Vice President of The Apostolic Church Nigeria and Chairman of Lagos and Western/Northern Areas of the church, Pastor Senior Uyeh, speaks with FELIX OLOYEDE about tithe, first fruits and church administration
TAC LAWNA has recently created a lot of areas unlike what we used to know. What necessitated this expansion move?
Well, that was for expansion, to bring the government of the church nearer to the people, to the grassroots. So, that was the reason for the creation of those areas. And when the creation became too many or misunderstood, I stopped. I want those areas to be strengthened, to be self-dependent and self-sufficient, before creating new ones.
One of the tenets of the church is the belief in divine healing. How strongly does the church still hold on to this belief, especially with the advancement of science?
We still believe God can heal every kind of sickness. If we allow Him, if we wait on Him, if we depend on Him, He will heal us. Nevertheless, we are not against using medicine now because of modernisation and civilization.
We have seen many churches building universities, and The Apostolic Church has its own. How do you compare the church-owned universities and government-owned universities?
I would compare them to the faith-based universities. They are part of the doctrine of that church. That is what we do to raise the standard of worship, spirituality, and so on. We give priority to the doctrine of The Apostolic Church and its practices. I learnt that they did the same thing in other churches that have faith-based universities.
Tithe has been an issue of debate among Christians lately. What is your position on this?
My position and the position of the Bible is that Jesus never abrogated tithe payment. He said that they should pay tithe but not leave the weightier part of the law. You talk about paying tithe, and you don’t talk against stealing and other things. So, that was what Jesus was against. He was not against tithe payment. We, in the Apostolic Church, still believe it is a source of our blessings.
That is what the Bible says. Nothing has abrogated tithe in the Bible, right from Genesis to Revelation. So, those who are trying to go against it, well, in the last days, there are lots of spirits speaking to people. I heard of a person who had enriched himself and enriched his ministry with tithe payment. In the end, he is going against it. That is erroneous. We don’t support that.
Recently a pastor said that tithe is too small to run a church. How do you react to this?
Tithe is specified by God Himself. An offering is voluntary, and it will support the tithe. So, giving tithe is not sufficient, according to you. There is no limitation to offering. You can give as much as you wish in offering, which is seed sowing. People are modernising the name.
Seed sowing is a special offering from your mind, from your heart. Of course, tithe is not enough to run the church. So, offerings, special offerings, donations, and so on are needed.
Does The Apostolic Church practise first fruit?
Yes, some good believers do. Let me put it this way, nowadays, believers or Christians overlook it. They overlook it. Even in the village. But some people are still good farmers, who are good believers, who still practise the first fruit in the church for the maintenance of the minister.
Recently, The Apostolic Church pegged its retirement age at 75 for ministerial officers. What informed this decision?
Retirement age has been in the church for a long time. I saw the constitution of the church from Britain. There was a retirement age of 65-68 years. In Nigeria, our fathers put it at 70. But, in LAWNA, they were not practising it very well. The late fathers say you can work until you are tired, weak, or sick. They were practising 70; they were practising 75. We in LAWNA were trying to make it 80. So, with these controversies, we had to have a National Executive Council meeting, where we agreed that the retirement age should be 75. We had to hold another emergency meeting in July for people to vote 75 years or 80 years of retirement age. The 75 won it, and that was why we wanted to implement it.
Some ministers will argue that you, as the LAWNA chairman, are already over 80. Why do you want them to retire at 75?
Yes, the thing is this. I was among the people who voted for 80, thinking that I would win the vote. But when the majority said that 80 years was too much, we had to comply with that. Then God revealed that I should be the last to be 80 on this seat and that I should hand over to a younger person of 65 or 70, to carry on with the work. I am working on it. I will retire very soon. So, it is not a crime. Those people who are saying so may be out of ignorance. If they come to me, I will explain to them.
Is the church planning to revisit the issue of part-time pastors?
The church may come to that. We have not started that again. Pastor S.J. Adegboyega was working with the Nigerian Railway Corporation. But we have not come to that fully. Some in the East are part-time ministers, and we allow them overseas. Most of them are part-time abroad. They work in the secular and come to the church.
So, why are you not allowing that in Nigeria?
We will soon come to that; we have not currently.
The Apostolic Church frowns on officials participating in politics. Don’t you think that deprives them of being involved in how the country is governed?
Of course, that deprives them. Nevertheless, we are God’s children. God is leading us and trying to safeguard the members from sudden death, attacks, problems, etc., associated with politics. Nevertheless, we pray for the government. We pray for those in power.
Some of our members are in politics; some are participating very well. Some were elected or appointed by the government. We don’t deprive them. The problem, sickness, attack, and hypocrisy attached to politics are the reasons we do not allow officials to be involved in active politics. It is to safeguard them.
What are you doing to get more youths involved in the administration of the church, especially with the new retirement age?
That is what I said at the beginning of my administration. God told me that I should raise the youth, the young ones in the church.
At the beginning of this year, over 200 young ones were ordained as pastors. We absorbed or employed 280-something into the ministry. And right now, anybody we are going to promote must be young.
We will not employ anybody who is above 50 years old into the ministry because we want to encourage the young ones, seeing that by 75, they will need to retire. That is what we are trying to do.
Why doesn’t the LAWNA chairman visit other denominations to minister?
It happens on invitation. When they invite us, we attend. If they don’t, we can’t just force ourselves on them. That is the reason. It is not a law. We are brothers in Christ.
Let’s talk about the transfer of pastors. Most times they are transferred any month of the year without consideration to those who have children in school. What are you doing to address this?
God will help us. There is some emergency transfer, which, by the leading of the Holy Spirit or by circumstances, we may not look at what you are talking about. But normally, we now want to transfer during the school holidays.
If you meet the President today, what will you tell him?
I have been at the Aso Rock once. We told him that we were suffering and unhappy. He told us that he was unhappy too. He said what had been destroyed was too enormous for him to fix quickly. He asked us to continue to pray for him.
We told him the masses were suffering, and he said he was aware. If I see the President today, I will remind him that the people are suffering. We cannot confront him or abuse him. He is doing his best.
How do you encourage Nigerians in the face of the current hardship?
I encourage the Nigerian masses to bear with the government and continue to pray. I see a brighter Nigeria coming. The Lord will heal our land, and things will be better than they were before.
