Nigeria

Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria

Who is the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria and what are its ministries?

The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), a member of the Lutheran World Federation, is made up of over 1.7 million members in over 2,400 congregations. One archbishop, six diocesan bishops (one for each diocese), 605 pastors, 800 catechists, and 2386 evangelists compose the core pastoral leadership of the church.

Besides the LWF, the LCCN is a member of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Christian Council of Nigeria, the Fellowship of Churches of Christ in Nigeria, the Joint Christian Ministry in West Africa, and the Lutheran Communion in Western Africa (LUCWA).

The LCCN emphasizes evangelism, social services, education, health ministry, and Christian/Muslim relations. The LCCN trains its own evangelists and sends them into rural communities, where they earn their livelihood as farmers while sharing their faith with their neighbors. Called Aikaku in Hausa, there are 105 evangelists working in Abuja and Taraba, two primary mission fields, and new faith communities are now forming.

The LCCN operates Bronnum Lutheran Seminary, 11 Bible schools and 2 high schools. Bible schools train evangelists and catechists and develop quality leadership for the church. Pastors and church leaders receive their training at Bronnum Lutheran Seminary and at Theological College of Northern Nigeria, an interdenominational seminary near Jos Plateau State.

In the area of health care, the LCCN runs 22 dispensaries, 3 maternity clinics and 2 medical centers in Demsa and Bille.

The LCCN provides leadership in promoting Christian-Muslim dialogue as a way of enabling Christians and Muslims to work together for the common good of all. The LCCN sponsors international conferences for Christian Mutual Relations and also established a center for dialogue in Jos.

How does the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria and the ELCA accompany one another in ministry?

Through the churchwide ELCA Global Mission unit, the ELCA relates to and is in bilateral relationship with over 80 companion churches and institutions. The ELCA Global Mission unit stewards a church-to-church relationship with the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria.

This relationship is deepened and extended by the LCCN’s relationship, through the ELCA Companion Synods program, with the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod.

Churchwide funding through the ELCA Global Mission unit supports key priorities identified by the LCCN. The ELCA and the LCCN are working together in strategic planning and capacity building in leadership development, communication, financial management as well as program ministries that build on the assets and resources of the LCCN. In collaboration with the ELCA Minneapolis Area Synod and Global Health Ministries, the ELCA accompanies the LCCN’s primary health care program as well as the Demsa Clinic with the objective of providing access to quality health care services for the most vulnerable.

Although ELCA Global Mission does not have mission personnel serving within the LCCN, the LCCN seconded the work of one ELCA missionary couple to the Mashiah Foundation, a Christian non-governmental organization whose ministries reach out to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

Nigeria: The context in which the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria serves

The Federal Republic of Nigeria declared its independence from Britain in 1960. Its 140 million residents recognize English as the official language, and also speak Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, and Fulani. Nigeria is comprised of more than 250 ethnic groups. About 50 percent of Nigerians are Muslim, 40 percent are Christian, and 10 percent practice indigenous beliefs.

After many years of military rule, Nigeria elected a civilian president, President Olusegun Obasanjo, in 1999. Internationally, the Nigerian government has been playing a leading role in attempts to bring peace to West Africa. Nigeria has one of Africa’s largest economies, and much of its wealth comes from oil.

In 2006, due to rising oil prices, Nigeria became the first African nation to pay off its debt to the Paris Club of lenders. Inequality between the rich and the poor is widening. Ending corruption and ending strife between multiple ethnic and religious, including Christian and Muslims, groups are keys to developing the economy.