ABSTRACT:

The mission of the church is to proclaim to the world the profound mystery of God and especially, His loving care for each human person. Traditionally, the proclamation takes form in word and deed. The existing challenge for each generation of Christians is to discover over and over again throughout the centuries how this proclamation is to be accomplished in the light of contemporary realities of its age. The form or strategy continuously undergoes adaptation while the fundamental substance of belief remains unchanged. John cited in Udezo (2007) states that, “the substance of ancient doctrine of the deposit of faith is one thing but the way in which it is presented is another” (p. 36). This presentation of faith is the evangelical strategies of the church. The evangelical trend of the Awka diocesan synod of the Anglican Communion needs to be understood in the light of contemporary scholarship. This envisaged scholarship could be established through historical account of the evangelical trend in the diocese. The period 1987 – 2011 witnessed some landmark achievements and there is need to reduce ignorance associated with poor articulation of the evangelical trend in Awka diocese. The encouragement needed in the evangelical trend of the Awka diocesan synod of the Anglican Communion seems lacking due to lack of a creative criticism of the evangelical trend of the Awka diocesan synod. The Synodical experience and choice of Synod themes in the Diocese of Awka underscores the emphasis on evangelism in the mission of the Church. In all ramifications, synod sessions provided the Diocese of Awka with fertile opportunities to evangelize, reflect on its mission focuses and strategies, engage in critical self-appraisal, and addressissues in the light of its vision and mission. There is no gain saying the fact that a well informed Synod delegate would be well equipped for evangelism. On the strength of the above fact, the researcher is of the view that Awka Diocesan Synods have been very effective in the evangelistic agenda of the Church, and not only to be seen as a policy making meeting. For evangelism goes beyond vigils, crusades and prayer conventions. Thus, Anikwenwa (2002) characterized evangelism as holistic, unifying and Christ oriented. According to him, holistic evangelism is multi dimensional with spiritual and material aspects of the good news which need to be proclaimed together. No area of life should be left out of the evangelistic endeavour. The repentance and regeneration of the sinner should concern evangelism just as much as the betterment of his living conditions and general welfare. This research adopts the historical method of investigation and the principle means of data collection are oral interviews and the review of existing literatures