SWIC 2025: God Didn’t Call us Christians, Men Called us Christians – Pastor Canny O. Canice
The Senior Pastor of House of His Power Ministry (The Family Church), Lagos, Pastor Canny O. Canice, has said the bedrock and the essence of being a Christian is that we have Christ in us.
Pastor Canice stated this while speaking on the Church’s annually anticipated Spoken Word International Conference (SWIC) scheduled for Wednesday, the 20th August, 2025, at 5 p.m. and ending on Sunday, 24th August, with the theme, “Christ in Me”.
Tracing the history of the conference now referred to as “August is SWIC, SWIC is August”, by Church members, he said, the Holy Spirit inspired annual gathering started 15 years ago at the commencement of the ministry and has become the spiritual rejuvenation every member, friends, and families of the ministry looks forward to in August of every year. This is what gave birth to the slogan, “SWIC is August and August is SWIC”.
According to Pastor Canice, this year’s SWIC theme, Christ in me, like the previous SWIC theme, is captivating, fascinating, and comes with a unique feature of glory. “God has been taking us from one level of glory to another, and Christ in me means I am now a vehicle wherein Christ moves, either when in the kitchen, toilet, shop, or office. Christ is there because He is in me, and I am a vehicle that carries Him. Anywhere I am, there He is, and when Christ is in me, the contents of Christ are seen in me”.
The Senior Pastor, House of His Ministry, Pedro, Shomolu, Lagos.
Speaking further, he said, “In these times we are in, we need Christ in us, the bedrock and the heartbeat of Christianity, because no Christianity without Christ, and you cannot speak as a Christian without Christ. When you talk about Christ, you talk about the bedrock and the essence of being a Christian. But the essence of Christianity is that we have Christ in us, and that’s what we are trying to portray to society and the church world at large. That we should look inwardly, God didn’t call us Christians, men called us Christians”, he added.
There is something we carry as Christians, which is Christ, and that will make us shift our focus from the mundane and situations around us, causing distractions and making us dark-hearted. But the Bible says, Greater is He that is in us, is someone greater in us and the reason we choose Christ in us.
The conference, featuring a ministers’ conference for church ministers, ministry leaders, church workers, and businessmen on Thursday and Friday at 9 a.m., with the salient topical issue, “Fainting, Yes, Pursuing” will deal with life-threatening fainting and depression in today’s ministry. 
“Pastors are daily depressed by many factors and have no one to share or discuss with. People go to them for counselling, prayers, and opinions, even fast for them. Yet pastors usually have no one to talk to or share with, because who would believe that pastors also experience challenges? The purpose of the pastors and church leaders conference is to discuss fainting, yet pursuing in the ministry, and participants will be exposed to why we faint and keep pursuing in the ministry”, Canice said.
Guest ministers expected at the conference that promises the power of Christ in redemption, restoration and recovery, including Dr. Olutoye Moses, Dr. Tunde Elebute, Pastor Ayo Daramola, Prophet Lazarus and Pastor Samuel with an array of gospel artistes for Saturday’s musical concert and Sunday’s grand finale/thanksgiving service led by a foremost gospel songs minister, Dr. Vitus Eze and hosted by the Church choir.
It doesn’t matter whether you join the conference online or on-site; you can join for the benefits of Christ in me and not just as participants, because no one will remain the same after the conference.
The Spoken Word International Conference (SWIC 2025) will be streamed live for friends, followers, and associates in the Netherlands, the UK, the US, and other countries who may not be physically attending the conference to watch and follow the activities.
