ABUJA — The Diocese of Okene, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Kogi State, has directed members to observe a minimum two-week interval between the death of a relative and the burial, saying the measure will give families adequate time to organise befitting burial ceremonies.
The decision was contained in a communiqué issued at the 1st Session of the 6th Synod of the Diocese, held at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Obeiba, Ihima, from August 7 to 9, 2026.
The communiqué was jointly signed by the Bishop and Chairman of the Synod, Dr Emmanuel Onsachi, and the Clerical Synod Secretary, Venerable Godwin Omanayin.
According to the Synod, the two-week waiting period is necessary to enable families to make adequate preparations for the burial of their departed relatives.
The Diocese said, “in view of the need to continue to allow members of the Church to have enough time to prepare for and organize befitting burial programmes to honour their departed parents,” a minimum period of two weeks should be allowed before burial arrangements are concluded.
The Synod also sought to reassure members that keeping the bodies of their departed relatives in mortuaries through embalming would not attract any evil consequences.
The directive effectively discourages the practice of burying deceased parents within a few days or less than two weeks after death, even where the deceased had, while alive, instructed their children not to keep their remains in a morgue for an extended period.
The Diocese said such instructions should be disregarded, insisting that there would be no negative consequences for families that failed to comply with them.
It, however, did not provide an exception for families who may have the financial capacity to organise a burial within one week.
Diocese bans external undertakers
In another burial-related resolution, the Diocese banned the use of externally sourced undertakers during burial programmes in its parishes.
Instead, it directed parishes to engage members of the Boys Brigade for burial-related duties.
The Synod said the measure was intended to prevent the emergence of a parallel body whose activities could conflict with the norms and practices of the Church.
“the Diocese does not want a parallel body to be involved in our burial programmes whose activities may be in conflict with our Church norms,” the communiqué stated.
Church targets economic empowerment
Beyond burial practices, the Synod also adopted measures aimed at improving the economic wellbeing of members and strengthening the financial base of the Diocese.
It resolved that the Church should establish a policy for determining, annually, the areas in which it would invest, while identifying viable investment opportunities in which members could participate.
The Diocese also proposed the provision of soft loans to members for investment purposes, with the aim of improving their economic wellbeing and encouraging greater financial participation within the Church.
