Presbyterian Church of Nigeria

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

The denomination had ten synods, more than 50–90 presbyteries and over 7,000 congregations, and almost
5,000 ministers and 6,806 690 members across the country but as of August 2023, GAEC approved the
inauguration of more synods for the spread of God's word. Increasing the number of synods from 10 to 29
synods .[1][2]

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 and founded the first Presbyterian church at Creek Town on 10 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.[1]

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 in Abia State (an affiliate of Abia State University, Uturu) founded in 1918, and the Essien
Ukpabio Presbyterian Theological College, Itu Akwa Ibom State founded in 1994 (an affiliate of the
University of Calabar).[3]

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 Calabar Cross River State in Southern Nigeria[4] Website of
the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (http://www.pcnonline.ng/)

Principal officers
His Eminence, Ekpenyong N. Akpanika PhD (Prelate and Moderator of the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria)
Rev. Miracle Ajah PhD (Principal Clerk)
Rev. Aniefiok Victor Ekop (Deputy Clerk)
Eld. Edet Effiong (Accountant)

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 and general assembly. The parishes have
one to nine congregations, depending on the size.[2] 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.[5] It cooperates with the
Church of Scotland.[2] Old synods are 10 in number:

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

29 new synods of PCN

Abuja Synod
Abasi Ibom Synod
Akwa Synod
Northern Calabar Synod
Calabar Synod
Arochukwu Synod
Ohafia Synod
East Synod
Abakaliki Synod
Enugu Synod
Anambra Mission Synod
Niger Delta Synod
Edo Delta Mission Synod
North-West Mission Synod
Abuja Synod
Benue Mission Synod
Plateau Mission Synod
North-East Mission Synod
Francophone Mission Synod at Cotonou
Lagos Synod
Eko Synod
Ibadan Mission Synod
Aba Synod
Umuahia Synod
Imo Mission Synod
Upper Cross River South Synod
 Upper Cross River Central Synod
Ogoja Synod
Afikpo Synod
Ohaozara Synod

Theology
Apostles Creed
Athanasian Creed
Nicene Creed
Heidelberg Catechism
Second Helvetic Confession
Westminster Confession of Faith[6]

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.[2] It was founded in the
19th century. It has female ministers for decades.[2] The secretariat is in Aba, Nigeria, while the office of
the prelate and moderator of the General Assembly is in Calabar.[7] The current prelate and moderator of
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is Ekpenyong Nyong Akpanika.

DIPA officers
These are the Department of Information and Public Affairs Officers of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria

Rt. Rev. Nnoke Ibe, PhD (Director of Information and Public Affairs of the Presbyterian
Church of Nigeria)
Rev Chijioke Agbaeze
Rev. Daniel Ikenga Eke (ICT)
Mr. Mandor Benbella Peter (Media)

References
1. "The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria" (https://web.archive.org/web/20170119120330/http://w
ww.presbyterianchurchng.com/DynamicPage.aspx?pageid=21). Archived from the original
(http://www.presbyterianchurchng.com/DynamicPage.aspx?pageid=21) on 2017-01-19.
Retrieved 2013-03-08.
2. "Presbyterian Church of Nigeria" (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/presbyteri
an-church-of-nigeria). Oikoumene.org. January 1961.
3. "The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150924081301/http://w
ww.presbyterianchurchng.com/DynamicPage.aspx?pageid=34). Archived from the original
(http://www.presbyterianchurchng.com/DynamicPage.aspx?pageid=34) on 2015-09-24.
Retrieved 2013-03-09.
4. "域名停靠 " (http://www.presbyterianchurchng.com/contactus.aspx).
Presbyterianchurchng.com. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
 5. "Google" (https://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=Presbyterian+Church+of+Nigeria&start=40&s
a=N&fp=80b4c32689d52fd). Google.com. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
6. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions" (http://www.reformiert-online.net/
adressen/detail.php?id=1430&lg=eng). Reformiert-online.net.
7. "WARC – Information about" (https://web.archive.org/web/20100615060001/http://warc.jalb.
de/warcajsp/church.jsp?news_id=19&navi=9&church=1428). Archived from the original (htt
p://warc.jalb.de/warcajsp/church.jsp?news_id=19&navi=9&church=1428) on 2010-06-15.
Retrieved 2010-04-24.

External links
Website of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (http://www.pcnonline.ng/)
First Abuja Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (http://www.firstabujapresbyterian.org/)
Lagos Presbyterian Church in Lagos, Nigeria (http://www.lagospresbyterianchurch.org/)
The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria Database (http://www.pcnonline.ng.pythonanywhere.co
m/)

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