Welfare
Brief Overview
The Welfare Department was established in the mid-1980s. The department was to take charge of the welfare needs of widows, the less privileged, and orphans in the Church. And this is achieved through voluntary donations from the Church with huge support from the Board of Elders.
The group is assigned to take care of first-timers to the Church during the regular Sunday services and the One Hour with God programme for easy follow-up. Additionally, the department is responsible for the occasional care of the widows and needy. This is achieved through voluntary donations from the Church with huge support from the Board of Elders. The department also raises funds to economically empower the less privileged members.
The immediate past Chairman of the Department is Elder Segun Olatunji. The department is currently headed by Elder Sefunmi Adewumi.
Specific Functions of the Department
Weekly Activities: The department is the first port of call for all newcomers to the Church. They are received and necessary information about the Church is disseminated to them during the Details of the Church’s weekly, monthly, and yearly programmes are elucidated to the first-timers in the Church. They are also informed about baptismal classes and other initiatives. As part of the welcome ceremonies, the department presents, on behalf of the Church, a gift token, which is in a specially customized Church bag. The bag contains:
- Jotter
- Gospel Flame Magazine
- CD recording of some church programs
- Biro
- Biscuit
- Bottled Water
- Monthly Activities: Monthly Activities: The department pays scheduled monthly visits to old and feeble people, aged 70 years and above. These visits are conducted in collaboration with the Evangelical Department to ensure sustained follow-ups. The department also reaches out to economically vulnerable members of the Church by providing immediate succour to alleviate hunger. Their faith is strengthened through receiving raw food items, which helps meet their immediate needs. In addition to the food items, they sometimes receive token cash gifts. Similarly, the department engages in hospital evangelism by visiting sick and hospitalized members and others in hospitals like Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH),
and the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan among others. Gifts in cash and other material items are usually given to such needy people in the hospitals visited.
- Annual Activities:
1. One of the department’s structured outreach programmes is a visitation initiative for students from indigent families in tertiary institutions.”
2. During the visits, the Church seeks to understand the spiritual, financial, psychological (emotional) and academic challenges they may be facing.
It is also the usual practice during the Church Anniversary/Festive periods for the department to reach out to the needy with cash/gift items.
- Empowerment Schemes: The Welfare Department is also responsible for identifying the economic and financial challenges within the Church. The affected members are then presented with items that would help alleviate their dwindling economic fortunes. These items include mini electricity-generating sets, sewing machines, grinding machines, deep freezers and a host of other appliances. The current economic challenges have also affected the Welfare Department’s efforts in sustaining this empowerment scheme
5. Loan Facility: The department used to give interest-free loan facilities ranging from N20,000 to N100,000 to the Church members. Due to the mounting defaulting profiles, this scheme has been abolished because it was not sustainable.
- Group Membership: Another huge responsibility of the Welfare Department is the role of enrolment of all bonafide and qualifying Church members into the Male Groups (Christ Apostolic Church Men Association – CACMA) and the Female Groups (Good Women Association).The department receives new members during their first-time worship. The department introduces new members to the Church’s activities and values. They are encouraged to attend the new members’ class and the baptismal class in the event they have not been baptised by immersion. Such members are subsequently placed into groups following the established protocols. The department works with group leaders to place new members in groups, promoting more effective and sustainable Church growth*