The Church of Nigeria | |
---|---|
Classification | Christian |
Orientation | Anglican |
Scripture | Holy Bible |
Theology | Anglican doctrine |
Polity | Episcopal |
Primate | Henry Ndukuba |
Associations | Anglican Communion GAFCON Global South |
Full communion | Reformed Episcopal Church Anglican Province of America Anglican Church in North America |
Headquarters | Abuja, Nigeria |
Territory | Nigeria |
Origin | 1842 1857 Expedition on the Niger[1][2][3] |
Members | 18 million |
The Church of Nigeria is the Anglican church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptised membership (not by attendance), after the Church of England. In 2016 it stated that its membership was “over 18 million",[4] out of a total Nigerian population of 190 million. It is "effectively the largest province in the Communion."[5] As measured by active membership, the Church of Nigeria has nearly 2 million active baptised members.[6][7] According to a study published by Cambridge University Press in the Journal of Anglican Studies, there are between 4.94 and 11.74 million Anglicans in Nigeria.[8][9] The Church of Nigeria is the largest Anglican province on the continent of Africa, accounting for 41.7% of Anglicans in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is "probably the first [largest within the Anglican Communion] in terms of active members."[10]
Since 2002 the Church of Nigeria has been organised into 14 ecclesiastical provinces. It has rapidly increased the number of its dioceses and bishops from 91 in 2002 to 161 as at January 2013. The administrative headquarters are located in Abuja. Archbishop Henry Ndukuba became its primate in 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)