Reverend Nkechi Nwosu ordained as Nigeria's first ever Methodist Church bishop

RIGHT Reverend Nkechi Nwosu has been ordained as the first ever female bishop of the Methodist Church Nigeria after being coronated at a special service today conducted by the Archbishop of Kaduna Reverend Joseph Nnonah.

At a special ceremony which took place at the Christ Methodist Cathedral, Jos, Reverend Nwosu said that women and men needed to join hands to achieve the mandate of God. She added that God is using what has happened in the Methodist Church of Nigeria to tell the whole world that the time to release women to fulfil their destiny has come.

Reverend Nwosu said: “God knew that by creating only Adam, He will not be able to bring his heart’s desire, so He had to make the woman to complement him. So, for the word of God to reach the end of the world, man must put their hands together to serve God, irrespective of gender because God is a spirit.

“He is not a flesh, the flesh we are seeing is just for our comfort, as He said that everybody who believes in Him and is led by the spirit of God is the son of God. So every child of God who is born again and dwell in the Holy Spirit is a son of God and when men or women of God in charge of denominations understand this, I believe we will conquer more for the Lord than what we have done."

On the 2023 general elections, Reverend Nwosu called on Nigerians to listen to the voice of God who knows the best leader for the country at this moment. She said that God gave Nigerians conscience and power and that the power is in the permanent voters card.

His Eminence, Dr Samuel Uche, Prelate Emeritus of the Methodist Church Nigeria, during whose tenure Nwosu was elected bishop, said that God made all humans equal. He added that Jesus Christ elevated the position of women by being born of a woman.

Dr Uche said: “So I believe there is no difference between a man and woman, after all, in Hebrew language, a man is a he man and a woman is she man, so we are all men. And moreover, in Methodist Church, we taught that people who have reached menopause, who are no longer childbearing can hold responsible office in the church because they have the capacity.

“They have the ability, they are meticulous, resourceful and are spiritual. So we decided that we should have in Methodist bishop a woman and I know that some time ago, the president of the British church was a woman from Ireland."

Reverend  Nwosu, who has a PhD in Zoology and is married to is married to Barrister Obi Nwosu, the lay president emeritus of the Diocese of Jos, with whom she had four children, will serve as Bishop of Jos Diocese. At the moment, Nigeria's Catholic Church and the Anglican Church of Nigeria do not have female priests, so the Methodist Church is setting a precedence here.