28-yr-old church crisis ravages CAC

There seems to be no end in sight to the 24-year-old crisis within the Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide as one of the feuding factions refused to recognise the reconciliation committee set up to broker peace. This came as the Supreme Council, one of the factions in the crisis-ridden church, extended an olive branch to its opponent, saying it would sacrifice ‘everything’ for peace to return to the church. The faction, led by Pastor Gabriel Lagunju, said this yesterday at its annual pastors’ conference held at the CAC, Alasepe, Ikire. This faction and the General Executive Council have been at loggerheads over the control of the church. Lagunju said: “We are ready to sacrifice everything and every position. But let us stress that we want seamless unification that would give equal recognition to all.” However, he noted that given the magnitude of the crisis in the church, it would be complete falsehood for the other side to claim that there is no crisis, saying “it is what everybody can see.” As part of efforts it had made to achieve this, the council had inaugurated a 20-member peace committee about three years ago to prepare the ground towards the reunification of the church. He said: “The 20-member peace committee eventually teamed up in May 2013 with a neutral group, the CAC Peace and Reunification Group, composed of pastors, elders and youths from the various factions of the mission, who have the same vision.” While giving report of a peace and unity committee jointly set up by both sides, Pastor Jacob Akinola explained that in the past, the Supreme Council had made several attempts that could bring lasting peace to the mission, but the GEC seemed not prepared for any reconciliation. He said the other faction had shunned the unity prayer conference twice in July and said they would not recognise the reconciliation team.