CASON Confab Urges Focus On Members’ Talent Development As National Booster
From left, CASON Vice President, Pastor Steve Akoni; Founder/CEO Gemstone Group, Mr. Fela Durotoye; Managing Director FSDH Merchant Bank, Dr. (Mrs) Bukola Smith; Former President, Lagos State Baptist Conference, Pastor (Dr.) Odunayo Oke; and CASON President, Pastor Seyi Oladimeji at the 2025 CASON Conference held in Lagos recently.
Corporate professionals and Christian leaders have identified and amplified the need for religious organisations, especially churches, to focus on developing talents among their followers, stating that this would also significantly help address the dearth of commercially valuable skills in the country.
The call was made on Monday, September 22, at the 12th annual conference of the Church Administrators Society of Nigeria [CASON] held in Lagos, tagged “Talent Development and Management in Church Leadership.” Fela Durotoye, Founder/CEO Gemstone Group; Dr. Bukola Smith, Managing Director FSDH Merchant Bank; Pastor (Dr.) Odunayo Oke of the Lagos State Baptist Conference; and CASON President, Pastor Seyi Oladimeji were united in their convictions that performance-driven workforces were vital to church growth as well as national development.
Describing the role of church administrators with the allegory of a club sandwich, Mr. Durotoye said, “They are like the ham, cheese, chicken or avocado positioned between the bottom slice of bread, which is the congregation, and the top slice, which is the head pastor. He must be equipped to manage worshippers’ aspirations as well as the leader’s targets and expectations.”
On the question of whether or not musicians in a church should be paid, both Smith and Durotoye agreed that the church must invest significantly in them as its human capital. While Smith emphasized that the matter of remuneration is discretionary, Durotoye urged that what works best is for churches to train and invest resources in such talents till they become their best and are then able to live off their skills in the larger society. “That way, they would be willing to serve the lord in the church for next to nothing” he said.
Pastor Oke advised that as much as possible, every gifted and highly talented person should do the best they can to make their church leaders comfortable with the innovations and rapid changes they may be inspired to bring to church, “Otherwise, you would be shooting yourself in the foot and your ideas may never be implemented.”
Oladimeji said, “At CASON, our annual conferences have been a strong prophetic voice for the body of Christ. Our vision is to professionalize church administration and have every church administrator become a certified and registered member of CASON. We train leaders how to run their church well, and not run it down.”
CASON currently runs an Executive Diploma programme in Church Administration in conjunction with Babcock University, and by January 2026, they will start MBA in Church Administration.
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