Established Nigerian school has over 6,000 graduates

Located just north of Lagos in Africa’s most populous nation, Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary (NBTS) is an established school with a rich history and over 6,000 graduates since its founding in 1898. Many challenges face Nigeria, including corruption, HIV/AIDS and the steady rise of poverty. NBTS offers courses focusing on these issues, as well as public lectures.

The seminary offers several program choices: Diploma in Church Music; Bachelors and Masters of Church Music, Theology, Religious Education, Christian Studies, Missiology; Postgraduate Diploma in Church Music; and Doctors of Ministry and Philosophy. Lay leaders can take practical courses in youth ministry, Sunday school study and ministerial formation as well.

NBTS graduates are affecting society positively. For example, one is the Chaplain to the President of Nigeria. Another is the Head of the Baptist denomination in Nigeria. Many NBTS graduates pastor several of the largest churches in Nigeria, while others plant churches, including 10 in the United States.

The seminary holds an annual Ministers’ Conference during which ministers interact and brainstorm on the needs and challenges of society and the Church. NBTS also has a short-term training program for high level officials in business and civil service. In addition, the seminary’s Integrated Learning Center caters to all the research aspirations and interests of lecturers from theological institutions in West Africa.

Bachelor of Theology student Raphael Olusola Adegboyega says his studies have helped him discover and be thankful that although God doesn’t need him, God “chooses to use people like me to reach and lead [others] to Christ.” Raphael serves as a student pastor in a local church and says his “experience in the seminary will help me in my future ministry to be fully equipped and willing to [fulfill] my duty faithfully as God’s servant.”