Historians and social commentators are virtually unanimous that the “age of Wesley (c. 1675-1830) was a time of transition within English society. [1] Bishop John Adeleke Bamgboye, the John Wesley of our time in the Nigerian context of political and spiritual transition knew the Lord in 1970 when he was a student in the school of Agriculture, Akure (1970-1972) through the instrumentality of Late Brother Oba and Ojeniyi, and Mike Oye (now Very Revd (Dr) Mike Oye). Bishop John Bamgboye hails from Aagba in Boripe Local Government of Osun State of Nigeria. He was born to Chief Joseph Ominiyi Bamgboye and Mrs Marian Bamgboye of Oluode Compound on 7th July 1944. His father was the Jagun of Aagbaland during his lifetime and was fondly referred to as Jagun Awaye.
Bishop Bamgboye became a staunch member of the Scripture Union and was disciplined by its brethren. He also became zealous in the Kingdom’s work to see to the conversion of souls and gave himself to evangelism, particularly rural evangelism. He worked with the Ministry of Agriculture at Iseyin in Oke-Ogun of Oyo State while continually doing the work of an evangelist at Iseyin and its environs. He, alongside some brethren, started a fellowship in Iseyin, which has now morphed into the Christ Eternal Love for All (CELFA) Ministry.
Dr Steve Harper’s description of John Wesley as a ‘theologian of the gaps’ shows the synthesis and synergy Wesley created in his approach to belief and practice. John Wesley was mocked for approaching religion too methodically, and this jibe gave the movement a name: Methodism. Wesley took his ideas out across Britain wherever there was an appetite for Christian revival, preaching in the open, especially the new industrial areas. Around 1738, there was a gap between church and state, especially when the Church of England had largely abandoned direct ministry to the masses, preferring to concentrate on a rather elite church for a generally privileged clientele. According to Harper, Wesley wrote that he ‘consented to be more vile’ when George Whitefield invited him to preach in the open air in Bristol.’
Bishop John Bamgboye, as theologian of the gaps in his sacrificial approach to belief and practice, resigned his appointment with the Ministry of Agriculture at Iseyin when he received his missionary call to Christian Rural Movement, an Agriculture and Health program established by missionaries overseas on behalf of the Methodist Church Nigeria at Kaiama in Kwara State. At the time, he was engaged to his fiancée (Janet Monisola Agboola). He resumed at Kaiama in January 1977, agreeing with his fiancée to get married in April of the same year, after which she would come over to join him. In line with their agreement, they got married on 30th April 1977. At Kaiama, he oversaw agriculture, extension, and training farmers to plough with bulls, while his wife oversaw the clinic, maternity work, and rural work among villagers. They left Kaiama in 1981 after spending five years taking up a paid job at Odo-Oba until God interrupted them again when he received the call into the church ministry from Ogbomoso.
Wesley, a product of the ministerial training of his age, found himself limited to church work primarily within its walls. However, ‘field preaching and other accompanying expressions changed all that for John Wesley, moving him to see that the gospel was for everyone – that by the gospel, one must mean doing all the good you can, by all the means you can, as long as ever you can. Changing to this ministry mode, Wesley incurred the immediate resistance of those who preferred to keep the church separate from society. Wesley and the early Methodists bridged the gap and gave us a heritage for doing the same. Bishop John Bamgboye’s immediate surrender to God’s call inspired him to join the Methodist Church Nigeria ministry in 1984 upon his admission to Immanuel College of Theology, Samonda, Ibadan, for its Diploma in Theology and Religious Studies program (Dip. Th, Dip.Rs). After that, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Religious Studies) from the same institution affiliated with the University of Ibadan in 1990 and a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Ibadan in 1994.
He served the Methodist Church Nigeria as a Priest and Presbyter doing all the goods he can, by all the means he can, as long as ever he can at different times at Folawiyo Memorial Methodist Church, Ikate, Surulere, Lagos (1990-1992); Methodist Cathedral, Tinubu, Lagos (1992- 1993); Immanuel College of Theology, Samonda, Ibadan (1993-1999); Freeman Methodist Cathedral, Ogbe, Abeokuta (1999-2004); Methodist Cathedral, Agbeni, Ibadan (2004-2006); Methodist Cathedral of Unity, Wuse, Abuja (2006-2007). He was elevated to the office of a Bishop as the pioneering Bishop of the Diocese of Osogbo in 2007, a position he held till his retirement from the Methodist Ministry in 2014.
John Wesley (1703-1791), the father of Methodism, made and laid enduring impact during the Christian Revival of the 18th Century, developed, led, and inspired Methodism into a missional movement shaped by missional spirituality worldwide. In his quest to overcome the gap between complexity and simplicity in an age fraught with verbosity and ornateness, shaped by a clear preference for erudite intellectualism (including what was called “speculative latitudinarianism”) and disdain for perceived ‘superficial’ beliefs and practices, called ‘enthusiasm’ in Wesley’s day, Wesley chose to ‘ground early Methodism in ‘practical divinity,’ a blend of substance and spirit – classical and practical – mind and heart. The result was a theology that could hold its own under technical scrutiny, yet one that expressed itself in ‘plain words for plain people.’ Wesley’s approach resonated with Eastern Orthodoxy. Bishop John Bamgboye, described by clergy and lay in the Methodist denomination in Nigeria as the John Wesley of Our Time, left indelible footprints of evangelism and discipleship, spiritual growth, and human and infrastructural development at all the stations where he served. Bold, down-to-earth, passionate and convincing, he is an evangelist to the core and a proficient teacher of the Word. He has attended many national and international conferences and has held many crusades, revival services, and outreach across Christian denominations. He has authored many books on different issues that pertain to Christian living and the church. He is a mentor and father to various ministries and spheres of life. Bishop Bamgboye’s theology and leadership resonate with Wesley’s expression in ‘plain words for plain people.’
The gap between the clergy and laity was exemplified in the Church of England, which was essentially a clergy-led church. From the beginning, early Methodism was a mixture of clergy and laity, with most class leaders being laypeople. Wesley was not spared the heat of criticism from those who believed a movement led by other than clergy was, at best, inferior and, at worst, dangerous. Wesley remained faithful to primitive Christianity and the theology of the priesthood of all believers. Bishop Bamgboye’s ministry remains laity-friendly, but he is not also spared from criticism from those who see the Word of God as foolishness.
Just as Wesley collided with Quietism and the “stillness controversy,” in which adherents advocated a passivity apart from the direct movement of God’s Spirit, Bishop John Bamgboye remained counter-cultural, opposing anything antithetical to the clear revelation of God in scripture. Bishop John Bamgboye exemplified Methodism, which bridges the gap with a dynamic emphasis upon inward and outward holiness—the holiness of heart and life.
In John Wesley’s day, there was very little true ecumenism, just as the Church of England dominated the ecclesiastical structure of England. The Roman Catholic Church was isolated because of its supposed ‘papacy’ and the things that went with it. The Puritans were also not yet free from being viewed as little other than dissenters. Even though England’s religious landscape was dotted with many and various expressions of Christianity, there were far fewer signs of union and cooperation. Just as early Methodism was a movement more than a church, ‘its makeup and theological content can be seen to draw from all the traditions; Bishop John Bamgboye, as a Christian community leader and evangelist, continued to mentor people and congregation from a ‘Kingdom’ perspective than a church.
Like John Wesley, Bishop John Bamgboye, as a ‘conjunctive theologian,’ hold doctrines in a dynamic tension that makes the whole more significant than the sum of its parts: for example, grace and law, sanctification as crisis and process, imparted and imputed righteousness, etc. Beyond a grammatical connector, Bishop John Bamgboye’s theology is a theological strengthener, empowering believers with better faith and practice. Bishop John Bamgboye views theology as ‘life-giving’, an order of salvation rather than a topically oriented system. Sadly, Bishop John Bamgboye, just like John Wesley, is standing in the gap. He lives with comparatively few friends but remains a friend of God. As we celebrate the 80th birthday of Bishop John Bamgboye, we would do well to ask ourselves if we are still theologians of the gaps, celebrating orthodoxy as we seek God’s mercy for spiritual awakening.
Bishop John Bamgboye, upon retirement in 1984, established “Building on the Rock Errand Mission” (BOTREM), a Teaching Ministry. He hosts Monthly Bible Study Meetings at his residence, circulates leaflets containing messages aimed at building men up in their most holy faith, and engages in discipleship and counselling.
He happily married Janet Monisola Bamgboye, a midwife, nurse and partner in life and ministry. The marriage is blessed with God-fearing children and grandchildren.
[1] Jeffery, David Lyle, A Burning and a Shining Light: English Spirituality in the Age of Wesley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987).
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