us be a prayerful people. I have experienced and I believe many of youhave testimonies. Those wonderful things that happen when we pray".
At our enthronement we shared the vision and overall goal of ourepiscopacy, taken from Isaiah 2:2,3; which states as follows:
"Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills And all nations will flow to it. Many people shall come and say come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem".
This is the vision of the "Future House of God"given to Prophet Isaiah and confirmed by Prophet Micah (Micah 4:1-2). It speaks of the End-time church, revived, renewed, anointed and exalted for the end-time harvest of souls. It speaks of a church that occupies a place of honour, dignity and integrity; a church that occupies a place of influence, direction and power; a church with authority, rule and dominion. The result of the glory and presence of God in his church will be the flow of people into it, to learn the waysthe Lord and to walk in his paths.
With this picture in mind we outlined our goals as:
1.To bring all our members, clergy and laity to a personal faith in Christ and commitment to Him in sincerity. Every Anglican must be born-again Christian.
2.To help members to be praying Christians, depending on the powerof God to overcome obstacles and difficulties. Every Anglican Christian a praying Christian; Every Anglican family a praying family; and Every Anglican church a praying church.
3.To help members live a life of holiness unto the Lord and developing Christian character, Holiness unto the Lord.
4.Encouraging our members to live in unity, reconciling all that are estrange by the crises we went through. A united church is a powerful church.
5.To lead the church into soul winning Evangelism and church planting so as to plant the Anglican church in all areas of AkwaIbomState. Evangelism is the heart beat of God.
6.To raise priests after God's heart who will honourGod through their ministry by training and re-training. Also to recruit and ordain the right type of candidates. Raising Ministers after God's heart.
7.To develop infrastructure necessary for the effective work of the church. Church development.
8.To lead the church to seek the end-time revival which will reveal the presence of God in His church and the demonstration of His presence. SeekingHis presence.
In order to make this vision come true, allow me state that we need the co-operation of all and sundry. It is only when we work together that we can achieve. The work of God is not one-man's business. The clergy and the laity (knights , men, women, children) and all Anglicans need to join hands.
There are steps we must immediately begin to take:
Church Planting:
We cannot over-emphasize the need for pragmatic church planting in our diocese. Out of thirty-three Local Government Areas in AkwaIbom State, the presence of The Anglican Church is not strong in up to five. We need to reposition our diocese to be able to meet the need to evangelize and plant churches all around the state. I have set a target of reaching all local government areas before the end of 2008.
We have discovered through enquiry that most prominent Anglicansin AkwaIbomState became Anglicans while schooling or working outside the state. It is time to take the Anglican Church to your home.
We challenge all prominent Anglicans who do not have an Anglican church in their home town to provide us with land and we would plant a church there to the glory of God in no time. Let us take the Anglican church to our home.
We commend the efforts of HRM (Sir) T. Enodien, the paramount ruler of Eketwho single handedly procured land, built a church building, children's Hall and personage at his home town and is today St. Peters Anglican Church. Also Sir Idem has purchased land at his home for the planting of an Anglican church. Infacta Church has been planted just before this Synod.
We can all borrow from these examples. May God bless and prosperthem and their families.
EVANGELISM TRUST FUND (ETF)
We have found that it is necessary to raise funds for provision of all that is needed to pursue our church planting and evangelism programme. We cannot do much in our Church planting programmewithout the funds.
In this Synod we are launching the Evangelism Trust Fund (ETF). It will help us pay salaries of evangelists, purchase crusade equipment, build temporary structures for these young churches etc. the fund will be managed by a board to be appointed by the Diocese.
SYNOD WORK GROUPS
We have also set-up work groups to discuss issues that will help reposition our diocese for a more effective ministry. These workgroups are to lead us to discuss the following, so as to developpolicies that will reposition the diocese:
1.Financing Missions and Evangelism: How can we best finance Mission and Evangelism in our Diocese?
2.Indigenizing the Anglican Church in AkwaIbomState. Many still see the Anglican Church as a "strangers"church even though there are many prominent indigenes in the church. What do we do to indigenize the Anglican Church?
3.Reaching the Rural places of our Diocese. How best can we reach the rural places of AkwaIbomState?
4.Repositioning our Diocese for the new challenges. (Investments, etc).
5.Inheritance and its bequitance. How should Christians purse inheritance and bequitit?
CENTRALIZED PAYMENT OF WORKERS
In order to take care of the welfare of the workers so that theywill be motivated and remain focused on the work of the Kingdom,we also want to adopt a centralized system of payment of Church workers. Many stations, especially the young Churches cannot on their own sustain the salaries of their workers. This makes centralized payments inevitable. The Diocesan Board has already set-up a committee to work this out and we hope to begin centralized payment by January 2008.
PRUDENT MANAGEMENT OF CHURCH FINANCES
The prudent management of Church finances is key to the success of the centralized payment scheme and the overall success of our goals.We will take this very seriously. Any Pastor, Treasurer or PCC that is found to be wasteful or fraudulent in financial management will be disciplined.
The auditing of Church accounts including diocese will be taken seriously. We must be faithful to God in the management of the resources hegives to us for his work.
We believe these are practical ways of pursuing our vision to build a diocese that will occupy its place of pride and honourin the dioceses of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and indeed in the Anglican Communion world wide.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
RECONCILIATION EFFORTS
Since 1st December, 2006, after our enthronement we have devoted our selves to building a diocese that will take its proper place after more than three years of crises.
Our beginning point was reconciliation. We began with a meeting with the clergy and then a meeting with all stake-holders. Next we held a meeting with knights and their ladies. These forum for dialogue yielded fruit in a limited way. We havecontinued the efforts at reconciliation till date. All the hurt might not end or disappear immediately but God has been helping us greatly as we see the faithfulscoming back together again and working in unity for the growth of our diocese.
We continue to plead with those who still feel the hurt to forgive. To err is human but to forgive is divine. We are praying for a united diocese where every one feels the sense of belonging and has opportunity to serve God willingly and joyfully.
FAMILIARIZATION VISITS
We have been able to pay familiarization visits to most of the churches in the diocese. We were well received and the visits accorded us the opportunity to see the diocese as it is so as to map out strategies for the way to grow the diocese.
Many of our churches are in bad shape and need urgent attention in revival programmes, crusades, renovation of church building, building of parsonages and many other things.
We recommend that we all join hands with our clergy to begin programmesand projects to up-lift our churches.
We have visited a number of churches for Episcopal functions in the last few months:
So far, a total of six churches have be planted and some christened and they are:
CHURCH PLANTING
1.Our SaviourChapel, ItuRoad, Uyo
2.Christ Chapel, NwanibaRoad, Uyo.
3.Anglican Missionary Church, Esit-Eket)(Planted by St. Michael's, Eket)
4.Anglican Missionary church, MbiabongEtoi, OronRoad, Uyo
5.Anglican Missionary church, IkotOku Ubo, AbakRoad, Uyo
6.Anglican Missionary church, IkotObioOdongo.
E. ANGLICAN ALIVE MEDIA OUTREACHWe give thanks to God for the media ministry of our diocese,headedby Revd. John Uzomaand Evangelist ImeAkpabiowhoworked hard to launch the Anglican Alive Radio broadcastinAKBC and Anglican Alive Magazine. These media programmeshave projected our diocese tremendously and impacted on people's lives beyond measure. Please pray for them and support the media ministry. We hope to progress to the TV ministry soon.
BISHOP'S COURT PROJECT
We thank the bishop's court project committee and the twelve pillars, headed by Sir Dr. Valentine Attah. They have used every opportunity from my enthronement, Val's Daughter's wedding to the reception/Thanksgiving of Sir UffortEkaetteto raise funds for the building of bishop's court. We hope that as soon as the government fulfills its promise of land, we would lay the foundation stone and commence the project in earnest.
ORDINATION AND LICENSING OF EVANGELIST
We are pleased to announce that on the 8th of July, 2007, we made the Revd. Sunday Itaa deacon; in the same service a total of fourteen (14) full-time and volunteer evangelist were licensed. They are:
1.Evangelist PrincewillNse-AbasiUkoh
2.Evangelist Lawrence James Etim
3.Evangelist Enoch KatombaFriday
4.Evangelist Davidson Job Uloyok
5.Evangelist Christopher C. Uwanekezi
6.Evangelist Silas IzuchukwuOha
7.Evangelist FavourObianujuDimaka
8.Evangelist Benjamin NdubuisiMbiaka
9.Evangelist OkaforPius Amaobi
10.Evangelist Michael C. Okafor
11.Evangelist Isaiah Ezechukwu
12.Evangelist Solomon Silas
13.Evangelist Sunny Aikhoje
14.Evangelist Joseph Augustus Frank
Those who are full-time workers have since resumed work in the new churches planted and ailing churches. The volunteer workers have been attached to assist in the work as free-lance evangelists.
RECEPTION OF CORPERS
We held a service of reception and send-forth for outgoing and incoming Anglican Christian Corpersserving in AkwaIbomState. Over sixty (60) Corperswere present. It was a wonderful sight seeing the zeal upon ouryouth when they were challenged to use their period of youth service to serve God.
They dedicated themselves to help in church planting in the areas of their primary assignment. Two churches have so far been planted by Corpersand we hope more will be planted in the near future.
APPOINTMENT OF DIOCESAN OFFICIALS
We have greatly maintained the existing structure and appointments of Diocesan officials i.e, Legal officers and Diocesan Advisers. However, some additional appointments are being made to improve on efficiency. Consequently the following appointments are being confirmed and new ones made:
ChancellorDame Barr. ImeEssienUdom, B.L
RegistrarBarr. NsemekeDaniel, B.L
Legal SecretaryBarr. EdetBassey, B.L
Assistant Legal SecretaryBarr. Davis EffiongDavis, B.L
Assistant Legal-SecretaryLady Barr. Helen Egube, B.L
Clerical Synod Sec. Dip. VenOwen Ukafia, B.A.,
Lay Synod SecSir Albert N. Udoh, M.Sc
Diocesan TreasurerSir Geoffrey C. Okereke
Financial SecretarySir Isaac A. Jaja, B.Sc. (Hons)
Bishop's Admin. Asst.Rev. ChineduOjekwu, B.Engr(Nig.); Dip Evang; Dip.ThMNSE
Bishop's Chaplain-Rev. Easy Ndekwu
Chairman, Board of Sir Engr. Isaiah I. InwangGovernors, AAJS, NtitOton
Diocesan PublicMr. Gideon U. IsikaRelations Officer
Diocesan Architect Sir Arc. OkonI. Inwang
Diocesan SurveyorElder Surv. UdoW. Obot
Diocesan HistorianVen. Prof. ShedrachN. Adiele, B.A;M.A; Dip.Th
Diocesan Missioners &Rev. Prince A. Antai, B.A; JPEvangelism Ministry
Diocesan A.Y.FMr. Sunny AikhojePresident
DIOCESAN ADVISERS:
THE CHAPLAIN TO VARIOUS MINISTRIES ARE:
CHAPLAINCYCHAPLAIN
Diocesan HistorianVen. Prof. ShedrachN. Adiele
Diocesan Mission & Rev. Prince Antai
Evangelism MinistryAsst. by Rev. Easy Ndekwu
Diocesan Boys/Girls Rev. T. O. Onyewuotu
Diocesan A.Y.F. MinistryRev. UzomaOkoroAsst. by Ord. NseAkpan
Diocesan Music MinistryVen. Owen M. Ekpenyong, Asst. Ven. N. UneadaiI.
Diocesan MCA Ministry:Ven. E. A.C. JohnAsst. By EnobongEkpe
Drama Ministry:Rev. Easy Ndekwu;Asst. by Rev. Sunday Ita
Diocesan Knights:Ven. Andrew. N. Uneadasi
Diocesan Children EvangelismRev. Can. Marshal Nwafor
Bishops Examining Chaplain:Very Rev. J. T. Okon;Rev. Prince AntaiRev. John Uzoma;Rev. ChineduOjekwu
Director of Studies:Ven. Edwin Ahirika
Diocesan Services:Ven. D. Atangson
Anglican Corpers Fellowshp Rev. Sam Njoku/Anglican Students Fellowship Ministry:
Diocesan Mission to Seamen Ministry: Rev. Dr. Paul Ojo
EFAC:Rev. ChineduOjekwu; Asst. by Revd. Sunday Ita
Chaplain to Ordinands:Rev. ChineduOjekwu
Diocesan Lay Readers:Ven. Owen Ukafia
Diocesan Prison Ministry:Ven. Robinson Okeke
Diocesan Prayer Ministry:Rev. ChineduOjekwu
Sunday School Coordinator:Ven. A. Ukafia
Diocesan MU/WG:Rev. John Uzoma
Diocesan Healing / Deliverance Ministry: Rev. Easy Ndekwu;Asst. by Rev. Dr. Paul Ojo
Mercy Ministry:Ven. Edwin Ahirika
Hospital Ministry:Rev. Boniface Ogbonna
Anglican Media Ministry:Rev. John Uzoma, Asst. by OrdImeAkpabio
ACTIVITY GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS
In our episcopacy we would aim at bringing new life to our activity groups and organizations so that more and more people will be involved in the work and find room to express their ministry gifts in service toGod. All arms and units compliment each other and should work together for the growth of the church and all arms and units should see themselves as evangelical outreach units and arms in our diocese.
An overview of their activities, so far, is presented here:
(A)WOMEN WORK OFFICE
Women work has been very active and vibrant. I congratulate the president, Mrs. Grace Oramaand the Women worker, Mrs. FuroOjekwufor the vision and vigor in which they have executed the women work. Their achievements includes the production of Women's Guild Wrapper, the most beautiful I have seen; the furnishing of the president's office and the general organization of the women. I commend their commitment, may God bless you.
(B)COUNCIL OF KNIGHTS
The Diocesan council of knights is an organization with great potential in the fulfillment of the vision of our diocese. Due to the crises,involvement has not been total and I suggest that now is the time to put aside the disagreements and forge a unity that will enable us to work together for the progress of our diocese. My dear soldiers of Christ it is time to arise.
(C)MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
Again this is an organization with great potential. This is the avenue to rally all men in our diocese to spiritual growth and ministry. Icall on the leadership to come together to advance the work of the men at the diocesan level. Some churches must be commended as they have very viable MCA groups. The Diocesan MCA was inaugurated on Saturday,25th August, 2007.
16."UYO FOR CHRIST" CITY-WIDE CRUSADE
We shall be organizing a city-wide crusade in February, 2008 tagged "Uyofor Christ"crusade in partnership with Redemption Ministries, Port Harcourt. The Revd. Steve Akinolahas graciously accepted to partner with us for this crusade. He is a self-less and anointed man-of-God with a burden for souls; that is what informs our partnering with him.
We shall begin in earnest planning for this crusade soon and a planning committee would soon be appointed for that purpose.
17.REVIEW OF CONSTITUTION
Sequel to the amendment of the Constitution of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), at the just concluded General Synod in Sokoto, every Diocese has been directed to in like manner review its constitution in orderto ensure that it conforms both in spirit and letter with the constitution of Church of Nigeria.
This has effectively delayed the printing and distribution of our diocesan constitution. Once the amendments are effected we shall commencethe printing and distribution.
18.CHURCH OF NIGERIA
A.PRIMATE OF ALL NIGERIA
We must commend our Primate and Metropolitan, The Most Revd. Peter J. Akinolafor his able leadership which has brought about rapid growth of Church of Nigeria in every sphere and his appreciated leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria. He served in a selfless and exemplary way which led to the completion of the Ecumenical Centre which had been a disgrace to Christians inNigeria.
He had also led us commendably in the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) and the Global South Anglicans. We are very appreciative of what the Lord is doing through him not only within our country Nigeria but globally, culminating in his being honouredinternationally as one of the One Hundred most influential persons in the world. This is an honourfor Nigeria, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and the whole of Africa. We congratulate him and praythat the Lord will grant him Good Health and long life. We are proud of him, and we are glad to be Anglicans in Nigeria at this crucial time in our history.
B. EPISCOPAL RETREAT
The Bishops of Church of Nigeria began the year with a retreat at the IBRU centre Agabar-atorfrom Monday, 7th to Saturday, 14th January, 2007. The Theme was: "Empowered Leadership". It was our first retreat with the bishops and was a good way to start our episcopacy. The retreat was spiritually enriching and truly empowered us for ministry. A Pastorate letter was issued at the end of the retreat as in Appendix I.
C. GENERAL SYNODA
one-day general Synod of Church of Nigeria was held at St. Paul's Church DendoRoad, Sokotoon Wednesday, 7th February, 2007. The main agenda was the amendment of the Church of Nigeria constitution on the election and succession of Bishops and a permanent headquarters of the Churchof Nigeria:
-Successor Bishop shall be elected at least three months before the retirement or translation of the serving Bishop and he shall be known as co-adjutor.
-The secretariat of the Church of Nigeria shall be permanent at Abuja. This means that the seat of the Primate, Metropolitan of Church of Nigeria will be permanent in Abuja. Anyone elected Primate therefore automatically becomes Bishop of Abuja, Arch-Bishop of Abuja Province and Primate of All Nigeria. The communiquéissued at the end of the Synod is on Appendix II.
D.ELECTION AND CONSECRATION OF BISHOPS
New Bishops were elected and consecrated just as several dioceses and missionary dioceses have been created. We congratulate our colleagues who were consecrated and are settling down as us. The following is the list of Bishops, Dioceses and dates from August, 2006.
E. BISHOPS TRAINING
The Bishop attended the mandatory Church of Nigeria Bishop' Traningat PEJEK Guest House, Abeokuta, OgunState from Saturday, 17th to Saturday, 31st March, 2007. It was a privilege indeed to partake in this training programmeas it equipped us the Episcopal Ministry. We thank the Primate and Metropolitan, Most Revd. Peter J. Akinolafor organizing and sharing with us his vision in this training and for the choice of Bishop emeritus the Rt. Revd. Gideon Olajideas trainer, who emptied his wealth of experience into us. We will ever be grateful and the Church of Nigeria will be better off for it.
F. PRESENTATION OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF NIGER DELTA PROVINCE
Following the retirement of the Most Revd. Emmanuel E. Nglass, Pioneer Bishop of Uyoand Pioneer Archbishop of the Niger Delta Province; The Most Revd. (Dr.) UgochukwuUwaomaEzeokewas presented as the second Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Niger Delta on 20th March, 2007 by the Primate, Metropolitan of All Nigeria, The Most Revd. Peter J. Akinolaat St. Michaels' Cathedral, Aba. The presentation attracted many dignitaries from all over Nigeria including Arch Bishops, Bishops, Clergy, and laity. We congratulate him and offer him our support and prayers.
G. INAUGURATION OF CANA
The formal inauguration of CANA-Convocation of Anglicans in North America and the enthronement of its pioneer Bishop, Rt. Revd. MartynMinnstook place on 4th May, 2007, at a service presided over by the Primate and Metropolitan of Church of Nigeria, The Most Revd. Peter J. Akinolaat HyltonChapel woodbridge, Virginia in the United States of America.
CANA is the offshoot of the Church of Nigeria's response to the unbiblical agenda of the Episcopal Church of United States of America in supporting same sex marriage and consecrating in the year 2003 the publiclyacknowledged gay priest V. Gene Robinson as bishop.
The aim of CANA, in the words of the Primate of Church of Nigeria, The Most Revd. Peter J. Akinolais "to provide a safe place for those who wish to remain faithful Anglicans but can no longer do so within the Episcopal Church. The Primate was assisted by the following bishops of Church of Nigeria, Rt. Revd. Emmanuel Chukwuma(Enugu); Rt. Revd. Benjamin Kwashi(Jos); Rt. Revd. Ignatius Kattey, (NDDN); Rt. Revd. EdafeEmameri(Western Izon). The chairman of board of trustees of CANA, Barr. Abraham Yisawas also in attendance.
H.ALL ANGLICAN CLERGY CONFERENCE
His Grace, The Most Revd. Peter J. AkinolaDD, CON, Primate and Metropolitan of All Nigeria has appointed a committee to plan and execute the forth coming All Anglican Clergy Conference coming up in 2008. The Bishop of Diocese of Niger Delta North, Rt. Revd. Ignatius C. O. Kattey, Jpwas appointed chairman other members are:
Rt. Revd. S. C. A. Chukwuka-Vice Chairman
Rt. Revd. Musa M. Tula-Member
Rev. Can. Godwin Odubena-(Lagos) Member
Rev. Can. (Prof.) Israel Okoye-(Niger) Member
Ven. IkechukwuEze(Niger Delta) -Member
Ven. D. Olayinka(Ibadan)-Member
Ven. A. Bode Otenaike(Ondo)-Member
Ven. Praises Omole-Ekun(Kaduna)-Member
Ven. E. A. Amaechi(Owerri)-Member
Ven. Augustus Asiekwu(Bendel)-Member
Ven. Z. O. Asun(Abuja) -Member
Ven. Amao-Member
We request all our churches to begin to plan the sponsorship of our clergy to the conference. It is mandatory for all clergy to attend.
19.THE NATION
We must continue to thank God for the Nation of Nigeria. God hasbeen our present help in times of trouble. He has kept Nigeria together in-spite of all that has transpired. Things that have broken down many African countries in endless civil wars are far less than what has happen here and God has yet kept us together. I believe this I because God has adivine plan to use this Nation for the advancement of the kingdom of God in African and beyond.
In-spite of the unsatisfactory nature of the elections that broughtthe present government into power, this government has a unique opportunity to decide the destiny of this nation if those in authority can be self-less and depend on God.
(a)NIGER DELTA PROBLEM:
The much talked about Niger Delta problem has made the oil-rich region insecure and oil-companies and expatriates are pulling out, oil production installations are being blown up, kidnapping of expatriates and Nigerians and even children for ransom is becoming rampant. This is takingus back 20years or more in development.
It is time for the government to act decisively and not just paylip-service. We can reverse the trend if we genuinely dialogue with the militants and improve the lot of youths through scholarship schemes, skill acquisition, credit-loan schemes and development of basic infrastructure like roads,light, water, schools, hospitals, etc.It should never be that the oil money would be used to develop other regions and the "goose that lays the golden egg"remains impoverished, this is the injustice that has resulted in militancy. We also plead with the militants to take advantage of the dialogue with the government and lay-down their arms for a better life, free of crime. They need to give their lives to Christ.
(b)SECURITY IN THE NATION
While commending the Nigerian Police and other security agenciesfor their efforts in combating crime, we ask that they re-double their efforts. Security in the Nation is deteriorating daily. Assassinations and armed robbery is increasing daily, even in Uyowhich was hitherto relatively safe.We call on government and companies to equip the Police adequately and improve their remunerations to encourage them fight crime more effectively.Government must also, at all levels, LGAs, States and Federal, engage in massive youth development programmesto reduce unemployment. This will help in the reduction of crime rates.
CONGRATULATIONS
We congratulate the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Aduaand His Excellency, Dr. GoodluckJanathan, the Vice president. We also congratulate His Excellency, Barr. GodswillAkpabio, Executive Governor of AkwaIbomState and His Excellency, Engr. Patrick Ekpotuthe deputy Governor of AkwaIbomState and others elected into various levels of governments.They have come to government at a crucial time and must use the opportunity to bring about an improvement in the lot of average Nigerians and posterity will remember them. The best way to win a second-term is to perform and achieve results now.Our prayers are for your success.
20.GLOBAL CONCERN(A)THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan, which was supposed to be the war against terrorists, has become long drawn with no end in sight. This is of concern, in a world that has seen too much war. Left in the hands of the American Government we might not be able to find a solution soon. I therefore call on the United Nation to step in to this problem and find a way of using neutral armies to settle the political situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(B) Another Arms Race?
The recent utterance between Washington and Moscow is sounding like we are going back to the cold war years. Washington wants to deploy"defense"missiles in Poland and Moscow has developed new long-range missiles.We call on the advanced world not to take us back to the era of arms race again. This world has seen enough of destruction of life and property because of people who want to advance their economic interests.
(C) Global Warming
Environmental Scientists are warning of the climatic change thatis occuringin the world. It is called Global Warming. At first, we made funof it, thinking that they must be exaggerating.However, with the increasing heat and flooding that is occurring every where we ought to take the matter of global warming seriously.We all must do our little in reducing green house gas emission,the use of fossil fuel, etc, so that the world climate does not turn against us.
CONCLUSION
As I conclude I am reminded of the fact that God's calling on his people from the Old Testament times has always been to be a blessing to the nation. God said to Abraham:"I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chadeans, to give you this land to inherit it"Genesis 15:7
"In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the sea shore, and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, becauseyou have obeyed my voice". Genesis 22:17,18God's blessing was not a blessing to be handled in selfishness. It is a blessing to affect others to the kingdom. That is, God does not only wantto bless us, he wants us to be a blessing.
The purpose for which we are saved is to be instruments in the hands of God to carry the gospel of salvation to the ends of the earth, to the nations, so that "the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord andof his Christ"
I believe that with a clear vision, the commitment of ourselves and our resources, and dedication to serving God and his kingdom purposes, we will succeed. Then the reward will be ours in his heavenly kingdom.
We therefore, like the Hymn writer, continue to pray in the words of the Hymn Ancient and Modern 262
1.THY Kingdom come, O God,Thy rule, O Christ, begin;Break with thineiron rod The tyrannies of sin
2.Where is thy reign of peaceAnd purity and love?When shall all hatred cease,As in the realms above?
3.When comes the promise time That war shall be no more,And lust, oppression, crime Shall flee thy face before?
4.We pray thee, Lord, arise And come in thy great might;Revive our longing eyes,Which languish for thy sight
5.Men scorn thy sacred name,And wolves devour thy fold;By many deed of shameWe learn that love grows cold
6.O'er heathen lands afar Thick darkness broodethyet:Arise, O morning star,Arise, and never set!
This is not the time to fight against each other. This is not time to keep arguing on trivialities. This is time to dedicate our selves to kingdom purposes and agenda, that the kingdom of God will be advanced.
God bless Diocese of Uyo, God bless AkwaIbom State, God bless Nigeria
Thank you for listening
+ISAAC
UYO
28 Comments •
Comments:
After an admittedly hurried scan of this speech, I couldn’t find anything remotely akin to “Death to homosexuals” that was attributed to +Orama. Something is becoming odiferous here.
the snarkster