Catholics, Serrans in particular, have been urged to bear the missionary mandate of the Church, as they are reminded of the need to be actively involved in promoting the mission of envagilisation by using gifts they have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God. The charge was given by Most Rev. (Dr.) Alfred Adewale Martins, Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, during the 2024 convention and installation of Serran Olusegun Joseph Anjorin as the 6th District Governor (DG) of Serra International, District 130-B Nigeria, held recently at Ss. Michael, Raphael and Gabriel Catholic Church, Satellite Town, Lagos. Archbishop Martins who was ably represented by Very Rev. Msgr. Patrick Obayomi, Chaplain, Serra Club of Lagos, said the people’s response to this clarion call, presupposes the action of giving and going, as he added that some give to mission by going while others go to mission by giving.
On the theme for the convention, “Answering God’s call; embracing the mission”, the Archbishop urged the people to continue to engage themselves with the mission mandate of Jesus Christ, and ensure the process of formation of agents of evangelisation, so that the goal of mission is achieved. For his part, Serran Olusegun Anjorin, the newly installed DG, expressed happiness and gratitude to God, as he shared his vision to move the organisation forward in six key areas, including contributing to Serra International Foundation, education, spirituality, vocation discernment programme, communication, as well as membership growth and retention. On his new and fifth book, “Managing a Serra District your compass to effective leadership”, the DG said he wrote the book to guide and encourage, as well as enrich himself and those that will work with him in the years ahead.
According to Anjorin, “Usually, since I got to Serra, any office I get to, I try to drop a book.For instance, when I was the Charter Secretary of Serra Club of Ipaja, I wrote a book on our patron saint ntitled, Junipero Serra, the apostle of California. That was the first book I wrote. On challenges confronting Serra, he said, he and his team want to get members interested in Serra activities, to have interesting articles and things that add to people’s knowledge, disclosing that they intend to create things that will excite and draw people to the organisation.
He asked Serrans to prepare to work hard, and read about Serra, so it will be very easy to accomplish the task ahead of them. He added that as Serrans they must be ready to submit their talent, treasure and time to move the organisation forward. He added that Catholics need to know that Serra is about the preservation of the Church. He prayed that more people embrace religious life, so that the Church can have more priests and reverend sisters who will uphold the Church so that it can be enduring. Priests present at the event include, Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Aderibigbe, Guest speaker; Very Rev. Fr. Joeben Onyia, Chaplain Serra Club of Ikorodu and Very Rev. Fr. Melvis Mayaki, Chaplain Serra Club of Ikeja.
