So if you would only like to read the bright side of the Concert and cannot stomach reading the grey areas which took place before or during the concert, it's better you make use of the BACK button immediately.
Moving forward, this opinion piece isn't meant to castigate, but as the title dictates, it is to point out the areas of strengths and weaknesses which the organisers of the Luli Concert can work upon in subsequent editions. Also, it may serve as a guide to organisers of similar events in the Church.
One of the best thing about the Luli Concert is how the organisers made use of the strength of the New Media to redefine and create awareness about the programme.
Blogs and on-line news platforms that won't necessarily promote any events about the Church all did. This is a great plus. I admire the beautiful work done by Omo Cele, Celestial Ovation and many others in ringing it in our minds that we must not miss the Concert.
One of the ugly side of the Concert, is the poor ushering in display. It is very hard to see a very well disciplined pattern of ushering guests in our Church during outdoor events.
This showed itself at the concert too, as audience at the Concert won't allow ushers to direct them to where they should seat. This is an enormous task the organisers must work upon. However, this must be done with love and respect for the audience.
In the area of Music, all the performing act performed excellently well, as audience got the best of Celestian Gospel Music to the fullest.
The coordinated large number of choristers of the Central Choir led by Professor Oluwole Adetiran and the melodious songs sang by them was a beauty to behold.
Not withstanding this, the organisers would need to work on bringing in Musicians who didn't perform in this year's concert to perform next year. It won't be a bad idea either, if we have non Celestian musicians performing at the Luli Concert too.
Also, I'm sure Celestians would like the organisers to introduce at least 2 upcoming musicians in the Church to perform during the concert.
One beautiful addition to the concert is the use of detachable railings as fence in fencing the perimeter of the car park of the National Stadium used for the event. This made the environment secure and discouraged people from wandering away from the allocated perimeter.
Beyond all these, the partisanship of the Luli Concert is surely a minus. We must understand that this Concert has the potential to unite the Church. We must not fail in making use of this opportunity before it's too late.
The organisers must never be afraid and be cowed to think that the programme won't be successful if Ketu doesn't have any input in it.
With the megahit the Concert has in its first year, no leader or faction in the Church can stand against this moving train called the Luli Concert.
The Organisers can begin to author the expected unification story of the Church, by inviting all the faction leaders of the Church as co-host of the event.
In this manner, the Organisers can write their names in gold as one of those who worked in uniting the Church rather than those who contributed in dividing the Church further.
How sweet would it be to see at least all the 14 claimants of the Pastoral Seat, sitting together listening to good Christian Music.
Lastly, I love the beautiful manner the two comperes hosted the event. They did it with the display of elegance and professionalism. However, they lost count of the readers of the 7 Bible Lessons after the 3 reader has read his.
Be that as it may, despite the reservation I have pointed about this year's Luli Concert, I am proud that the Luli Concert occurred and that it's here to stay. God bless the Organisers and our Church.
By Anjuwon Oluwole. He is liberal minded and the Lead Publisher of Celestial Church Blog.
