Presbyterian Church of Nigeria

The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is a Presbyterian church in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and subscribes to the Westminster Confession of Faith.

The denomination has nine synods, more than 50 presbyteries and over 2,000 congregations, and almost 7,000 ministers and 3,806 690 members across the country.[1][2]

History

The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria was founded by United Presbyterian Church of Scotland missionaries led by the Rev. Hope Masterson Waddell. He arrived in Calabar and founded the first Presbyterian church in 1846. From Calabar the church begun to grow. In 1858 the Presbytery of Biafra was formed. The Synod of Biafra formed in 1921. The church developed rapidly, when the Presbyterian Church of Biafra was established, with the Synod as the highest court. The church become independent. The Presbyterian Church of Biafra become the Presbyterian Church in East Nigeria in 1952. On 16 June 1960 the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria was born. In 1987 the General Assembly was constituted with two Synods.[3]

The Presbyterian Church in Nigeria began to establish a seminary in 1993, which became the Hope Waddell University. The University is located in Okagwe Ohafia in Abia State. Its motto is "Excellence, Integrity, and Service". The church runs two degree awarding theological institutions, the Hugh Goldie Lay Theological Training Institution(founded in 1918, and the Assien Ukpabio Presbyterian Theological College, founded in 1994.[4]

The headquarters of the church is in Ogbor Hill in Abia State in Southeast Nigeria.[5]

Structure and missions

The church has outreaches across the entire country. It has a Mission Presbytery in the Republics of Benin and Togo. The church structure are the session, presbytery, Synod, General Assembly. The parishes have one to nine congregations, depending on the size.[6] The congregations are ruled by elders an deacons. Several churches belong to a regional presbytery. Presbyteries belong to a bigger body the Synod. The General Assembly is the Supreme Court of the Church. It is the result of a Scottish Mission.[7] It cooperates with the Church of Scotland.[8] Synods are:

Theology

Interchurch organisations

It is a member of the World Council of Churches, the All Africa Conference of Churches, the Christian Council of Nigeria, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the ARCA and the Reformed Ecumenical Council and the Reformed Ecumenial Council of Nigeria as of 2006.[11] It has been founded in the 19th century. It has female ministers for decades.[12] Its seat is in or near Aba, Nigeria.[13] The Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is The Most Rev. Prof. Emele Mba Uka.[14]

References

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