Guild of Steward

The Guild of Stewards came into existence in St Stephen`s church in 1975. At that time, just as it was in other Churches, the Guild of Stewards was known and called Sides men and Sides women. the men were assigned the responsibility of ushering in people and maintaining orderliness in the church while the women on the other hand were assigned the duty of collecting and counting of money. The dress code for members of the Sides men and Sides women then were as follows:

a)  Male: French suit

b)  Female: Maxi

Remarkably in 1975 the female members appeared to have turned their service into a fashion show. This attitude infuriated the congregation and the church authority and this led the Vicar, Reva F.A. Madudonu to order the suspension of the Sides women. As a result of this suspension, the male members took over the entire duties hitherto performed by the Sides women. However, following series of appeals to the Vicar, the suspension was lifted with a serious warning to the female members to behave and be of good conduct.
During the period 1975 to 1980, membership of the Sides men and Sides women was open to every registered member of the Church irrespective of whether he or she is a Communicant or not, whether wedded in the Church or not. Between 1980 and 1981, the criteria for admitting people to be Side men and Sides women was reviewed following the directive from the Vicar. Thus, to be a Sides man or Sides woman, the prospective member must be a Communicant and if married, must have wedded in the Church. In view of this decision, so many members who did not meet up to the criteria withdrew their membership.

MEMBERSHIP

In 1988 during the inauguration, the name was changed from Sides men and Sides women to Guild of Stewards and it has remained so till date.
After the inauguratiot, the first election for the leadership of the Guild of Stewards was held and Mr. Kenneth Obosi was elected President with Mr.
B.C. Uzo as the Vice President. With the creation of Lagos Mainland Diocese in 2006, a new Diocesan Guild of Stewards was inaugurated in 2007 and the nomenclature at the Parish level changed from President and Vice President to Leader-General and Deputy Leader-General respectively. “Accordingly, Mr., Emmanuel Anunwa who succeeded Mr.
Kenneth Obösi in 2003 became the Leader-General while Mr. George A.
Oshai became the Deputy Leader-General of St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, Igbobi. In the etection held in 2007, Mr. George Oshai succeeded Mr. Anunwa as the Leader General while Mr. Daniel Obiajulu emerged the Deputy Leader-General of the Guild of Stewards. The positions were maintained until 2014 when Mr. Daniel Obiajulu and Mrs Augusta Udemezue emerged as Leader-General and Deputy Leader-General respectively at the eléction held on 1° June, 2014. Presently, to be a member of the Guild of Stewards, any prospective member will apply personally in writing to the Leader-General or the General Secretary of the Guild and such applicant will subsequently undergo an interview. If he or she is eventually successful, a letter of admission is issued to the member. Thereafter, such a member will understudy the processes and procedures for a maximum of six months during which a retreat is organised to assess the members understanding of the workings of the Guild. At the end of this process, the member will formally be admitted by the Vicar at a rededication and admission of new members’ service before such a member is allowed to serve in the Church.