Brief History of LCCN

The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), which was part of the Lutheran Church of Christ in the Sudan (LCCS) in 1955, was a visionary mission at work to spread Christianity south of the Sahara. The LCCN was founded in 1913 by SUM (Danish branch) when missionaries first started as partners with its headquarters in the city of Numan of the North East Adamawa province. LCCN as an evangelical church continued to expand progressively with its vision of spreading the Gospel through the missionaries (SUMD) with some indigenous that became Christians at that time. In 2009, SUMD changed its name to Mission Afrika.

In 1988 with the inception of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the LCCN entered into a second companion partnership with the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA. Together, the three church bodies formed a partnership for the purpose of strengthening God’s mission in the world. The Minneapolis Area Synod invited Global Health Ministries to be a part of their partnership to further strengthen efforts for providing safe, clean drinking water for all the people of the LCCN and to address medical needs. Hence, the LCCN partnerships now include Mission Afrika (MA-Denmark), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA (MAS), and Global Health Ministries (GHM).

The provision of social services (health and education), which was adopted by the first missionaries, was imperative in evangelism programs, which acted as a catalyst and a strong tool for spreading Christianity, even to this day.

Basically, the church was established for evangelism (witnessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the nation and beyond) and was supported by social services to keep body and soul together for spiritual growth and development without which none can be independent of the other for a complete transformation of human life.

Today, the heartbeat of the LCCN is evangelism, which makes it penetrate to all over the country of Nigeria (except in the southeast and the south) with a total membership somewhere between two and three million. Most of its members are concentrated in the Adamawa State where the headquarters of the church is located at Numan.

LCCN has as its main goal that of promoting the growth of the church in Nigeria through witnessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to assist in rural and urban development work through the provision of social services to the society where LCCN is present.

The provision of education, health care services, rural water resources and agriculture are primary supporting factors of evangelism and the development in the LCCN from its inception by its founders (SUMD, now known as Mission Afrika-MA); hence, the establishment of schools and hospitals in many areas which were taken away by the government in 1971 (hospitals) and 1973 (schools) as a matter of government policy during that time. The church considered the decision as a calculated plan to stop the fast spreading of Christianity in Nigeria through its programs. A blue print on the document from the church requesting the government to return missionary schools and hospitals to their rightful owners has been released early in 2007 for consideration by the government. The church looks forward to seeing the blue print being actualized sooner or later.

The LCCN is home to 2,335 congregations and 525 pastors.

Vision of the LCCN

The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria envisions collaborating with partners, organizations and individuals to effectively serve the needs of our people in their communities; that the growth of the community of believers are enabled and enhanced; and that the poorest of the poor and active poor are economically empowered to serve God better. This will enable the LCCN to restore human dignity and empower the poor in the communities and its members to contribute in the progress of the church and the generality of the populace through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Values of the LCCN

The LCCN’s values are based on the belief that our organization upholds high and worthy principles as the basis for our existence. It is, therefore, paramount that the LCCN has recognized the sovereignty of God in the life of its members and supremacy of His revelation in the Scripture (Bible) that this will serve as the basis for our thinking and action in the LCCN for evangelism and the development to the glory of God.

The LCCN will endeavor to pursue and uphold the following values in its life and ministry as the overall vision and mission of the church.

1. To bring people to the Kingdom of God as the ultimate goal to achieve through evangelism;

2. To pursue with vigor the provision of social services in line with the millennium development goals (MDGs) in the areas of health care services, education, water supply, and agriculture and food security;

3. Total development of members through empowerment programs, capacity building, skills acquisition and participatory rural appraisal (PRA) workshops for positive transformation;

4. Development of effective communication systems with access to internet facilities (create cyber café) and the establishment of a printing press to support capacity building workshops, printing of evangelism materials, school curriculum books, information bulletins and income to support church activities;

5. Implementation of a standard LCCN broadcasting studio “Voice of the Gospel in Nigeria” in Jos, equipped with modern facilities that can stand the test of time;

6. Development a website for up-to-date information of activities and programs;

7. Offer leadership training workshops on stewardship, accountability, and transparency in management of resources at all levels;

8. Train and provide competent personnel in key areas of church programs for effective implementation of set-up goals and objectives in the church;

9. Establishment of sustainable community based cooperative groups/associations in order to benefit from development programs that will ensure food security and society at large. Such programs must be focused on ownership and ensure the availability of resources and the continuity of benefits over time; and

10. Empower our youth and women in various capacities of human and material development for the betterment of society in the future.

Headquarters

Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria

P.O. Box 21

Numan – Adamawa State

Nigeria – WEST AFRICA

Tel: 803-910-0978

Located in the city of Numan in the Adamawa State, the LCCN Headquarters is served by several pastors and a Council of eight persons.