Church leaders are taking their pastoral responsibilities more seriously following social righteousness workshops during April and May.

The first workshop was for 129 people from 22 churches in COCIN RCC Kabong. Kabong is a suburb in Jos North.

In their feedback, at the end of the day-long workshop, participants said they now realized they had been unfaithful in serving their congregations and in social righteousness.

“They said they had thought it was okay to arrive late for church services and to only attend when they felt like it. Now they are taking their responsibilities seriously,” said international coordinator Tassie Ghata.

The second leaders workshop was for 66 clergy and their wives from 28 churches in COCIN RCC Pankshin, in southern Plateau State , about a three hour drive from Jos.

They were particularly interested in sexual and gender-based violence issues and openly admitted they were not handling these matters well within their congregations.

“They were following the tradition of putting women down, not supporting people who have been abused and not challenging abusers,” said Tassie Ghata. “Our workshop was timely for them and they are now focusing on sexual abuse in their congregations.”

Jos volunteers are now regularly visiting churches in Kabong and Pankshin, both to speak at Sunday services and to support leaders.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for:

• COCIN church leaders in Kabong and Pankshin will continue to serve their congregations in ways that honour God
• Leaders will have the wisdom to meet the pastoral needs of their congregations and also challenge behaviours that are not Godly
• Recruits for the new volunteer team being formed in Pankshin.