CLERGY REFRESHER CONFERENCE

GENESIS

The Clergy Retreat, (a coming together of the apex leadership of the mainline denominations) after sitting for a number of years to discuss and examine the making of the Clergy who man our pulpits, came to the conviction that it is the pulpits that determine the condition of the people in the pews.  The quality of the man on the pulpit is a key in the pursuit of revival in our various denominations.

We noted that after the initial theological/seminary training, most of our clergy do not have opportunity to return to a learning, refresher situation where further impartation of life and refocusing of vision can take place.

As we prayed and reasoned together in the plenary sessions and workshops, it was agreed among the Bishops, Presidents of Synods and top elders of our various denominations present, that we seek a means of addressing the issue of relevant training and refresher Seminars for serving men of the Clergy.

In responding to this challenge, a proposal was thereafter presented to a consultative panel of eleven representative leaders (listed below) who deliberated for hours adjusting and confirming, to produce a final prototype for a
CLERGY REFRESHER CONFERENCE (CLEREC).

Leadership Training

Program outlay

F A week long intensive Seminar focussing on Refresher Training of men of the Clergy to rekindle them, refire and refocus them to man the pulpits more effectively.

F It will run once a year.

F It will be open (strictly on registration and recommendation of the Heads of Denominations) to men already serving on the pulpit of Denominational Churches.

F It will run from Monday evening and conclude on Monday morning before 10.00am, to enable these men get back to their stations before dark.

F The Conference shall essentially be free: free registration, free lodging and free feeding.  Participants are only requested to provide for their transportation to and fro the venue of the Conference.

F Churches and denominations who send their Clergy for the Conference may, however assist their clergy with transportation where necessary.  We encourage churches to adopt this Refresher Conference as their refresher training exposure for their ministers.

F For space constraint, and to achieve the interdenominational spread desired, we may allocate certain number of spaces to the Denominations and churches of their clergy we can take per year.

 Modus Operandi

1. The Conference will employ the atmosphere of fellowship, prayer, in-depth study, practical interaction and workshop.  Because we hope to achieve depth of spiritual impartation, it shall not be too academic in structure.  There shall, however, be assignments,  Book Reviews, Seminar presentations; Project writing, to call forth genuine initiative from participants. 

2. Each Conference session will have a Thematic focus, which is progressive and spiral, so as to cover at each time some crucial aspects of life and ministry of a Minister.

Women Participation

1. Wives of the Clergy will be given a concessional admission into the Conference.  Women who are in ministry (leaders of women depts etc.) will be admitted upon recommendation of their leaders.

2. The Conference however will not make provisions for toddlers.  We need participants to attend to this Conference without distraction. We shall all stay together in the Hostels as desired.

Theological College Participation

1. The CLERGY Refresher Conference will be open to Lecturers of Theological Institutions to participate. Their graduating class may be considered if the college authority so wishes to release them for that week to have practical exposure unto ministry in the Conference. This may be built into the College curriculum and Calendar as the case may be.

Foreign Participants

1. As it becomes possible in planning, men of the CLERGY from other nations of Africa and Europe may be admitted into the Conference if they can finance their trip to Nigeria.  We shall however trust God to undertake their travel costs and their lodging and feeding while in Nigeria.

2. For poorer nations & church groups, we shall trust God to raise scholarship for them, so we can underwrite or subsidize their cost of travel to the training Conference.  Those who can afford to stay longer may then be poured into our Ministerial Leadership & Refresher training (MILERT).

CLEREC — A PREACHING SEMINAR FOR THE CLERGY