GENERAL SYNOD AND LEADERSHIP FACTOR IN THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA, ANGLICAN COMMUNION: A HISTORICAL REVIEW

Abstract

In the Anglican Communion, the synod has emerged and consequently recognized as one of the most useful instruments for the governance of the Church and even evangelism in some instances. The synod, which is generally defined as a council of a church convened to discuss topics like administration, doctrine and application, is being increasingly employed to debate on issues that affect the modern Church. In many parts of the world, the synod is being influenced by socio-democratic forces, which are usually expressed by the laypeople. Nevertheless, the General Synod of Anglican Communion has in recent years play some crucial roles in shaping the church constitutions, especially regarding the area of theological opinions of various church leaders. In Nigeria, the General Synod of the Anglican Communion has featured multiple presentations regarding a national church constitution. Today, the General Synod of the church is usually conducted from the theological perspective, which justifies the use of current political and social ideas in redefining the church structures. In the quest to involve the entire church community, the parliamentary model is increasingly used in various synods. Although whether such a model is ideal and reliable has always been debatable, the fact remains that its use demonstrates the potential of synod's platform for governance. In other words, in addition to providing some useful information and advice, the synod could possibly be used as an instrument of leadership in the Anglican Communion. However, in the most cases, the Anglican Church of Nigerian has found it extremely difficult to implement and enforce the outcomes or decisions of its General Synod at the diocesan levels of the church. This challenge is largely attributable to the highly autonomous nature of each of the church’s dioceses. Consequently, due to its high autonomy, each of the dioceses tends to be highly reluctant in putting into practice the decisions reached at the General Synod. Thus, this academic research will strive to explore the potential of the synod as an instrument of leadership in the Anglican Communion. It will also look at the various challenges of employing synod as a tool of leadership in Anglican Communion