THIS SUNDAY, thousands of female congregants at Ireland’s biggest Pentecostal faith organisation will have a rare chance to put their feet up.
Pastor Caroline Oke of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Ireland – which numbers over 10,000 members here – explained that ‘Mothering Sunday’ will see most church duties handled by the male members.
But that doesn’t mean the women members will be idle – far from it.
According to Pastor Caroline, who is married to the RCCG’s national co-ordinator Pastor Tunde Oke, women across parishes will be engaged in initiatives such as fundraising for charity, tidy towns work and visiting nursing homes and children’s hospitals with gifts.
Reminiscing on last year’s ‘Mothering Sunday’ initiatives, Pastor Caroline commented: “We [at the Jesus Centre, RCCG’s Irish headquarters] went out to an elderly home and a women’s refuge. We remembered the ones in the elderly home who are lonely and the ones in the refuge, who are hurt. We took gifts out to them.”
Pastor Caroline, who dislikes grand titles, reluctantly describes herself as co-ordinator of women’s affairs at the RCCG in Ireland. She says she aim is to be “relevant”, rather than a “just a figurehead”, and encourages women everywhere to engage in deep, meaningful prayer, or “more time on their knees”, as she puts it, and refers to Luke 18:1.
Through this comes wisdom and “directions from God” on how to live life and best raise children.
Pastor Caroline also emphasises forgiveness, believing that unforgiveness is a cause of some medical ills. She references Matthew 18: 27 and says: “Our frames are not made to handle too much bitterness.”
The pastor says a key challenge facing female members, who number around 5,000, is childcare.
This Sunday, aside from engaging in charitable initiatives, the mother-of-five hopes to be treated for lunch, and treasures the thinking behind gifts – such as handmade cards that her children have given her on previous Mothering Sundays.
“I value the words they handwrite in the card more than anything,” she says.
Pastor Caroline concludes that mothers are valuable to God, and “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
