WIN 100’Episcopacy is not an end in itself. It is a means to the one supreme aim: Spreading the scriptural holiness throughout the land – Bishop T. T. Solaru.
Nigeria Methodist Episcopacy at 50 calls us to awake and learn from history. There has been some insightful feedback in recent research and interviews conducted on Nigerian Methodist Episcopacy by Wesley 100 International -WIN Research.#_ftn1 However, the feedback also warned against some inconsistencies, errors, and distortions in relation to Patriarch Bolaji Idowu’s fear and warning about Methodist episcopacy.
In the beginning, the Nigerian Methodist episcopacy was a missional protest on the excesses of globalisation, that is, the tendency to forget history and jump to conclusions shaped by cultural domination, ‘the outer skin of globalisation.’ Archbishop Sanda Ayoade Ladigbolu, a Prince and a former Nigerian Methodist Archbishop of Ilesa, in his lecture marking the 50th anniversary of the Wesley Group, Methodist Church Nigeria, Agbeni Cathedral, Ibadan, explained that ‘liberal theology is a negation of orthodoxy.’ According to him, a church that submits itself to the leadership of such leaders that sit in judgment on the Bible and its divine origin has not only lost its identity, but they have also lost its doctrinal anchor. Hence, they are without a spiritual and moral compass to lead the church.’#_ftn2
The future of episcopacy and the Methodist Church Nigeria is the next generation when it comes to revival (through the spread of scriptural holiness) and human development. The fear of Patriarch Bolaji Idowu resonates with the challenges of raising and empowering the next generation of leaders and forming missionary disciples, which are at the heart of Methodism as the mother church in Nigeria. To overcome the challenges and aberrations of our episcopacy, Archbishop Andrew Okenwa encouraged the church ‘not to be afraid to introduce missional practices that will enhance the health and growth of Methodism in Nigeria.#_ftn3 At a time when the progressive theological views are becoming regressive under the weight of colonised, long-term dysfunctional, and disparate modern theologies,#_ftn4 it is a season of discernment for the Nigerian Methodist Episcopacy at 50 to overcome the fear of Patriarch Bolaji Idowu by reclaiming its theological roots and scriptural practices to fuel our local, national, and global renewal.#_ftn5
God is never in lack of leaders, clergy or laity with vision to restore a lost spiritual and moral compass. Where there is vision, people prosper, and the church grows. God raised a visionary, a colossus and dreamer par excellence in the Methodist Church Nigeria in the person of Patriarch (Professor) Bolaji Idowu.#_ftn6 He was the third and last President of the Methodist Church Nigeria. He was also the first Nigerian Head of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Promoted to the rank of professor in 1963, he was also the first African to serve as the chairman of the Chapel of Resurrection at the University of Ibadan.
As aptly described during the 10th anniversary of his passing, Patriarch Idowu was a great dreamer in the realm of theology, liturgy, and churchmanship. He ‘saw a vision of a church needing liberation and emancipation for true African selfhood.’ With good intention, dignity and honour, ‘he put his vision upon paper. For close to four decades, multitudes have been building upon the foundation he laid. His handwork has continued to shine in world circles. His native intelligence and academic prowess have continued to enlighten and challenge the universe. His initiative has drastically transformed the Methodist Church Nigeria and World Methodism. To Patriarch Idowu, ‘the Church should bear the unmistakable stamp of the fact that she is the church of God in Nigeria. It should no longer be an out-reach or a colony of Rome, Canterbury, Westminster Central Hall in London, or the vested interest of some European or American Missionary Board. No longer should it be an institution acknowledging a human overlord elsewhere outside Nigeria; no longer a marionette with its strings in the hands of some foreign manipulators.’#_ftn8
Patriarch Idowu was elected President of the Methodist Church Nigeria on October 4, 1972, at the Methodist Church, Yaba, Lagos. In 1973, Patriarch Idowu called for a review of the church’s Constitution as an autonomous church in Nigeria. The task also includes ordering the life of the church for effectiveness in the peoples’ native context, and this calls for an urgent process of the church’s indigenisation. Archbishop Kehinde Stephen explained that ‘Professor Idowu was working towards the indigenisation of the continent, including Nigeria. The indigenisation of our leadership system was made parallel to the biblical pattern. It was geared towards the selfhood of Nigerian Methodism.’#_ftn9 According to Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, ‘based on Professor Idowu’s exposure to the universal church and its hierarchy, at the Asaba Retreat, he encouraged the church to go episcopal with the Eastern Orthodox church style and title. This model led to the patriarchal system.’#_ftn10 A corporate episcopacy rich in symbols, laity and clergy cooperation, unity, and humility.
The need for the ordering of the Methodist Church Nigeria, according to Patriarch Idowu, was the inadequacies of a one-centred Ministry whereby the Probationer does not count while ‘the superintendency, the Chairman, and the President are ephemeral offices.’ According to Patriarch Idowu, ‘the office-bearer can be sacked from that position at the whims and caprices of a collection of ‘influential’ persons who could sway or dominate the meeting which constitutionally holds that fate of the office in its hand or, perhaps, under the guidance of the Spirit.’#_ftn11 The essence of a proper ordering was to give grace and dignity (ecclesiastical and Spiritual) to the Ministry in the Nigerian cultural setting. The three things that influenced Patriarch Idowu’s proposal were Simon’s and Cannon’s /America, and the Eastern Orthodox Church formats.#_ftn12 Patriarch Idowu’s reference to the work of Simon, John Wesley and the Advance of Methodism revealed John Wesley’s opinions about the national Churches and Methodist societies at the Methodist Conference held in 1747, at the Foundery and how it resolved the rising need for ordering of the Methodist ministry of the Word and the Sacraments.#_ftn13
William Cannon, a former bishop in the United Methodist Church in America, in his work The Meaning of the Ministry in Methodism, pointed to the need to order ministry in America due to its new independence from England. Patriarch Idowu explained that Wesley was guided to put up chapels or preaching halls as a pressing and missional need to empower people, bearing in mind ‘ordering of the ordained ministry should follow the scriptural and traditional pattern,’ hence his action to ordain deacons and priests and appoint bishops.’#_ftn14 Thirdly, the freedom of the Eastern (European) churches goes beyond the hierarchical elements of the Archbishop to the position of ‘a Patriarch as the supreme head of each region or division.’ Patriarch Idowu explained that ‘in Nigeria, Methodism has unwittingly taken something of the marked element of the Eastern Orthodox Church,’ with the rank of the traditional Patriarch or Pontiff. Patriarch Idowu’s pattern of proposal and recommendation made to the Conference for a change to episcopacy in its Scriptural and ecclesiastical connotation in the Nigerian Methodism consisted of the following titles: Deacon, Priest, Presbyter, Bishop, Metropolitan Archbishop, and Patriarch.#_ftn15
A historic assembly of all Methodist Churches in Nigeria was held in Asaba from February 1-3, 1974, to establish a new pattern for Nigerian Methodism. At the 13th Conference of the Methodist Church Nigeria, held in Immanuel College Chapel, Ibadan, from November 27 to December 5, 1974, the Constitution Drafting Committee, composed of eminent Methodist lawyers and members of the Faith and Order Committee, headed by Hon. Justice Olu Ayoola, introduced the proposed Constitution. After amendments were made, the Conference approved the new Constitution. A special committee was set up to review the draft before the 14th annual Conference at Calabar from September 2 to 12, 1975, which ratified the final copy and fixed January 20, 1976, as the “Appointed Day” service at Methodist Church of the Trinity, Tinubu, Lagos. The service began an indigenous corporate Methodist episcopacy in Nigeria, where Patriarch Idowu and other appointed Archbishops and Bishops were consecrated and invested.#_ftn16 In 1976, the church was restructured into 4 archdioceses – Lagos, Ilesa, Calabar, and Enugu, and 9 dioceses – Lagos, Ibadan, North, Ilesa, Ifaki, Calabar, Ikot Ekpene, Enugu, and Umuahia.#_ftn17
Patriarch Idowu remains synonymous with Nigerian Methodist episcopacy. In celebrating 50 years of Methodist episcopacy, it is essential to reflect on how Patriarch Idowu, as the first Patriarch of the Methodist Church Nigeria (1976-1984), led the church in creating the New Constitution (1976), inaugurating the patriarchy and adopting Methodist corporate episcopacy. Archbishop Amos Omodunbi explained that, while ‘Rev. Soremekun’s leadership was a product of the British Methodist Constitution given to us after the autonomy. Professor Bolaji Idowu’s leadership was more monumental. Episcopacy is a plus. It lifted the church’s image to the world.’#_ftn18
The New Constitution was not just a purely democratic setup. Bishop T. T. Solaru, the first Methodist bishop of Ibadan, in his sermon, preached at the Service of Thanksgiving in connection with “The Appointed Day” events at Hoare’s Memorial Methodist Church, Yaba, on January 26, 1976, said, “Episcopacy is not an end in itself. It is a means to the supreme aim: Spreading the scriptural holiness throughout the land.” According to Bishop Solaru, the successful execution of one part of the ASABA retreat proposals, the 1976 Methodist Constitution, must be followed by the enriching and renewing concept of Methodist Liturgy, Ritual and Offices. The follow-up would help the church regain, retain, and increase the living experience of Jesus Christ. Bishop Solaru said, ‘Only this will open our eyes and strengthen our desires to do God’s will. It is our duty to give a sense of direction to the lost in our nation.’ Patriarch Idowu’s episcopal theology and philosophy is an authentic relational leadership, where the lamps of good fellowship are always kept burning, the unity of the mission is never compromised, trust is never betrayed, and the mission is cheerfully and sacrificially pursued.#_ftn19
The 1976 Methodist Constitution was not without a natural consequence of the process of coming into being. The doubts, suspicions, acrimony, and even bitterness engendered by the process of producing the Constitution distracted the church and led to over 14 years of crisis. In 1984, at the Otukpo Methodist Conference, Patriarch Idowu’s chaplain, His Eminence Dr Sunday Mbang, was elected as the new Patriarch. Patriarch Idowu retired at age 71 on September 28, 1984, after 12 years as the head of the Methodist Church Nigeria.#_ftn20 Under the patriarchy of His Pre-Eminence Mbang, there was a meeting of the Methodist two sides – Patriarchal and Presidential (Fusion Committee) held on 14th July 1989 at the Methodist Church, Ijoku, Sagamu. Archbishop Omodunbi conducted the devotional service – Methodist Assembly, attended by about a thousand people. Preaching from the two passages read – Neh 2:17-20 and 1 Cor 3:1-5, Archbishop Omodunbi pointed out the two pictures that emerged from the two passages, namely, ‘challenges and response,’ and ‘the divided church of God torn apart because of party spirit built around personalities.’ Archbishop Omodunbi said, “We are here for peace, for reconciliation and nothing else. We are not here to argue or justify ourselves. We have all sinned and left the Methodist Church Nigeria in disgrace. God says it is time to remove our disgrace.’#_ftn21
In response to problems that have bedevilled the church over decades, especially the dwindling membership, the report from the Strategic Planning Team, composed of the clergy and laity, to proffer solutions for Nigerian Methodist repositioning, led to the adoption of the 2006 Church Constitution and other reviews. The chairman of the Methodist Strategic Committee, Sir Ben Osadiya, eighteen years ago, explained that ‘after thorough investigations, we discovered that the church was not giving enough attention to mission and evangelism…It is very dismaying. There is a decline on a large scale. If you go to our main worship on Sundays, especially in some of our big churches and cathedrals, the poor attendance and large-scale decline are very glaring, even on a large scale.’#_ftn22 The reflection is, after the adoption of the new Constitution and reviews that follow, is there growth in our church attendance, discipleship formation, and church membership?
His Eminence Mbang emphasised human problems as the main problem of the Methodist Church Nigeria, not just the Constitution. He said, “It is not the review of the constitution that will make the church great. What will make the church great is us as individuals,”#_ftn23 that is, the clergy and laity as a corporate episcopacy. Patriarch Idowu’s corporate episcopal theology and narrativity were not shaped for privileged perspectives or just for the survival or maintenance of the church; hence, he was quick to express his fear and warning about the future of Nigeria’s Methodist episcopacy.
In his Patriarch’s Address to the 17th Annual Conference, Methodist Church Nigeria held at the Enugu Campus of the University of Nigeria, August 23 to September 1, 1978, Patriarch Idowu emphasised the theme of the 1978 Conference, ‘On His Divine Majesty’s Service’ as a development since 1973. Patriarch Idowu explained that the theme was designed to call the leadership to a sense of urgency to our commitment as a church, to give the church leadership a keen awareness that we cannot, or can no longer, afford to trifle with the commission laid upon the church by a Holy God if we are not to cease to be a church and be reduced to a mere form of incompetent contractors “in a kingdom of God industry.” Episcopacy, reduced to a mere firm of incompetent contractors, warns against the overwhelming responsibilities of corporate management with endless meetings and replies to an avalanche of letters. Such episcopacy is costly, wasteful, and time-consuming. Episcopacy beyond the cosmetic or career of a caregiver points to actions that counter a lack of integrity and trust, which does not allow for the fulfillment of episcopal vows.
Patriarch Idowu used the 1978 Methodist Conference keynote prayer, “May our service to the future pay our debt to the past,” to remind the church of the need to be equipped with the spirit of discernment and to appreciate that others have laboured, and that we have entered their labour. Therefore, we are expected to leave behind a heritage of noble responses in the fulfillment of assignments and missions for future generations. The 1978 Methodist Conference theme, according to Patriarch Idowu, with his reference to the spiritual and moral signs of the country 48 years ago, called for an urgent need to pause and think, examine ourselves, and, under God, set things right where they have gone wrong or where they are going wrong.#_ftn24
The situation is worse today in the church and our national politics. Using the words of Patriarch Idowu, a sense of our calling, of the task set before us by the Lord of the Church, should ‘make us rise from the table of folly, avoid and put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness – every dead weight which is hampering our movements and every obstacle in the way of our spiritual progress.’
Remembering the genius of Patriarch Idowu 32 years after his transition and 50 years after the adoption of episcopacy, warns the church against episcopacy becoming ‘ecclesiastical cosmetic.’ He explained that the 1976 Methodist Constitution is ‘not an ecclesiastical cosmetic to serve the vanity of a church; it is the Lord’s renewed call to us that we so live and conduct ourselves that the Church, with us as servants and instruments, shall be found relevant to the needs of modern age and generation with all their demands and challenges.’ Patriarch Idowu found ‘ecclesiastic cosmetic’ alive and well in the church. It appears to be busy but guilty, lacks humility, lacks a servant’s heart, and is selfish and infatuated with title, position, ego, power, and popularity. Methodist Episcopacy beyond ecclesiastical cosmetics counters elaborate window dressing and papering over the cracks in the church leadership. Ecclesiastical cosmetics are applied on the surface and superficially. It needs more depth.
Beyond celebrating leaders and personalities as human phenomena, Patriarch Idowu’s name and symbolic legacies remind us of the church, as recognized in Scripture and ecclesiastical tradition, and of persons who have responded to the divine calling and election, separated by ordination and consecration for service. Patriarch Idowu says such persons are uniquely the “Lord’s anointed” by their position. They are members of the Body of Christ and not just into ecclesiastical cosmetics. Episcopal ecclesiastical cosmetics bring to the fore the social leadership, for example, exercised by Gallic bishops, which resonates today with the pursuit of self-interest to seek control over others and essential places. Patriarch Idowu’s episcopal ideology described him as a lover of the poor, shaped by his devotion to God.
Episcopacy dressed in ecclesiastical cosmetics reminds us how the episcopal throne promotes the acquisition of wealth and the quest for honour.#_ftn25 History of the wealth and power of the Episcopacy in the sixth century reminds us how successful secular careers attracted the grandfather of Gregory of Tours. The bishop’s throne became the natural culmination of a successful aristocratic cursushonorum. In essence, the bishop of a large See became a great officer of State. The cathedral became very attractive, especially in the fifth century, just as the church became a political power base to counter the influence of Italy and the imperial centre, a clue to the emergence of the ‘episcopat monarchique.’ The secularisation of episcopacy remains a dangerous development, but the misleading experience should not now prejudice a more wholesome appreciation of the possibilities of episcopacy as a means of spreading scriptural holiness across the land.
Patriarch Idowu was not unaware of the development and challenges of the episcopacy’s dynasticism from the second to the fourth centuries in the control of the religious and political life of their communities. Patriarch Idowu’s ideology of episcopacy counters the means by which a veneer of spiritual validation is granted to ecclesiastical cosmetics and colonisation. Patriarch Idowu reinforced the existing social and indigenous conditions, emphasising the transience of this world and of life, and the importance of the life to come. Episcopacy, shaped by ecclesiastical cosmetics and career, is rooted in leadership without vision, but only for the glory, fame, control, popularity, and power that leadership positions have to offer, and lacks a sense of fulfilling the Great Commission. Episcopacy through the lens of ecclesiastical cosmetics looks beautiful on the outside; it is glamorous; it is expensive, but within is emptiness, lacks integrity and cannot be trusted (Matt 23:1-7). Patriarch Idowu’s vision of episcopacy provides a renewing and redeeming reference for the church and political leadership.
The most missional and critical problem facing our episcopacy today is the leadership vacuum and complacency that grew during the Twentieth Century.#_ftn26 The imported colonial missionary church leadership, often hierarchical and centralized, was heavily dominated by white missionaries who controlled the narrative and direction of the church. W.E.B. Du Bois’s “The Souls of White Folk” describes the encompassing nature of whiteness as a dominant worldview that shapes social structures, including religious institutions and mission work. The reflection is ‘that whiteness is not just a personal characteristic but a system of power that normalizes and privileges certain perspectives while marginalizing others.
’The “sea of whiteness” metaphor, drawn from Du Bois, is used in the context of mission and leadership structures to refer to the pervasive, often invisible influence of white perspectives and power structures within Christian missionary work, particularly in relation to colonialism and its legacies. The “sea of whiteness” highlights how historical and ongoing missionary practices have been shaped by and reinforced a worldview centred on white European culture and dominance, often at the expense of other cultures and perspectives.’ To overcome the control and dominations of the ‘sea of whiteness’ in Africa, Patriarch Idowu was the first to call African theologians to the serious consideration of making Christian Theology relevant to the African people. According to him, ‘the Church in Africa could only attain selfhood and be adequate for her mission when she possessed a first-hand knowledge of the Lord of the Church and was able to express that knowledge in clear accents made possible through her own original meditation and thinking… The Church has been speaking in Africa and to Africans in strange or partially understood tongues,#_ftn27, hence, people feel alienated from Christianity. It is very sad when an uneducated African identifies the God of Christianity as “the God of the White man.” According to Patriarch Idowu, this poses a challenge to African Christians and theologians as they seek to make the message of Christianity available to their fellow Africans. Theologians must get to know their people thoroughly and approach their beliefs reverently, because the Christian possesses the key to the soul of their fellow Africans – their language.
Methodist episcopacy faces entanglement with colonialism, racism, and global capitalism under the guise of partnership and ecumenism, perpetuating colonial power dynamics. Professor Anthony Reddie and Carol Troupe, in their book Deconstructing Whiteness, Empire, and Mission, explored and addressed the legacy of Christian missions and its connection to white supremacy, systemic racism, and global capitalism. The book encourages critical reflection on the past and present of mission, with a focus on repairing the harm caused by colonial legacies. Nigeria’s episcopacy has a prophetic role and not a compromising role in colonialism and its ongoing effects, realities of race, power, and decline in the context of mission and Methodism.#_ftn28
We become ecclesiastical cosmetic (episcosmetic and episcocentric) when we are tending toward monarchical rather than corporate, museum rather than movement. His Eminence Sunday Makinde, a former prelate, explained that the Nigerian Methodist episcopacy is corporate and not monarchical.’#_ftn29
The Nigerian Methodist episcopacy, at the beginning, was full of missional risk and adventure in church planting. Nigeria Methodist episcopacy, in the beginning, did not stick to well-known destinations, preferred organized mission, and sought comfort and safety in established mission infrastructure. It was not just a preference for structure, but a seeking of a sense of security and control over mission and leadership experience. Our episcopacy must not become a mistake or misstep, nor a tragedy of giving titles without mantles. The truth is that when people enter leadership, their true colours emerge (Acts 8:9-24). Through human eyes, Simon looks episcopal, but Peter discerned that his heart was not right before God. Simon wanted an office without character. He wanted anointing without repentance; consecrated without transformation. Simon was consecrated for his money and wealth. Episcopacy without repentance brings regrets to the church.#_ftn30
Sir Rotimi Beckley, Archdiocesan Lay President of Abuja, decried the burden upon people when called to serve in the church. He explained that ‘some laities were elected, appointed or selected to serve as leaders because they could sponsor projects or because they had influence. Others were called because they appeared helpful, quiet, humble, or “faithful.” However, some have been discovered to look like firewood, but actually hide a cobra under dry sticks. We carry titles we do not have the mantle for and automatically enrol ourselves in battles we are not equipped to fight. As we enter leadership, our true colours eventually emerge when we exhibit pride, rebellion, manipulation, stubbornness, carnality, and corruption under the guise of serving God … To an undiscerning eye, Simon looked committed, present in every service, close to the leaders, eager to serve, and ordained and ready. Had they ordained him, Simon would have become a disaster in leadership.’ Episcopacy does not change people; it exposes people just as Simon was exposed. We become ‘episcomestic’ and ‘episcocentric’ when we prioritize comfort, safety, ego, ethnicity, and familiarity in our mission travel experiences, often preferring well-trodden paths and established mission destinations.
The Rt. Rev. Ayo Adeniyi, Methodist Bishop, Diocese of Yewa, in his devotional presentation at the 2025 Methodist Council of Bishops in Abuja, points out some features and elements of ecclesiastical cosmetics that have not brought our Lazarus back to life. He said, “Can we ask ourselves, why has our Lazarus not risen as he did with the authority of Jesus? Many churches today are places of politics and policies so designed to make good virtues dead because we lack God’s power. We tend to be so religious with no conversion experience, no encounter, but practices without the power of the Holy Spirit, beautiful structures with empty pews. How will he rise again? Have you ever considered the enormity of danger posed in the next decade by these beautiful structures and Altars without the fire of God?
Ecclesiastical cosmetics are about ceremonial leadership that failed to rise with the authority of Jesus. It is about leadership and the church becoming places of politics and meetings, making ‘good virtues dead because we are lacking God’s power.’ Ecclesiastical cosmetics are about leadership and religiosity practices with ‘no conversion experience but beautiful structures with empty pews.’ Ecclesiastical cosmetics pose the enormity of danger in the next decade for the Nigerian Methodist episcopacy at 50, bearing in mind ‘beautiful structures and altars without the fire of God.’
Bishop Adeniyi warns us, ‘it is the Holy Spirit that gives life, flesh is of no avail (John 6:63). The devil has done enough havoc to the body of Christ, and you cannot cooperate with the devil to kill the remaining living good churches through our reckless and ungodly living. Jesus was fully armed with authority because he lacked neither holiness, integrity, nor godliness. According to him, it is time ‘to stem the tide of lukewarmness and stagnancy in our various Dioceses …. Trust in the power of God and totally surrender to Jesus … Trust in the name of the Lord alone (Prov 18:10, Acts 3:6) …. Embrace holiness of Life (Psalm 24) … We must pray like never before (Acts 16:25 – Paul & Silas) … We must be heaven conscious (Matt 6:33).Nigeria Methodist episcopacy at 50 is beyond administrative, ecclesiological and connexional maintenance. When administration and ecclesiology precede missiology, they not only distort God’s mission and Methodist DNA but also promote ecclesiastical cosmetics. Patriarch Idowu rightly explained that Methodism ‘came to being first as a missionary church – or churches-within-colonialism … with the Gospel, we were handed intact the organizational pattern of British Methodism. The time has now come when we have to consider, or reconsider, our set-up in relation to restoring the years that the locust has eaten.’#_ftn31 Rev Dr Martyn Atkins rightly explained that Methodism ‘is a missiological ecclesiology, a missionary church, mission-based, to make disciples.’#_ftn32
Archbishop Sunday Ndukwo Onuoha, in his paper titled ‘Re-evaluating Episcopacy in Methodist Church Nigeria presented at the 42nd Council of Bishops, Methodist Church Nigeria, held at Abuja, concluded the task of re-evaluation on the need to see the two sides of the coin of what the church may become in the next twenty years. He explained to the Council of Bishops that, ‘If we can adjust our Episcopal practice to suit contemporary society and to be in tandem with scripture, see what we may have in the next 20 years: A church that will see another revival with obvious increase and will solve the problem of the present-day Pentecostalism; A church that will march charisma with character; A church that will have a liturgy that speaks to the needs of the present church, where members are blessed and moulded correctly for God’s purpose; A church where the pastoral needs of members are properly met and finance becomes a natural flow from a heart touched by love; A church where continuity and vision is sustained for sustainable development, where people know the plan and work together to achieve what they believe in; A church where Bishops work hard to develop their dioceses, knowing that whatever they sow, they will stay to reap; A church where both the lay and the ordained will work together, speaking the truth in love; A church where episcopates are seen and known as servants and not to Lord it over the people; A church where the life of Christ is seen in our leadership. However, if we fail to adjust and take correction, we may, in the next twenty (20) years, actualize the fears of John Wesley, who said, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodist should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out (Wesley 1872).”
The fear of John Wesley about Methodism#_ftn33 resonates with the fear and warning of Patriarch Bolaji Idowu about episcopacy becoming ‘ecclesiastical cosmetic.’ He warned that Methodist episcopacy is ‘not an ecclesiastical cosmetic to serve the vanity of a church; it is the Lord’s renewed call to us that we so live and conduct ourselves that the Church, with us as servants and instruments, shall be found relevant to the needs of modern age and generation with all their demands and challenges.’ Key aspects of Wesley’s that resonate with Patriarch Idowu’s fear and warning about ecclesiastical cosmetic is about episcopal form over power, maintaining structures (form), outward religious observance but lose the vibrant, passionate, and supernatural experience (power); complacency – the fear was not of the movement ending, but of it becoming content and spiritually stagnant; and spiritual decline, a parallel to Wesley’s concern about dry, traditional religion lacking genuine encounter with God.
Nigeria Methodist Episcopacy at 50, beyond ‘Sea of Whiteness,’ and ‘Ecclesiastical Cosmetic,’ invites us to overcome our inconsistencies and distortions.#_ftn34 Episcopacy as ecclesiastical cosmetic points to distortion of episcopacy ministry shaped by liberal theology and bishops’ election as a reward (for a person’s specialization or authoritarianism), a show without any inward content, and external practice without personal spiritual commitment.#_ftn35 Tragically, the development of the dominant secular ideology is not without its adverse effects on the life of the church and Methodism. Among the effects is becoming an episcopal tick-box institution of managers and administrators and compliant partners of liberal directions, contesting for power within politics and activist ecumenism.
A dysfunctional theology of Episcopacy is extremely clericalised. In contrast, a missiological theology of Episcopacy enhances the corporate mission, shaped by the idea of the laos – all the people of God, both the clergy and the laity. The church and leadership decline when mission and evangelism are not done intentionally, and the need and status of the clergy dominate Church thinking and meetings.#_ftn36 There is a dysfunction of our episcopacy as the order and structure of the ministry is more important than the mission of the order and ministry. When we allow our indigenous ecclesiology to overrun Methodist missional DNA and scriptural ecclesiology, the result is not just distortion but a vacuum and inconsistencies. In the words of Cardedal, ‘a root cause of the deterioration comes from making the episcopate seem to be the highest form of honour,’ and a status symbol within the society and government.#_ftn37
Episcopacy through the lens of ecclesiastical cosmetics becomes an end as a spiritual fatherhood system that demands absolute loyalty, thereby producing an ‘infantilized church through a predictable set of psychological, theological, and social mechanisms.’ Episcopacy becomes an end in itself ‘when authority is framed as parenthood rather than a shepherd, teacher, or fellow servant, the relationship quietly shifts- Fathers are not questioned; Fathers are obeyed instinctively; Fathers are assumed to know better than you.’ Episcopacy becomes an end when disagreement is no longer treated as thought—it is treated as rebellion.
Reflecting on the fear and warning from Patriarch Idowu, the episcopacy in my generation faces a huge mission task. Sadly, my generation, as the greatest beneficiary of Methodist episcopacy, has a choice either to reawaken or sleepwalk into decline and become irrelevant. The question is, how can we raise our mission and discipleship profile globally, restore the years the locust has eaten, and reposition our episcopacy for greater impact? Are our numbers, locally and globally, aligned with our missional values and impacts? Is our diocesan fragmentation increasing or decreasing our membership and discipleship? Are we making global impacts, or are we still swimming in the ‘sea of whiteness,’ partnership, and ecumenism for our financial survival and relevance? Are we prepared for the technological disruptions in mission and evangelism? It is easy for us to sleepwalk into decline and extinction without urgent repentance and reawakening.#_ftn38
Episcopacy at 50 invites us to reflect on our values, walk through the process of renewing values needed for episcopacy in an Apostolic Age. Effective episcopacy in a polarised society demands apostolic strategies for our time. To overcome the fear of Patriarch Bolaji Idowu, Episcopacy at 50 calls for a missional plan in building the Next Generation of leaders – clergy and laity. The Patriarch Bolaji Idowu Leadership Institute (BILI), which seeks to reach the next generation of Methodists, could be a way forward to cultivate a deeper missionary spirit.
God is always doing something new, and He does not call the equipped; He equips the called. Episcopacy at 50 summons us to look at the shifting landscape of the Church globally, and with the advent of next-generation leadership upon us, we need to intentionally pour into the future leaders, cooperating with God’s plan to equip the called and prepare them to boldly lead the Church in the years to come.
William Pierson Merrill (January 10, 1867 – June 19, 1954) offers us a very inspiring hymn as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nigeria Methodist Episcopacy. As children, youth, men, and women of God, let us prayerfully sing together as we recommit ourselves to serve the King of kings in truth and in Spirit.
1 Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of kings.
2 Rise up, O men of God!
His kingdom tarries long;
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.
3 Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait.
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!
4 Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod;
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God.
#_ftnref1 Wesley 100 International – WIN – A resource and research network for church reawakening and revival is a missional global non-denominational network of people who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God.
#_ftnref2 Ladigbolu, Ayo, ‘Methodist Church in Identity Crisis within the context of Politics, Security, and Injustice in Contemporary Nigeria,’ in Opeke, RosalineO, Familusi, Olumuyiwa O, Berekiah, Olugbenro, O (eds), The Heart of the Act: Church Politics and Social Transformation, A Festschrift in honour of His Grace, Most Rev. Michael Kehinde Stephen (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 2018), pp. 39-48
#_ftnref3 Archbishop Andrew Okenwa, Preface, cited in Okegbile, Deji, Missional Leadership for Repositioning Nigerian Methodism (Lagos: Alet Inspirationz, 2019) p. xiii
#_ftnref4 Idowu, E. Bolaji, Obituary: God’s or Man’s? An Inaugural Lecture delivered at the University of Ibadan on Thursday, October 24, 1974 (Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press, 1974)
.#_ftnref5 http://dejiokegbile.com/enugu-2023-patriarch-idowu-110-and-episcopacy-47-decolonising-methodism-for-our-world-today/
#_ftnref6 Okegbile, Deji, Missional Leadership for Repositioning Nigerian Methodism (Lagos: Alet Inspirationz, 2019) pp. 5-9
#_ftnref7 Methodist Church Nigeria – His Pre Eminence Bolaji Idowu 1913-1993 – Brochure for the 10th Year Remembrance Service, cited in Okegbile Deji, Bishop on the Horseback: Towards a Missional Episcopacy (London: ……2024), pp. 98-101
#_ftnref8 Idowu, Bolaji, Towards an Indigenous Church, (London: Oxford University Press, 1965) p. 11
#_ftnref9 Interview with Archbishop Michael Stephen cited in Okegbile, Missional Leadership, pp. 112-114.
#_ftnref10 Interview with Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu cited in Okegbile, Missional Leadership, pp. 108-111.
#_ftnref11 Methodist Church Nigeria, The Asaba Retreat Document, p. 13
#_ftnref12 Interview with Archbishop Joseph Ajayi cited in Okegbile, Missional Leadership, p.102.
#_ftnref13 Simon, John S, John Wesley and the Advance of Methodism (London: The Epworth, 1925), pp. 37-38
#_ftnref14 Methodist Church Nigeria, The Asaba Retreat Document, pp. 12-13.
#_ftnref15 Methodist Church Nigeria, The Asaba Retreat Document, pp. 15-17
#_ftnref16 http://dejiokegbile.com/remembering-patriarch-bolaji-idowu-episcopacy-beyond-ecclesiastical-cosmetics/
#_ftnref17 Okegbile, Bishop on Horseback, p. 109
#_ftnref18 Interview with Archbishop Amos Omodunbi cited in Okegbile, Missional Leadership, p. 104
#_ftnref19 http://dejiokegbile.com/remembering-patriarch-bolaji-idowu-episcopacy-beyond-ecclesiastical-cosmetics/
#_ftnref20 http://dejiokegbile.com/remembering-patriarch-bolaji-idowu-episcopacy-beyond-ecclesiastical-cosmetics/
#_ftnref21 http://dejiokegbile.com/episcopacy-from-the-heart-archbishop-omodunbi-a-quintessential-methodist-episcopal-frontliner/
#_ftnref22 Interview with Sir Ben Osadiya, cited in Okegbile, Missional Leadership, pp. 115-116.
#_ftnref23 His Eminence Sunday Mbang, cited in Okegbile, Missional Leadership, pp. 9-11
#_ftnref24 Okegbile, Deji, Indigenised to Decolonise: Celebrating Nigerian Methodism (London: Sadlprint: London, 2024) pp. 28-32
#_ftnref25 Davie, Martin, Bishops Past, Present and Future (Great Britain: Gilead Books, 2022), pp. 200- 291, 721-784.
#_ftnref26 Cardedal, ‘Episcopacy Root and Branch,’ in Peter Moore (ed), Bishops: But What Kind? (London: SPCK, 1982), pp. 40-79.
#_ftnref27 Kwesi D. and Paul Ellingworth (ed), Biblical Revelation and African Belief (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1969), p. 9
#_ftnref28 Okegbile, Indigenised to Decolonise:, p. 9-18
#_ftnref29 Interview with His Eminence Sunday Ola Makinde cited in Okegbile, Missional Leadership, p. 106.
#_ftnref30Episcopal Ministry: The Report of the Archbishop’s Group on the Episcopate, 1990, Church House Publishing, London, pp. vii-ix, 319, 173-232.
#_ftnref31 Methodist Church Nigeria: The Asaba Retreat Document, cited in Okegbile, Bishop on Horseback, p.104.
#_ftnref32 Interview with Rev Dr Martyn Atkins cited in Okegbile, Missional Leadership, p. 99.
#_ftnref33 Okegbile Deji, The Fear of John Wesley (Ibadan: Oluseyi Press, 1999), pp. 4-12.
#_ftnref34 Okegbile, Bishop on Horseback, pp.64-66
#_ftnref35 Kirk, Kenneth E (ed), The Apostolic Ministry: Essays on the history and the doctrine of episcopacy (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1946), p. 3
#_ftnref36 http://dejiokegbile.com/the-house-of-the-lords-in-a-secular-direction-towards-a-missional-episcopacy/
#_ftnref37 Cardedal, ‘Episcopacy Root and Branch,’ in Peter Moore (ed), Bishops:), pp.59-60
#_ftnref38 Okegbile, Bishop on Horseback, pp. 122-126
