ICRA2019

The 2019 International Conference of RCCG Administrators with the theme “Think Global, Act Local” took place between Monday, 1st April and Wednesday, 3rd April, 2019. A total of 762 Administrative Officers from Regions, Provinces, Departments, Units within Nigeria and foreign countries attended the conference.  Senior Administrators from United Kingdom, North America, Regions and Provinces were also in attendance.

At the Divine Encounter, the General Overseer, Pastor E. A. Adeboye in his message titled “Born To Shine” defined “to shine” as “to succeed and to excel more than others.” Citing Isaac as a case study in Genesis 12:1-3, he pointed out that Isaac was blessed before his birth and was an envy of a nation because of his outstanding success (Genesis 26:12-14). Isaac understood total obedience and surrendered to God. Hence, he shone.

The Assistant General Overseer, Admin & Personnel, Pastor J. F. Odesola, in his welcome address stated that technology is fast replacing many procedures and processes. Therefore, for organizations to remain relevant in the scheme of things, they should be IT compliant and be willing to adopt new technological innovations that would make things easier, better, faster and cheaper. He added that the relevance of technology to the Mission has become evident in the areas of e-remittance, e-statistics, electronic Document Management System (EDMS), RCCG Parish Management System (RPMS) and other applications used in managing ordination.

In his keynote address, the National Overseer, Pastor Obayemi charged participants to constantly strive to improve themselves, to adapt their local space to fit into modern trends, to have a positive mindset and to understand that geographical boundaries no longer exist for defining the limits of operational workplace or influence.

The Assistant General Overseer (Education & Training), Pastor E. A. Odeyemi hinged his presentation on “Organization Sustainability.” He asserted that strategic thinking is necessary for organizations to sustain their existence and proffered seven (7) points through which this can be achieved:

• Designing of simple processes or procedures to handle tasks.
• Continuous push towards the future.
• Building up of the organization’s strength.
• Task orientation to identify the core business of the organization.
• Acknowledging and rewarding excellent staff
• Innovative ideas
• Good networking

The Treasurer, Pastor J. A. Adeyokunnu outlined five (5) points on how to maximize investment opportunities. He further enunciated the various investment opportunities that RCCG administrators can explore towards profitable engagement while still in active service. Such opportunities include investment in stock, real estate, fashion industry, farming and ICT related businesses. He concluded that the best opportunities are investment in God’s kingdom through giving, sincere service unto God, winning of souls, payment of tithe, offerings and first fruits.

The Executive Director, Central Office United Kingdom, Pastor (Mrs.) Modupe Afolabi stated that in order for RCCG Administrators to effectively discharge their duties they must understand and have clarity on these 4 questions: who they are working for, who they are working with, who constitutes the Church and who would benefit from administration. She said RCCG Administrators were employed to proffer solutions to the complexities, breakdown, delays and bottlenecks encountered daily in RCCG. They are solution providers (not problem magnifiers) thus should accept, manage and resolve problems. When confronted with problems, participants were advised to identify the problems, investigate the solution and act intentionally.

The Strategic HR Manager of Price WaterHouse Coopers, Pastor Sola Adewole pointed out that rapid urbanization, demographic shifts, technological breakthroughs, shift in global economic power, climate change and resource scarcity are the five (5) megatrends affecting the world globally. He went further to explain the implications of these megatrends with emphasis on opportunities to be taken advantage of and threats to guard against.

Mr. Leye Adewusi in his presentation titled “Critical Reasoning And Creative Problem-Solving Skills” stated that critical thinking is an invaluable tool for making accurate decisions while creativity is a way of developing talents and abilities. Good decisions require focusing on the most relevant information, asking the right questions and separating reliable facts from false assumptions. He reiterated that effective decision makers are rare individuals who consistently identify and choose the best option among multiple alternatives. To become creative problem solvers, participants were encouraged to change their attitude and make creative problem-solving a habit.

Speaking on “Retiring to Refire,” Mr. David Adetona stressed that having a life after leaving office is one of the greatest challenges workers are faced with throughout their working lives. Many workers become beggarly due to lack of pre-retirement counseling and planning. Therefore, to have a positive retirement experience, RCCG administrators should plan for retirement. He explained the benefits, risks, health related issues associated with retirement and concluded with tips on how to be prepared for retirement.

Mrs. Eyono Fatai-Williams in her paper titled “Leveraging on Diversity” opined that globalization has brought the world to our doorsteps. She viewed diversity as a unique feature peculiar to an individual, country and may be further generalized into ethnicity, tribe, race, language, colour, gender and physical disability. Diversity has a lot of advantages and if properly harnessed, could result in great achievement of goals. The application of veritable and well-analyzed data on diversity for planning purposes will move RCCG to an expected end.

In her presentation on “RCCG ICT and Admin Processes”, Dolapo Akinwande said organizations should be conversant with global (internal and eventual) events because digital revolution is causing disruption of processes, operations and the world of work. Automated and digital solutions have replaced manual, traditional tools and techniques. Although, digitization does not affect every industry equally, yet any organization that does not respond adequately would eventually fold up. Therefore, every organization must evolve. She concluded by explaining some of the digital initiatives of the Mission (e-reporting, memo portal and eDMS), highlighted the reports such as church growth, remittance, CSR, House Fellowship which could be generated and benefits of digitization.

The staff of RCCG ICT department made presentations on Parish Management Administrative System (PMAS) and proffered solutions to enquiries from participants on e-reporting, memo portal and eDMS. A/P Efik Aniekan enlightened participants on the electronic ordination process with emphasis on uploading and approval of ordinands at the provincial level.

Pastor Stephen Ola Jagun, Principal Partner, Jagun Associates informed participants that facility management is a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology (IFMA). He highlighted ten (10) effective traits of a facility manager such as business orientation, technical competence, communication skills, good customer service and cost consciousness. He emphasized the importance of space management for optimum results which will reduce running cost and increase revenue of the Mission.

Dr. Maymunah Kadiri of Pinnacle Medical Services Limited in her presentation titled “Mental Health versus Mental Illness” posited that good health is a vital aspect of life. Hence, the need for regular medical check-up. Mental health and mental illness are two aspects of human health issues. There is a possibility to look healthy on the outside but sick on the inside. Mental illness is often caused by depression, economic hardship, stress, rape to mention a few. Some of the remedies to combat depression are adequate rest and regular check-up.

The President and Council Chairman of Nigerian Institute of Management, Prof. Olukunle Iyanda in his paper titled “Glocalization” asserted that thinking global is bringing to bear within our locality the world’s best practice. That is, running the church with global acceptable standards. He formulated possible assumptions believed to have increased the growth rate of a church namely: flexible style of worship, simple church administration, responsive church leadership to the needy, effective harmonization of worshippers, deployment of social media and the undiluted word of God for transformation and healing.

During the induction ceremony of fifty-six (56) RCCG Administrators into the Nigerian Institute of Management, Prof. Iyanda commended the church authority for the initiative to allow its administrators to undergo the programme which culminated in the membership induction ceremony. He said by this development, the authorities of RCCG have demonstrated their commitment to capacity building with a view to maintaining the culture of management professionalism amongst its administrators. The NIM council chair further said the institute believes that by partnering with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, the church will use its spread, moral authority and spiritual influence to help in the institute’s fight against selfishness, greed, corrupt practices and the likes. He submitted by admonishing the inductees to always put service above self, engage in continuous self-development, develop and promote team spirit, expose corrupt practices, and be efficient, ethical and loyal, when confronted with situations in their day-to-day work.

The induction ceremony also had in attendance the institute’s Registrar, Mr. Anthony Fadaka; the Director, Capacity Building, Mr. Jude Iheanacho; the Director, Membership Services, Mr. Folarin Abayomi; the Head, Corporate Affairs and Management Services, Mr. Emmanuel Emeasoba; the Head, Management Education and Control, Mrs. Kemi Parker; and the Senior Manager, Learning and Development, Mr. Jide Oshin.

The registrars of Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) and Nigerian Institute of Training and Development (NITAD) were also present to offer their services to participants.

A 3-hour vigil of intercessory prayers for RCCG Administrators and the leadership of RCCG was one of the highlights of the conference. Other featured activities of the conference were sports and games competition in football, table tennis, chess, scrabble for male and female as well as free medical and dental tests.

During the three-day programme, provision was made for food, accommodation and transportation to and from the venue of the conference.

The Conference rounded off with a gala which was attended by the General Overseer, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, the National Overseer, Pastor J. O. Obayemi, the Assistant General Overseer in charge of Administration and Personnel, Pastor J. F. Odesola and other distinguished senior pastors in the Mission.