Fifty-seven years after it was founded through the leading of the Holy Spirit, the United Apostolic Church of Christ has declared its readiness to pursue a global vision under the leadership of its President, Rev. Bayo Owoyemi.
The President and General Overseer of the church declared, during the weeklong Annual Pastors’ Conference that climaxed in thanksgiving service on Sunday, March 20, that in line with the Great Commission, the church would take the gospel of Jesus Christ to every continent of the world for the salvation of souls.
In line with the vision, the church inaugurated the Directorate of International Affairs, headed by Pastor Adesomi Adeola, the head of the United Kingdom branch of the UACC.
According to Owoyemi, the intention of the church is not to compete with other churches, but simply to minister to the lost sheep and redeem men unto God.
In his sermon which dwelt on the central theme of the conference, ‘Goodness and mercy,’ Owoyemi said that what human life required was mercy. Making reference to the Holy Scripture’s book of James 2, 13, he said that “Man has the capacity to show mercy to someone. If you refuse to show mercy to others, you don’t deserve mercy. People will get you upset, but you should still forgive and show mercy.
“Selfishness is wickedness. If the minds of our leaders in this country were enriched with mercy, they would not have brought us so much trouble. God is plenteous in mercy, yet terrible in judgement. The power of forgiveness is with God. Whoever shows mercy shall obtain mercy. To the merciful, God says He would show mercy.”
In an interview held at the sidelines of the programme, the Reverend said that “We want our people to cultivate the attitude of mercy. If our leaders have the attitude of mercy, they would have the fear of God.
“Mercy entails that you do things that would make others happy. We are encouraging people to be merciful. When people show mercy, there would be growth and development. Even the country would flourishing. If you want to receive mercy, you have to be merciful unto others.”
On the plan to expand the gospel, Wife of the President of UACC, Rev. Mary Owoyemi, said that having been brought to the knowledge of the truth of God, workers in the vineyard of God should cooperate with the president of the mission for the success of the vision.
She said, “We believe that our people would cooperate, and with that, we are going higher. God is our strength. There had not been women’s conference in the church before now but now we are going to start. I know that with the help of God, I shall impact positively to their lives.”
A deaconess of the church, Funmilayo Ojo, described the one week Pastors’ Conference as highly rewarding, saying that no one should miss the blessing. “Whoever attends would have a positive story to tell. One would experience a renewal of strength and power in the Lord,” she said.
Prophet Idowu Gabriel Alo, a General Evangelist of the church, said, “I am so delighted in God; everything went well to the glory of God. We are populating the kingdom of God while we depopulate the kingdom of darkness.”
In line with the theme of the conference, he said that “It is registered in our hearts that we should show mercy. We should practice what we were taught by impacting the lives of whoever we meet.”
The General Secretary, UACC Worldwide, Pastor Joseph Eniola Oluwatuase, said, “We thank God for this conference because we enjoyed the love and goodness of the Lord.
“My sincere advice for everybody is to come together in unity to work for God and to lift the church as end time is coming, and to pray for Nigeria always because everything is in the hand of the Almighty Father. We should be praying for our leaders always.”
Rev. Samuel Opeyemi Ogunlade, said that the gathering of the servants of God was a time for refreshing as no one should return to his station same way. He added that “More than ever, we should be more committed to the work of the Lord.
“The Great Commission is that we should go into the world to evangelize. This ministry is currently in the United Kingdom. We pray that as Rev. Owoyemi becomes the President of the church eorldwide, the church would move forward.”
As a ministry, UACC started in 1965 with 16 men of God, mostly members of African Apostolic Church. The clerics gathered together and prayed. In the course of the prayer, it was learnt that Holy Spirit led them to start a church, an apostolic denomination with a logo of unity.
“Noone can claim to be the founder of the church. The reason why the church is different from other denomination is that it was Holy Spirit that gave our leaders the auction to start it,” Owoyemi said.
Pastor Adeola, who is the Director of the International mission, expressed delight, saying, “I feel highly honoured to man this office; it is to the glory of God. I believe it is God that is going to help me.
“By the grace of God, we need manpower here that can do it by joining hands with me to make sure that we achieve the aim. I believe that by this time next year, we will have result to present to the church.”
The pioneer director of the international mission of UACC is a graduate of College of Oceanography in Nigeria where she studied Fishery. Before traveling to the United Kingdom, she went to the Church of God Mission Bible College where she got Diploma Certificate in Theology. In the UK, she went to the university for further studies in Healthcare Management with the hope that at retirement, she would set up a home to take care of the aged.
