Church organizes Accountability Training for Church Leaders.
Just when the church is yet to see the merit of the CAMA act, the Priests Peace and Justice Initiative (PPJ) an arm of Palace of Priests Assembly (PPA) held a workshop for Pentecostal Church leaders and workers on how to generate income and ensure accountability in their secular engagements and in their Churches.
By Success Okuchemiya
According to Tive Denedo Programme Manager, of PPJ, the training addresses two very potent issues necessary for the growth and success of Ministry work around the world.
Besides he noted that the ability to understand and effectively apply the principles and strategies for income generation that ensure passive sources of income and how to build accountability spaces that allow the Church and its administrators to run the Church in accordance with spiritual regulations and fiscal responsibilities and regulations are essential skills that Church workers and leaders must have.
Denedo emphasized that the failure of many Church leaders and workers to understand both areas of knowledge as it relates to ministry work has caused many ministries grief and unavoidable split especially in the handling of Church financial resources, equally averred that the objectives of the training include providing Pentecostal Church leaders and workers with relevant resource materials on how to generate income that will give them extra sources of cash inflow as they carry out the work of the Almighty God without the burden of unpaid bills and pledges that are not honored for the family or in contributions to the demands of the Church.
Besides he said the training will enable Church leaders and workers understand the requirements for transparency and accountability in both secular lives and the church.
Also, he emphasized that the training will help participants understand how to relate to Church money including the structures to put in place so that they do not see the ministry’s money as their own property to dispense according to their whims and caprices.
Denedo emphasized that one of the critical issues around corruption and Christianity is how a lot of Church leaders and workers do not yet understand that the Church money is primarily part of the stewardship demanded by Christ for all of His followers and that the mismanagement of financial resources is corruption which the scripture decries.
More so, Denedo explained that there is a correlation between abundance, contentment and the ability to say no to unrighteous living which includes the wrong use of money in a way that brings the gospel to disrepute, saying that there is a need to recognize the place of accountability in the Church.
He however, noted that there is accountability demanded by the Lord concerning His Church and accountability demanded by the state in terms of financial responsibility to the congregation and to the state.
Denedo added that the training on how to build accountability spaces and generate income is holding as a pilot project in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and will be taken into other states across the federation as there are pastors across the nation waiting for the exposure on how to add to the finances that are available for the work of the ministries.
“This workshop is inspired by the knowledge that Palace of Priests Assembly/Priests Peace and Justice Initiative (PPA/PPJ) that when Church workers and leaders have extra incomes and understand the dynamics of accountability and transparency in ministry, the tendencies towards corruption will be radically reduced.” Mr Denedo maintained.
At the end of the training, Denedo stated that the training is part of the mission to act as catalysts to empower citizens who can reign as priests and work for peace and social justice saying that when Christian leaders and workers can demonstrate that they are truly accountable and can ensure transparency in the Church and in the secular spaces they are actually reigning as priests and kings. This according to some of the participants will help to create a better society where the role of the church Impacts both the people and the nation.
Time will tell.