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A study of the organogram of Osun Baptist Conference shows what we call Mission and Missionary Organization on the right hand side which shows that the main objective of the Conference is to propagate evangelism and mission. To carry out this objective, there are three other subsections. The first is the Christian Education Unit. This unit has the Sunday school, Discipleship lifestyle, Family Life, Literacy, House Fellowship and Children Ministry attached to it. The Christian Education Unit has a minister employed by the Conference who oversees the coordination of these programmes in the local Baptist churches in the state. His or her duty includes training churches through their members on how to have quality and solid Sunday School which comes up every Sunday morning originally between 9am and 10am in all Baptist Churches in Nigeria (recently some Baptist churches with two or three services choose a favourable time for the Sunday School). The Sunday school is followed by the general Sunday Morning Worship by the whole congregation between 10am – 12pm.

The Discipleship lifestyle originally comes up between 5pm and 6pm every Sunday evenings in all the local Baptist Churches and is followed by the evening worship service which comes up between 6pm and 7:30pm. While the Sunday morning Sunday School serves to expose the members to the truths of the Bible on various subjects, ranging from salvation to the study of Biblical Characters, the Discipleship lifestyle serves to train members (full members) in the Baptist doctrines and stance on various issues ranging from Baptism, Christian Marriage, politics etc. The Family Life programme is designed by the Convention, which has to reflect in all the Conferences, Associations and local churches, to train members on how ideal family life should be lived by all members of the Baptist Churches.

The House Fellowship otherwise known as the Cell-Group Fellowship is incorporated by the Baptist Convention for all churches that their environment would not permit them to have services in the evening on Sundays. Baptist members that are living within the same environment will come together to form

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a cell-group and the Sunday evening service could be held together in a designated place or on rotational basis in the houses of members.

The Children ministry is an aspect of the organization of the Baptist Convention which is found also in all the Baptist Conferences, Associations and Local Churches. The Baptist Children are taken care of in this ministry and they are made to understand salvation through the denomination and the way of worship and relationship to others. These divisions under the Christian Education Unit have major annual programmes that bring together all the superintendents, coordinators or leaders of each of the units from all the local churches to meet with the Conference minister-in-charge for training, information and assessment.

The minister-in-charge in the Conference is also responsible for going to the Annual Conferences of each of these units. Also, he is responsible for meeting with the Convention Director of Education for new spiritual innovations.

There is also the Evangelism and Mission Minister, who oversees the Evangelism and Mission of the Osun Baptist Conference. This is carried out by the Men Missionary Union (MMU), Women Missionary Union (WMU), Youth, and Baptist Student Fellowship (BSF) of each local church.

a. Men’s Missionary Union

The union or team called the Men‟s Missionary Union consists of two integral parts that are divided by age, experience and degree of spiritual development.

The Royal Ambassadors (R.A.), consists of Baptist boys from the age of ten to the age of twenty-four (10 - 24years). The R.A. is subdivided into three sub-groups namely:

[a] The Junior Royal Ambassadors (age 10 to 13)

[b] The Intermediate Royal Ambassadors, (age 14 – 17) and [c] The Senior Royal Ambassadors (age 18 – 24)

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During the period of their membership as Royal Ambassadors, they undergo a long training session in Missionary activities as ambassadors of Jesus Christ to their age-mates, parents and family members, their co-students, or apprentices. They are also trained on their civil responsibilities. After the ages of twenty four or twenty five, they are graduated to the senior missionary class i.e., the Baptist Men‟s Fellowship.

The Baptist Men‟s Fellowship (B.M.F.) is the second integral part of the Men‟s Missionary Union (M.M.U.). This consists of baptized Baptist men of twenty five (25yrs) and above. The called and trained men (pastors) and the faithful deacons and laymen are members of the Baptist Men‟s Fellowship. The Men‟s Missionary Fellowship fulfills its mission task of stewardship, evangelism and missions.³

b. Women’s Missionary Union

This union also consists of four integral parts that are divided by age, experience and responsibilities.

i. The first part is called the „Sunbeam‟. This is the children department of the Women‟s Missionary Union from birth to nine (9) years. Under the sunbeam division are three sub-divisions namely:

The babies or pre-scholars (from birth -3years) The beginners‟ sunbeam (4 – 6 years)

The primary sunbeam (7 – 9years)

The children at these age levels are believed to be spiritually equipped through learning Bible stories and Bible verses, moral education, holiday camp etc. The truth of the words of God is taught to them and they are assisted to shine as light in their environment. By the age of nine or ten

3 S.O. Olaniyan. On Course For Missions: The Story of Baptist Men of Nigeria. Ibadan. 2002. 72-73

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(9 or 10 years) these children are usually promoted to either the Girls Auxiliary if they are girls or the Royal Ambassadors if they are boys respectively.⁴

2. Girls Auxiliary (G.A.)

This comprises girls between ages ten to sixteen years (10-16). There are seven steps of spiritual activities a G. A. will pass through before she will be promoted to the next group. The Girls Auxiliary is organised into junior and intermediate groups. The Junior G.A. includes girls of ages 10-12 while the intermediate G.A. includes girls of 13-16. This shows that the girls have seven years to complete the seven steps before they graduate to the next group.⁵

3. Lydia Auxiliary (or Lydia Circle)

This group is made up of ladies of age seventeen (17years) until marriage.

The ladies called the Lydia Auxiliary are matured ladies who will be taught to be mission minded as they participate in mission projects. There are three projects on which they are trained namely: the Honour, the Service and the Missionary projects. These will lead to Honour, Service and Missionary Awards. A Lydia who participates in at least two of these projects is eligible to having a Bible presentation service during her wedding. This is a service organised by both the women and the Lydias of a local church to honour a Lydia who faithfully keeps herself pure and takes active part in mission projects.⁶ A day, close to her wedding day

4 E.O. Ayandokun. Ministering Through Church’s Educational Agency Lagos: Centennial Olympics Publications, 2002. 57.

- S. Ademola, Ajayi. Baptist Work in Nigeria (1850 – 2005) A Comprehensive History. Ibadan: Book Wright Publishers. 2010. 143.

5 Girls’ Auxiliary Guide Book published by the Baptist Women‟s Missionary Union of Nigeria.2007. 7.

- S. Ademola, Ajayi. Baptist Work in Nigeria (1850 – 2005) A Comprehensive History. Ibadan: Book Wright Publishers. 2010. 143.

6 The Lydia Auxiliary Guide Book Published by the Baptist Women Missionary Union of Nigeria. 2010. 17.

- S. Ademola, Ajayi. Baptist Work in Nigeria (1850 – 2005) A Comprehensive History. Ibadan: Book Wright Publishers. 2010. 144.

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would be chosen to honour her with Bible service. This will take place in the church.

4. Women‟s Missionary Society (W.M.S.)

This group is the fourth group of the integral part of the Women‟s Missionary Union of the Baptist denomination. This is an organization for married women and any lady that is up to twenty four years who wished to join even if she is yet to marry. The single ladies of age 24 are believed to be matured, and that all discussions in the group would also be helpful to them, both at present and whenever they have a family of their own. The W.M.S. is a major missionary organisation of the Nigerian Baptist convention. This group has existed for over ninety years as an auxiliary to the Nigerian Baptist Convention. Currently, the mission achievements of this group cannot be over-emphasised. They have played notable roles in their churches, Associations, Conferences and the Convention at large.

The W.M.U. of the Nigerian Baptist Convention has built a camp being used regularly for retreats and special programmes and seminars at Ede, in Osun State. It is known as “Camp Young” in honour of a Southern Baptist American Missionary by name – Miss. Young. This group sponsors pastors and missionaries both in Nigeria and abroad to promote missions.⁷ All these arms of Evangelism and Mission organisation carry out their activities through programmes like funding needs on mission fields, visiting mission fields, house to house evangelism, taking care of widows and orphans, meeting the needs of the less-privileged etc. There are also the specialised ministries of the Osun Baptist Conference. One of this is the Young and Useful (YAU) programme conceived by Late Rev. Tayo Chris Orodiji in 1999 for the youths of the Osun Baptist Conference Churches. It is a yearly programme that

7 Ezekiel A. Bamigboye, 150 years of Baptist Work in Ogbomoso. (1855-2005) Ibadan: Flourish Books Limited. 2005. 96.

- S. Ademola, Ajayi. Baptist Work in Nigeria (1850 – 2005) A Comprehensive History. Ibadan: Book Wright Publishers. 2010. 144, 194 – 198.

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brings youths together for three days for education on various subjects. It has helped many young people beyond the Baptist denomination. The success of the programme made it to continue even after the death of the visionary Rev. Tayo Chris Orodiji.

Another one is the Osun Baptist Pro-active Response to H.I.V./AIDS (OBPRHA). This was formed in 2006 to serve as a social service programme of the Baptist Conference within Osun State. The programme has helped in the creation of awareness about AIDS to people of the State and also helped the H.I.V. positive patients to feel loved by people in spite of their condition.

The Obas‟ Fellowship came on board in the Conference in 2007. It is a forum where all Baptist Royal Fathers are enlightened on how they could serve as light to their people and not compromise with fetishism and ritualism. This helps in awakening the Christian Obas spiritually. The last three units of the specialised ministries were borne out as the vision of the Conference Secretary Rev. Dr.

Testimony Timothy Onifade who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Conference.

The Church Relation Unit is the fourth. This unit sees to the growth of each Baptist local Church in the State. Education on how to help the Church grow in each locality is provided by this unit. This part of the organisational structure of the Osun Baptist Conference showcases what takes place in all the local churches in the Baptist denomination.