Nigerian Baptist Convention is a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

, affiliated with the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is an international communion of Baptists, with an estimated 51 million people from 266 member bodies in 134 countries and territories as of 2024. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA accounts f ...

, in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. The office headquarters is in

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the List of Nigerian cities by population, third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano (city), Kano, with a total populatio ...

. Rev. Dr. Israel Adélaní Àkànjí MFA is the president.

History

The Nigerian Baptist Convention has its origins in an American mission of the International Mission Board in 1849 with the appointment of Rev. Thomas Jefferson Bowen as the first missionary to the country. He arrived in

Badagry Badagry, also spelled Badagri, (Gun language, Gun: Gbagli) is a coastal town and Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Po ...

area of the current

Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

on 5 August 1850. The Nigerian Baptist Convention was officially formed in 1914. It has started other Baptist conventions in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

notably in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

(now the Ghana Baptist Convention), and in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, now the ( Baptist Convention of Sierra Leone). According to a census published by the association in 2023, it claimed 14,523 churches and 8,925,000 members.

Medical institutions

The Nigerian Baptist Convention also operates several hospitals and medical training institutions across the country. The Baptist Medical Centre in Ogbomoso, now called Bowen University Teaching Hospital, remains one of the leading hospitals and has been in use as a university

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

by the Bowen University in Iwo, since December 2009. The Nigerian Baptist Convention operates other top flight Baptist medical centres (with Schools of Nursing and Midwifery) located in Eku and Saki; and several other minor Baptist hospitals across Nigeria. Others includes Oliveth Baptist Hospital, Oliveth heights, Oyo, Oyo State.

Schools

The Convention has 15 affiliated primary and secondary schools, gathered in the Directorate of Baptist Mission Schools. It has Bowen University, named in honor of Rev. Thomas Jefferson Bowen, the first American Baptist missionary to Nigeria from the Southern Baptist Convention. Bowen University is located at Iwo in

Osun State Osun (; ), is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states for 84 km and for 78 km respectively, to the north by Kwara State for 73 km, to the south by Ogun State for 84 km and to the wes ...

. 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 A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...

behavior,

social responsibility Social responsibility is an ethical concept in which a person works and cooperates with other people and organizations for the benefit of the community. An organization can demonstrate social responsibility in several ways, for instance, by do ...

and democratic ethos".

Theological institutions

The Nigerian Baptist Convention operates ten

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

training centers for pastors, the largest being the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary founded in 1898 in Ogbomoso, which grants undergraduate, masters’ and doctoral degrees. The theological institutions are: * The Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomoso * Baptist Theological Seminary, Kaduna *Baptist Theological Seminary, Eku *Baptist College of Theology, Lagos *Baptist College of Theology, Oyo *Baptist College of Theology, Owerri *Baptist College of Theology, Benin City *Baptist College of Theology, Igede-Ekiti *Baptist College of Theology, Jos *Baptist Pastors' School, Gombe

References

External links