The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church in the

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 ...

and subscribes to 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" ...

. The denomination has ten synods, more than 50 presbyteries and over 4,000 congregations, and almost 8,000 ministers and 5,806 690 members across the country.

History

The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria was founded by United Presbyterian Church of Scotland missionaries led by the Rev. Hope Masterson Waddell on the invitation of King Eyo Honesty II and King Eyamba V. The missionaries arrived in

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers and c ...

and founded the first

church at Creek Town on 10th April 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 became 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. The Presbyterian Church in Nigeria began to establish a university in 1993, which was later named Hope Waddell University. Though the operational license has been secured, The university located in Okigwe Ohafia in Abia State is yet to take off. Its motto is "Excellence, Integrity, and Service". The church also runs two degree awarding theological institutions, the Hugh Goldie Lay Theological Training Institution

Arochukwu Arochukwu Local Government Area, sometimes referred to as Arochuku or Aro Oke-Igbo, is the third largest local government area in Abia State (after Aba and Umuahia) in southeastern Nigeria and homeland of the Igbo subgroup, Aro people. It is ...

in Abia State founded in 1918, and the Essien Ukpabio Presbyterian Theological College, Itu

Akwa Ibom State Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The state takes its name from the Qua Iboe ...

founded in 1994 (an affiliate of the University of Calabar). The church secretariat is in Ogbor Hill in Abia State in Southeast Nigeria. While the treasury and prelate's office is in Hope Waddell Training Institution

Cross River State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint ...

in Southern Nigeria

Structure and missions

The church has outreaches across the entire country. It has a Mission Presbytery in the Republics of

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

. The church structure are the Session, Presbytery, Synod, General Assembly. The parishes have one to nine congregations, depending on the size. The congregations are ruled by elders. 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. It cooperates with the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

. Synods are: *Synod of Akwa *Synod of Calabar *Synod of The East *Synod of East Central *Synod of Mid East *Synod of Niger Delta *Synod of the North *Synod of South Central *Synod of Upper Cross River *Synod of The West

Theology

* Apostles Creed * Athanasian Creed * Nicene Creed * Heidelberg Catechism *

Second Helvetic Confession The Helvetic Confessions are two documents expressing the common belief of the Calvinist churches of Switzerland. History The First Helvetic Confession ( la, Confessio Helvetica prior), known also as the Second Confession of Basel, was drawn up in ...

Interchurch organisations

It is a member of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

, the

All Africa Conference of Churches All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC, or CETA) is an ecumenical fellowship that represents more than 200 million African Christians in 204 national churches and regional Christian councils in 43 African Countries. AACC's head office is in ...

, the Christian Council of Nigeria, the

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

, the ARCA 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 ...

and the Reformed Ecumenial Council of Nigeria as of 2006. It has been founded in the 19th century. It has female ministers for decades. The secretariat is in

Aba, Nigeria Aba is a city in the southeast of Nigeria and the commercial center of Abia State. Upon the creation of Abia state in 1991, Aba was divided into two local government areas namely; Aba South and Aba North. Aba south is the main city centre and ...

while the office of the Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly is in

. The current Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is His Eminence Most Rev. Ekpenyong Nyong Akpanika (PhD).

References

External links

Website of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria

Lagos Presbyterian Church in Lagos, Nigeria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Presbyterian Church Of Nigeria Presbyterianism in Nigeria Presbyterian denominations in Africa Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Members of the World Council of Churches All Africa Conference of Churches