Nigeria hails ‘signs and wonders’ ministry: CEN 2.27.09 p 6 February 28, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Nigeria, Hymnody/Liturgy.trackback
The Most Rev Ephraim Ademowo, Archbishop of Lagos
“Signs and wonders” should become the mark of the Anglican Church in Africa, the Archbishop of Lagos, Dr. Ephraim Ademowo said last month at service marking the collation of two archdeacons.
He urged a “return to apostolic tradition practiced in the early church characterized by miracles, signs and wonders;” saying it should become “the new direction of the Anglican Church today.”
The Anglican Communion’s largest church with an estimated 18,000,000 active members, the Church of Nigeria has been challenged by the equally fast growing Pentecostal churches of West Africa. In recent decades it has taken on board many of the elements of the charismatic renewal movement as well embarking on a programme of African enculturation, drawing upon African resources for liturgical renewal.
One of the pillars of the Gafcon movement for the reform and renewal of the Anglican Communion, the Church of Nigeria’s cultivation of charismatic gifts, critics charge, will lead to splits with Gafcon’s Anglo-Catholic and conservative Evangelical wings.
Drawing upon the Reformers, signs and wonders, or modern day miracles, have been viewed with suspicion within traditional Anglican circles. In his Institutes, John Calvin wrote, “Those miraculous powers and manifest workings which were dispensed by the laying on of hands, have ceased; and they have rightly lasted only for a time.”
Martin Luther viewed claims to signs and wonders with skepticism, writing in his Sermons of the Gospel of St John that modern claims of the miraculous were “tom foolery” of the devil devised for “chasing people hither and yon.”
Dr. Mark Thompson, Dean of Moore College in Sydney told The Church of England Newspaper that he believed that the “signs and wonders” mentioned in the New Testament were “part of the apostolic era.” The “great sign of the Spirit’s work today is faith, given and nourished as the word of God is heard.”
Too great a reliance upon “signs and wonders,” Dr. Thompson feared, could lead to “a lack of confidence that the word of God has transforming power.”
While there appears a wide distance on the question of miracles between the evangelicals of Sydney and Lagos, both sides tell CEN the discussion begins with Scripture.
In his sermon, Dr. Ademowo sought to differentiate an Anglican approach to modern miracles from the Pentecostal churches by commanding the new archdeacons to put their whole trust first in the Bible. By solely relying on the word of God and not the temptation of private revelations, the new archdeacons would be protected from error.
“Be disciplined and cling to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and your charisma as a pastor, prophet and teacher will be enhanced for effective ministration,” Dr. Ademowo told the new archdeacons.
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It would be a sign and wonder to me if the African church preached God’s laws. One of which is do not fornicate or commit adultery. That would go a long way to controlling the HIV epidemic there.
Giving lip service to God whilst ignoring his laws is blasphemous and no pussyfooting around will change this.