Church conference tackles issues of leadership

15 July 2016, 12:00AM

Leadership qualities are on top of the agenda at the Assemblies of God’s (A.O.G) 20th World Fellowship conference being held in Samoa this week.

The conference, held every two years, unites church leaders and members from all over the world to discuss developments to improve the work of the church worldwide.

This year, there are delegates from the United States of America, New Zealand, Australia, American Samoa and Samoa.

The conference was opened on Tuesday night.

During an interview with the Superintendent of A.O.G U.S.A, Reverend Tuugasala Fuga, he said the church recognizes the importance of quality leadership to meet the challenges of modern times.

“We have come to an understanding that this is a key issue in the 21st century especially in leading churches,” he said.

“We believe that when the leadership is well equipped, the church will be healthy too.

“So we began about four years ago in teaching and training leaders and the message that was taught this morning is our hope that the pastors who were here will go home and start disseminating that information to their leadership teams.”

Rev. Fuga said this is a very important issue not just for the Assemblies of God but in every other denomination.

Asked about the problems of today and whether the church has a role to play, Rev. Fuga said the church as a body must stand up and be counted.

 “With suicide it is a choice of the individual because it comes from the heart of the person and that is the place where the church is working on,” he said.

“If the person has a good relationship with the family, friends, community and especially with God, then I think the de-exposure or the linen seed to that area of suicide is minimum.

“So the church plays a major role in that regard, especially with young people.

“Not only that but we’ve got to teach the right things. We’ve got to educate the younger generation with appropriate and the right things. 

“We cannot just preach the Bible generally, we have to be specific, we’ve got to be on point and teach in a relevant manner in order to reach out and effectively make any needed change.”

As for the fellowship this week, Rev. Fuga said it is also an opportunity to worship together throughout the week. The conference is held at the Lotopa Harvest Hall. It ends today.

15 July 2016, 12:00AM

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