The rise of the Anglican Adam Preaching Society (AAPS) with its contextualized forms of worship and evangelism within the CON/AC in Isoko and Urhobo Lands around the 1960s240 seemed to meet the recommendation of the CCN and the WCC for the Isoko
234 Ibid., 80. 235 Ibid., 79. 236 Ibid, 80–81.
237 Michael Y. Nabofa, Evolution of the Urhobo Holy Bible and Some Christian Liturgical Books
(Ibadadan: End-Time Publishing House Ltd., 1997), 36, 64.
238 ‘The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council Dedicated to ‘The Immaculate,’’ 2, available from
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/v1.html, Internet, accessed, 8 October 2011.
239 Nabofa, Evolution of the Urhobo Holy Bible, 36–37.
240 S. G. Azuwo Onibere, ‘Adam Cornelius Igbudu: An Assessment of his evangelisation efforts
among the Isoko and Urhobo Peoples of South-Western Nigeria, 1914–1981,’ Asia Journal of Theology, 4 no. 1 (1990): 74–90.
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and the Urhobo. The AAPS, led by Adam Cornelius Igbudu (1914–1981) laid emphasis on miracles and the use of indigenous music to enrich its worship programmes. It is unlikely that AAPS knew about CCN resolutions as Adam C. Igbudu was not in official Anglican leadership. S. G. Azuwo Onibere observed that before the rise of AAPS, the CON/AC liturgy as the Urhobo perceived it, was ‘cold, formal and rigid,’ unexciting and lacking potency,241 but that of AAPS was full of ‘life and dynamism.’242 Consequently, the society’s lively and participatory style of worship brought revival to CON/AC ministries among the Isoko and Urhobo. The CON/AC leaders in Isoko and Urhobo Lands however criticized the group as ‘non-Anglican’243 and its method as ‘unorthodox.’244
These leaders therefore opposed the AAPS until they discovered that Isoko and Urhobo Anglican Church members were more attracted to the AAPS worship style. Such realisation made the Anglican Church leaders give the AAPS the freedom to operate as a society within Isoko and Urhobo Anglicans from 1963 till the present time (2012). The initial opposition to AAPS by the Anglican hierarchy in Isoko and Urhobo Lands, by leaders who were themselves Urhobo and Isoko people constitute a challenge to the position of Erhueh, Riamela and Erivwo about the Euro-American missionaries as major cause of non-contextualization in Africa. Therefore it is inadequate to hold the Euro- American missionaries solely responsible for the non-contextualization of Christian faith in Urhobo Land, as the records here considered indicate that there are contributing factors from the Urhobo church leaders as well.
241 Ibid., 76. 242 Ibid., 78. 243 Ibid., 76. 244 Ibid., 85.
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Nonetheless, within Urhobo Anglican Church, there were clergy and lay leaders who have contributed towards liturgical contextualization. Tracing the development of CON/AC liturgical books in Urhobo Land, Nabofa gave a résumé in May 1979, following the launching of Baibol Ofuafon na (‘The Holy Bible’ in Urhobo) which took place on 29 April 1978.245 Top on the list was the Obeke, ‘the first Urhobo Primer, [containing] stories from both the Old and New Testaments.’246 It was written by Thomas Emedo, an Anglican Church teacher (or agent) from Orogun-Urhobo. The second work was an Urhobo Book of Common Prayer. Compiled before 1920, it was a translation by Emedo from sections like the orders of the morning and evening services, and hymns of the 1662 Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Nabofa stated that this translation did not contain Psalms, or the orders of important services like burial, marriage, baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion.247 The third literature was also a translation of another Urhobo Book of Common Prayer in 1940 by Bishop Agori Iwe (1906–1979).248 This translation contained the Anglican thirty-nine Articles of Faith, the Psalms, seventy-two hymns and essential services, except ordination and consecration.249 Enajero Arawore added to the Urhobo Anglican hymns in 1958, 1978 and 1981.250
The works of Thomas Emedo and Agori Iwe are not readily available to the general Urhobo public; I could not get any copy from the Anglican ministers at the time of this study. However an Urhobo liturgical book first published in 1939 is available at the
245 Nabofa, Evolution of the Urhobo Holy Bible and Some Christian Liturgical Books, republished as
Nabofa, ‘The Urhobo Bible,’ Orita: Ibadan Journal of Religious Studies 26, nos. 1–2 (Ibadan: Oluseyi Press Ltd., 1995): 14–21. Also, Nabofa, ‘Evolution of the Urhobo Bible and Some (Urhobo) Christian Liturgical Books,’ in History of The Urhobo People of Niger Delta, ed. Peter P. Ekeh,216–249: 216–249.
246 Nabofa, Evolution of the Urhobo Holy Bible and Some Christian Liturgical Books, 16–17, 35. 247 Ibid., 17 and 35.
248 Agori-Iwe was the first Urhobo person to be ordained an Anglican priest in 1937 and bishop in
1961.
249 Nabofa, Evolution of the Urhobo Holy Bible and Some Christian Liturgical Books, 36. 250 Ibid., 36–38.
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British Library, London as Ọbẹ r’ẹrhovbo r’ihwo ejobi kugbe ine vbẹhẹrẹ r’Urhobo (‘Urhobo Prayer and Hymn book’).251 This publication contained prayers against ọdjadja r’uwhu ri bẹdẹ (‘suffering in eternal death’/‘torment of death’) for the living;252 for safe r’ivhiẹrohọ r’evrẹnuwhu na, ra ruẹ arhọ ro vb’oba-a (‘passage from death unto eternal life’) for the deceased;253 and uvboroma vb’oma vẹnwẹ (‘peace of the body and the spirit/mind’) that has no end for both the living and the deceased.254 The use of arhọ vb’oba-a (‘eternal life’) instead of erivwi (‘spiritual abode’) distinguishes the Urhobo Christian usage from the non Christian. The translators’ reasons for avoiding the words orivwi255 and erivwi are not immediately clear, but it is likely because erivwi (‘spiritual abode’) points to the land of the dead with strong indication that the spirits of the dead are supernaturally powerful and actively involved with the living and could determine their fate. Contrariwise, the Christian understanding is that though the dead are in a new form of existence and could be a cloud of witness around the living, they do not have power to control the living but rather waiting on God for their own judgement.
The current liturgical book in use among Urhobo Anglicans is the 2007 edition of the Book of Common Prayer by the CON/AC. The two sample programmes of funeral services that took place at an Anglican Church in Sapẹlẹ in 2010, that I examined correspond to the Rites ‘I’ and ‘II’ for unconfirmed and confirmed members respectively in the Book of Common Prayer of the CON/AC. These Anglican funeral liturgies share with those of the Roman Catholics, the feature of petitions for mercy, hope for Paradise,
251 Ọbẹ r’ẹrhovbo r’ihwo ejobi kugbe ine vbẹhẹrẹ r’Urhobo (Urhobo Prayer and Hymn book)
(London: SPCK, 1939, reprinted 1950, reprinted with Revised Hymnal 1954), 67–71.
252 Ibid., 68. 253 Ibid., 69. 254 Ibid., 70.
255 A Dictionary of Urhobo Language has three suggested words for ‘the dead.’ They are
ihwoighwuru, ihwoighweghwu and ihwoerivwin. See Ayemẹnokpẹ E. Osubele, A Dictionary of Urhobo Language (Odogbolu: Doves Publishing Company, 2001, reprinted 2009), 41, 67.
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and peace in the spiritual abode for the deceased. Benediction is also said for the dead.256