By Boluwatife Oparinde
The 2022 All Campus Staff Retreat of the Christ Apostolic Church Theological Seminary has started today, Monday, 16th May, 2022.
The Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Pastor Dr. M.O.A Oluwaniyi, expressed his unalloyed gratitude to God; acknowledging the efforts of the Principal Officers of the Seminary, committee members of the retreat, and Coordinators of satellite campuses who had ensured compliance of their staff to the retreat as well as financing them despite the economic downturn in the country.
Pastor Oluwaniyi, declaring the theme of the retreat, "Creativity and Systemic Networking Among Drivers of Theological Education" admitted that, " the need for this retreat is long overdue as the last one held was about five years ago."
"By way of whetting your appetite, just as the human writers of the scriptures were inspired by God; I have equally discovered nothing but divine illumination of the Holy Spirit upon our facilitators. Going through their masterpieces, they all have almost similar contents despite not knowing who is who. This justifies the popular African axiom that, ‘when a brass-smith continues to hit an iron at a particular spot, there is something he wants to derive'" he said.
Welcoming the participants, the Provost of the Seminary, Pastor Prof. C. O. Oshun, expressed his delight, stating that, “It gives me great pleasure, at this Formal Opening Ceremony, to welcome you all to the 2022 Staff Retreat organised by the Christ Apostolic Church Theological Seminary, Ile-Ife, holding this week at Opa, Ile-Ife, at the Main Campus. This speech serves as a dual welcome both to all our invited Guests and all our visiting Staff from across the 14 Satellite Campuses in Nigeria and Igolo, in the Republic of Benin.”
Pastor Oshun added that, “I am confident that our interactions at this forum will generate a robust contribution to the entire discourse as exemplified in the main theme and as further amplified in the various sub-topics as already advertised, and as will be further dissected at the various plenary sessions and discussion groups.”
“Yes, together we can move the Seminary forward. Yes, We Can! And by the grace of God, We Shall! Let us show the audacity of hope like an Obama, the tenacity of purpose like a Daniel, the assurance of faith like a Joseph and the intrepidity of prayer like the Apostles of old. Yes, We Can! Amen! So, let it Be! It remains for me to wish us a good deliberation during this Retreat, a pleasant stay during the Retreat and safe journey back to our different destinations,” the Provost said.
The Chairman, Governing Council of the Seminary who doubles as the Regional Superintendent, CAC Orogun Region, Pastor E.S. Famuyide identified that, “Education in the 21st century has gone beyond learning how to read and write; it has crossed the boundaries of the four walls of the classroom as well as the use of hardcopy resource materials. It has adopted the use of technology in making new discoveries in the field of research. It has surpassed the idea of one classroom teacher to an average number of physically present students."
Pastor Famuyide continued that, "Education has borne the eagle’s wings of high intelligence through inventiveness and soaring at the speed of light. Our generation is technologically driven, innovative and forward looking. In order not to be one of the laggards, we have the need to braze up and move up the ladder so as to remain relevant among Theological Seminaries.”
The Governing Council Chairman, who celebrated the resourcefulness of the Provost and his team members, concluded by charging his audience to “work together as a team. Let us make an indelible mark on the pages of the history of CACTS. "Let us rewrite the history of this institution. We are able to make a positive change; for the Scripture says, ‘We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us;" he summed.
The retreat, set to last till Wednesday, 18th May, 2022 has garnered the presence of dignitaries such as Pastor Prof. A.M.A Imevbore; Pastor T.A. Adesoji, Immediate Past Registrar of CACTS, Pastor Dapo Adeniyi, Registrar of JABU; Prof. J.K. Ayantayo, the keynote address speaker; Prof. Femi Adedeji; Coordinators of Satellite campuses, and all staff members from various satellite campuses.
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