The Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv (Nongo u Kristu u ken Sudan hen tiv, NKST) is a confessional Christian Reformed denomination in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Origin

The church was founded by the

Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa Three churches from the Dutch Reformed Church tradition in South Africa are often mentioned together as "three sister churches". They are the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK), Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK), and Reformed ...

. This mission work was among ethnic Tiv people. Later this work was overtaken by the Christian Reformed Church in North America. In 1957 the church become self-supporting and autonomous, self-propagating denomination. The center of the denomination is in Mkar in Benue Province.In Mkar there's a Theological Seminary to train pastors. The denomination has 200 congregations and 2,000 mission stations and 400,000 members. The theological training of ministers provided in Mkar Theological Seminary in Nigeria. The denomination's Theology is Reformed, it adheres to the

Three Forms of Unity The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism, which reflect the doctrinal concerns of continental Calvinism and are accepted as official statements of doctrine by many Ca ...

. In the Synod in 2012 the church become the Universal Reformed Christian Church. The Church has about 500 primary schools 50 secondary schools and a university. The denomination has a new name, it is called the Universal Reformed Christian Church it was adopted in the Synod meeting in the Northern Nigeria Theological College.

Theology

It recognises the Heidelberg Catechism and the

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...

Interfaith relations

It is a member of the

World Alliance of Reformed Churches The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) was a fellowship of more than 200 churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation, and particularly in the theology of John Calvin. Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland. They are now merged ...

and the

Reformed Ecumenical Council The Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) was an international organization of Calvinism churches. It had 39 member denominations from 25 countries in its membership, and those churches have about 12 million people together. It was founded August 14, 1 ...

. It cooperates with the Christian Reformed Church in North America, which has its seat in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

. The Tiv are an ethnic group, which speaks the

Tiv language Tiv is a Tivoid language spoken in some states in North Central Nigeria, with some speakers in Cameroon. It had over 5 million speakers in 2020. The largest population of Tiv speakers are found in Benue state in Nigeria. The language is also wi ...

, which is a Niger-Congo-language. The denomination has sister church relations with the

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt)) are an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (') from the Reformed ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Christian denominations in Nigeria Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Reformed denominations in Africa 1957 establishments in Nigeria

Origin

Theology

Interfaith relations

See also

References