Nigerian Baptist Convention

Nigerian Baptist Convention
Classification Evangelicalism
Theology Baptism
President Rev. Dr. Samson Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle
Headquarters Ibadan, Nigeria
Origin 1914
Congregations 13,000
Members 7,000,000
Official website nigerianbaptist.org

Nigerian Baptist Convention is a Baptist Christian denomination, affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance, in Nigeria. Rev. Dr. Samson Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle is the president. The headquarters is in Ibadan, Nigeria.

History

The Nigerian Baptist Convention started in 1850 as a foreign missionary project of the Southern Baptist Convention of the United States of America. [1] The Nigerian Baptist Convention was officially formed in 1914. [2] It has started other Baptist conventions in West Africa notably in Ghana (now the Baptist Convention of Ghana), and in Sierra Leone, now the (Baptist Convention of Sierra Leone). In 2016, it has 13,000 churches and 7,000,000 members. [3]

Theological Institutions

The Nigerian Baptist Convention operates nine theological training centers for pastors, the largest being the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary founded in 1898 in Ogbomoso, which grants undergraduate, masters’ and doctoral degrees.[4] In the 1950s, a survey of African seminaries by Bishop Stephen Neill (for the Theological Education Fund) ranked the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary as one of the best seminaries in Africa.

Medical Institutions

The Nigerian Baptist Convention also operates several hospitals and medical training institutions across the country. [5] The Baptist Medical Centre in Ogbomoso remains one of the leading hospitals and is to be used as a university teaching hospital by the Bowen University in Iwo. The Nigerian Baptist Convention operates other top flight Baptist medical centres (with Schools of Nursing and Midwivery) located in Eku and Saki; and several other minor Baptist hospitals across Nigeria.

Educational institutions

The Nigerian Baptist Convention has founded and operated thousands of primary and secondary schools most of which were taken during military dictatorships and operated as public institutions. The Nigerian Baptist Convention now operates Bowen University, named in honor of Rev. Thomas Jefferson Bowen, the first American Baptist missionary from the Southern Baptist Convention. [6] Bowen University is located at Iwo in Osun State, and is housed in the old 1,300 acre (5 km²) campus of the Baptist College, a teacher-training institution on a beautiful hill just outside the city. Bowen University opened in 2002 as a residential institution with 500 students with a current enrollment of about 3,000 students, and a target capacity of at least 5,500 students. The idea of a Nigerian Baptist university was conceived in 1938, and endorsed in 1957 by the Nigerian Baptist Convention. Bowen University is “conceived as a centre of learning and research of distinction, combining academic excellence with love of humanity, borne out of a God-fearing attitude, in accordance with the Baptist tradition of ethical behavior, social responsibility and democratic ethos”.

References

  1. ↑ Chima Jacob Korieh, G. Ugo Nwokeji, Religion, History, and Politics in Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Ogbu U. Kalu, University Press of America, USA, 2005, p. 96
  2. ↑ Femi Adelegan, Nigeria's Leading Lights of the Gospel: Revolutionaries in Worldwide Christianity, WestBow Press, USA, 2013, p. 10
  3. ↑ Baptist World Alliance, Statistics, bwanet.org, USA, Retrieved May 9, 2018
  4. ↑ Toyin Falola, Ann Genova, Matthew M. Heaton, Historical Dictionary of Nigeria, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2018, p. 71
  5. ↑ I. A. Adedoyin, A Short History of the Nigerian Baptist: 1850-1978, Nigerian Baptist Bookstore, USA, 1998, p. 57
  6. ↑ Stanley D. Brunn, The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics, Springer, USA, 2015, p. 959
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