By Emma Una, Calabar

THE Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, PCN, in collaboration with the Presbyterian Church Ghana ,PCG, has installed the 9th Prelate of the church in Calabar

The event held at the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Duke Town, reputed to be the oldest and first Presbyterian Church in Africa, located in Calabar, Cross River state.

The new Prelate, Dr. Ekpenyong Akpanika is to run the affairs of the church for six years. He is the first Calabar indegene person to occupy the position of Prelate in the church’s one hundred year history

Dr. Akpanika, who emerged as the choice of the General Assembly and Synod of the church was formally installed on Sunday in a ceremony at the Duke Town Presbyterian Church, Calabar to continue from where the immediate past Prelate, Nzie Nzi Eke stopped.

A former Prelate of the church, His Eminence, Professor. Emele Uka in a sermon to mark the installation service charged the newly installed Prelate to be a servant, teacher and prophet to the church and the nation in general.

“You are not just going to be a pastor to preach these good things, but also a prophet. You also have the mandate of God to declare God’s judgement to his people. The installation service, is one that certifies that God has called you.”

The Moderator in charge of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Joseph Mante, who was in Calabar along with a 7-man delegation, congratulated the newly installed Prelate, and sued for collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana in readiness to take over Christian leadership at the global level.

His words, “We are here to learn how to do mission together between PCN and PCG; we came here to help each other reduce our dependency on the western world; the centre of gravity of Christianity has shifted to the southern hemisphere; we therefore need to join efforts together to reposition ourselves to take leadership of Christianity in the second half of this century. According to research, by 2026, 25 per cent of all Christians in the world will be in sub Saharan Africa, then the question is ,are we ready to take up the leadership?”.

“We came here to witness the induction service of the 9th Prelate of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria. It is a very important event to us, that is why we have brought a seven man delegation to Nigeria.

“We are here to deepen our partnerships; We want to be able to do things through collaboration at all levels in our churches. And also at other institutions and organizations such as education in our two sister churches.”

The president of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Most Rev Daniel Okoh congratulated the new PCN Prelate and prayed that God’s kingdom will further expand be expanded through him.