Christ Apostolic Church, Akinyele Region on Saturday October 15, 2022 held the 4th edition of her annual Ushers Conference with the theme "Growing in Grace and Knowledge of God as a Chosen Usher."
The programme which was held at CAC Ketu DCC headquarters was an eye-opener for all participants who trooped in their numbers to attend the well organised programme and it had different impactful sessions.
The Superintendent of Akinyele Region, Pastor Samuel A. Adedayo in his address said the theme of the conference is a fundamental fact that ushering is a ministry, emphasizing that an Usher is a Minister, chosen and ordained by God, admonishing ushers to take ushering as a ministry.
Pastor Adedayo who was represented at the programme by the Regional Secretary, Pastor Seyi Oyedeji therefore said that growth in grace and knowledge of God is inevitable for a Chosen Usher.
"Grace is defined by C.S. Lewis as 'an unmerited favour.' It is the favour of God that works salvation in us. Growth is one of the major characteristics of a living being. Any element that refuses to grow will be retarded, redundant and stagnated. A chosen Usher must therefore desire growth in all ramification.To grow in grace and knowledge of God is to stretch towards maturity in Christian living, lifestyle and service," he said.
While delivering the Welcome Address, the the Head Usher of Akinyele Region, Pastor I.A. Omoyeni said since the splitting of former CAC Akinyele Region into four regions by the Authority for easy administrative convenience, they had been working very hard to ensure the conference held this year.
He also said: "as a chosen usher, 2nd Peter 1:5-10 calls our attention to a full preparation of selves on every aspect in this race to heavenly home, physically and spiritually in order to be equalled for the prime tasks before us in this ministry such as having spirit of fervent prayers/fasting (Matt. 17:21 and Act 4:31), imbibing quality and undiluted words of God in our lives (Col. 3:15), allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to totally envelope our lives in all circumstances and to desist from immoralities. We must present ourselves to the world in a manner of character that is Biblically worthy of emulation, like true chosen Ushers in the Vineyard of the Lord."
In his welcome address, the Coordinator of CAC Akinyele Regional Ushers, Pastor S.J. Monebi citing 2nd Peter 1 verse 5 to 10 noted that indeed, the purpose of writing the second epistle of Peter was for the first set of believers that occupied different positions.
He further said this was to guard against fake or false teachings and vices as well as holding on to the teachings of Christ alone.
"Peter admonished everyone that the coming of the Lord is around the corner; let the fire of our faith continue to burn and our test of faith be more precious than the perishable things as we all know that fire shall be used to test individual level of faith - our faith should not be likened to that of the Pharisees. Let everyone be rekindled with fire of faith more than before so that Jesus can meet us in His will and not the other way round. Jesus said, I will tell some people I know you not you worker of iniquity," he said.
Taking the workshop session at the conference is an accredited trainer at CMD Lagos, Pastor Isaac Dunmoye, who, on the topic "Building a Successful Business in Today's Climate" said ushers are God's ordained and organized body of believers and they are the first representatives of Jesus Christ for a worship service.
According to him, ushers in the tabernacle and temple were called doorkeepers.
While expatiating on the topic of his lecture, Pastor Dunmoye stated that in today's ever-changing business climate, an entrepreneur can easily become overwhelmed, it's vital, though, to stay focused on one's goals.
He told the ushers that as an entrepreneur, you need to know who your competitors are and you also should understand the rival product or service that is being offered, adding that this knowledge will help you better to market your product or service to stand out.
"Nigeria, like most developing countries is not immune from unemployment and poverty especially among the youth and women. On this backdrop, both the present and past governments have encouraged entrepreneurship development among the youth and women with the aim of reducing poverty and unemployment in the country. The global climatic challenges has slowed down business activities thereby making it difficult to secure a job. In fact most organizations have laid off workers, making the labour market to be filled with unemployed job seekers. One key way to survive these times is entrepreneurship," he said.
He defined entrepreneurship as the act of creating a business or businesses while building and growing it to generate a profit, saying that entrepreneurship is what people do to take their career and dreams into their hands and lead it in the direction they want.
On ways to ensure a successful business, the Cleric said one must do his or her homework, treat employer fairly, have the highest level of customer service, be honest with customers, always act as if being watched, build a reputation for integrity and honesty and be humble.
The lecture ended with question and answer session as people were further enlightened on how to build a successful business in today's climate.
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