Your ministry template is unique Part II by Dr Nathaniel Omilani

This is the second part of the article written on my birthday. The picture you displayed was taken more than twenty years ago. I was pastoring a congregation of young people at that time. It was a well-structured group divided into four classes. The first class consisted of preschoolers and nursery school students. The second class was for lower basic pupils, the third included middle and upper basic pupils, and the final was for those in senior secondary school and higher institutions. Some of those in the last class were my age mates.

 

I was connected to everyone as a leader, as well as to the leaders of the subgroups. I must mention that fewer than three of the individuals in the pictures are currently under my pastorate at the same location. I always emphasize the importance of becoming strong believers and followers of Christ, as I know they may change churches during their journey into adulthood. In fact, this happened to all of my members back then.

I realized early on that I was pastoring members who were in a transitional phase of their lives. This understanding that my members would be leaving soon shaped the focus of my sermons. I primarily taught the foundations of faith and principles of discipleship. Gradually, one by one, my members began to depart due to reasons such as education, marriage, and career opportunities. I have seen various groups come and go, and at the time of writing, I am currently working with new groups as well.

I was not worried about finances because, honestly, how much can young people without income contribute? I am also unconcerned when attendance fluctuates, as we always have a full house during the ASUU strike. The lord placed us in some location where we cannot build exactly like other men sent by the same God to places where four generations attend the congregation God built through them. You might be surprised to learn that I once advised a sister among us to join a different denomination that is larger. My reason was that she could not find an eligible bachelor within our congregation. After conducting my research, I discovered that mere prayers may not suffice. While I was not divinely inspired, my logic guided my decision. She left and met someone she married in the larger denomination, which had more eligible bachelors.

Presently, associate ministers in big denominations lobby to be posted to locations they assume to be better in terms of socioeconomic status. In fact, very few are yielding to the call to start God’s work in remote areas.  Almost every speaker in the Pentecostal circle provides a narrative of how they grew their membership from one number to another. If your experience does not match the current narrative, it may not mean that you are doing anything wrong. Your template is just different, and you’d better build according to the pattern.

To some, this parallel may not fit, but I will illustrate it with Peter and John. While Peter was martyred, all attempts by those who wanted to kill John the beloved failed. History tells us that John the beloved was once thrown into a barrel of boiling oil and did not die. If John the beloved were to speak like many in Pentecostal circles today, his words could be….

 I navigated opposition in ministry because I speak in tongues for 14 hours daily.

Someone who has experienced a Peter die would be at a loss listening to a John providing the tips. All kinds of formulae are being expressed here and there, but let the Holy Spirit show you your own template.