The second annual dinner for heads of African-led churches in the Republic of Ireland took place on Sunday 5 June at the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s (RCCG) Jesus Centre in Dublin.
The dinner, which was attended by several Pentecostal and evangelical pastors, offered all in attendance “the opportunity to break culinary bread together and also to fellowship with one another,” said RCCG’s national pastor Tunde Oke, who initiated the event.
Pastor Oke told Metro Éireann that he hoped the initiative would also strengthen them in their quest to “just help – help each other to become better and to keep an eye on each other.”
He added that the annual dinner would also help them to “break out from their shells” and realise that there is more to life.
According to Pastor Oke, there is a lot of untapped potential in heads of African-led churches and their organisations.
“We have not achieved as much as we should. We’re not as influential as we should. Irish people still see us as African churches for Africans. We need to break that barrier, ” he said.
Breaking down that barrier means attracting the indigenous population to worship regularly in African-led churches, as is the case in many parts of Europe and America. To this end, Pastor Oke said pastors need to make sure their services are held in English.
“This is a country where English is spoken. We all should use English in our church services.”
Pastor Oke added that African church leaders also need to take their services seriously so as to “protect their integrity”.
“If you say service starts at 10am, it should be 10am and not 10.30... If you say service would last two hours, it should be exactly that.”
When asked what Irish people stand to gain by embracing African-led Pentecostal and evangelical churches, the pastor said: “Africans... understand spiritual things better and would bring that background into Christianity.
“A lot of things out there are spiritual... most people don’t understand it but [rather] think it is life. We understand the power of the Holy Spirit and spirituality more,” he added.
