The Assemblies of God Church Nigeria has said that it will introduce entrepreneurial studies in the curriculum for the training of pastors in its 10 seminaries across the country.
The newly appointed Director of Education in the church, Dr. Godswill Israel, said this when he made his first working visit to one of the church’s pastoral schools, the National Advanced School of Theology, Ewu (NAST) Edo State, according to a statement signed by the Registrar of NAST, Rev. Rufus Agboola.
Israel said the introduction of the new programme was in keeping with modern trends to equip pastors not only with theological knowledge but also with practical knowledge for fitting in into the emerging knowledge economy.
He said he had also advocated that Nigeria should equip its university graduates with necessary skills in modern economies rather than graduate students from universities without skills to help them adapt outside the school environment.
He said, “When I read physics, we met an embarrassing situation. A fellow student and I went to the house of one of our physics teachers. The lecturer had a radio and liked listening to news. The radio was bad and he said, the problem was with the IC but he could not fix it. He invited roadside radio repairer and three times, he told the boy that he should check the IC. At the third time, the boy retorted, ‘If you know the problem, why did you invite me?’ That was embarrassing to us.”
President of NAST, Dr Henry Uwalaka, said the purpose of the entrepreneurial training was not to distract prospective pastors from their calling but to help them to fulfill their ministry.
“We want to properly equip you so that when you graduate from here, you can stand on your two legs whether the district is able to post you to a church or not. If the district cannot post you, you can plant a church. You can stand on your two legs without depending on the district or depending on the section or the general council,” Uwalaka said.
