In this article, we'd be seeing a step by step guide on how you can start and grow a church in Nigeria. Nigeria, just like many other African countries are very religious and devoted to serving the God of their religion. In Nigeria, we practice three main religions, Christianity, Islam and the Indigenous religion. While the first two were brought by the whites, the traditional religion has been on since the beginning of time.
With the advent of Christianity and Islam, many of us have decided to 'repent' from following the old religion to the new one.
While the Christians worship in churches, our Muslim brothers worship in Mosques. Unlike Islam that has only three main sects (Sunni, Khawarij and Shī'ah), in Christianity, we have numerous denominations and more are still be created with time.
How to start a church in Nigeria
Starting a church is not just like opening a regular business, it involves more. Here you're dealing with humans, and any slightest scandal will have a negative impact on the ministry.Join me as we go through the things you need to know about starting a church in Nigeria:
• Have the calling
I don't what it's like to receive God's calling to be a pastor, but I've heard several pastors saying something like that. They'll tell you how they received God's conviction and what led to their beginning the church.One reason why this step is very important is that it keeps you moving even when the members aren't coming. Before you even think of opening a ministry or church, make sure you're confident you're not misinterpreting the ministration.
• Go to a Bible school
While this is not compulsory, it is necessary to help you understand the modus operandi of the Christan religion. I've seen many successful pastors that didn't pass through any Bible College, especially those that started their ministries in the 1990s.
Nowadays, Bible Colleges are becoming rampant, in fact, you can get one in almost all Nigerian states. Some of the accredited Bible colleges in Nigeria include; Leadership Christian College and Seminary Kaduna, Abuja Bible College, The Institute of Spiritual Warfare Lagos, Word of Faith Bible Institute, amongst others.
• Register your Church at Corporate Affairs Commission
You must register your church with the Corporate Affairs Commissions (CAC) for it to be recognized by the Nigerian laws. Churches are considered nonprofit organizations under Nigerian laws and are registerable as “Incorporated Trustees” under Part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matter Act, Cap C20 Laws of the Federation 2010.Once you register your church, it becomes a corporate body and gets entitled to buy land, own fixed assets and incur liabilities under its common seal.
• Get a place of worship
It mustn't be a cathedral or mansion-like building, you can start small and grow as the population increases. Most big churches that you hear about today started small. You can commence by renting a small place and with time, the members will (may) start flooding in.
One good thing I like about the church business is that the members will have to do the investments themselves. You only need to do the preaching and your members, if they believe in the ministry, will do the donations.
• Grow your church
Now you're done registering and gotten a place of worship, you need to start working on expanding the church. How do you achieve this? By evangelising and spreading the gospel to the 'unbelievers' through one to one preaching, crusades, outreaches and more.
Preach about Christ everywhere, from your office to the bus stops, markets and even more. People like miracles, so if you have the power to heal the sick, it'll be a plus. You'll see your membership increasing on a regular basis.
You should also define the kind of pastor that you are; prosperity preacher, soul winner, miracle worker, etc. This will help you grow faster, as people will come to you knowing what to achieve after listening to your message.
• Build a permanent place of worship
You should plan on building a permanent place of worship as you advance. No pastor will want to still use a rented space as its headquarters after years of existing. The progress made in the attraction of membership is directly proportional to the speed of construction work. The bigger your members, the faster you'll build your worship centre.
How about raising the funds? You can make use of the tithes and offerings or task the members to support the building project. Everything, from the land to the roofing requires money, so you can decide to explore other means of raising funds.
I've seen pastors write books for the purpose of generating funds. You can write books about God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, leadership, Christ’s teaching, wealth, wisdom, success, love, etc. The funds generated will be channelled into the building project.
• Get a website
Back then in the 1990s, there were no websites and personal computers weren't common, many churches depended on personal evangelism and programs. Now, things have changed, thanks to the internet. Many businesses are now getting online and growing their social media handles.
You can now see pastors having more than 1 million devoted followers online, even those that have never attended their physical worship centres donate to the ministry's growth online.
If you're thinking of starting a church in Nigeria, you should also consider having a website for your church. It'll help you connect with people all over the world and reduce the labour and funds you'd have to invest in organising programs.
If you need a website for your church, school or other businesses, you can contact us for that at a very affordable rate. We'll include all features that will help your church's growth, including a blog section, donate button and online payment system that will help your members give their tithes/offerings online with their ATM cards.
Our websites are secured and we deliver fast too. You will get your website running in less than 72 hours after confirming the deal.
You can call/WhatsApp us with 09072979302 or send us an email with [email protected].
Summary
Thanks for your interest in starting a church, you're one step away from winning more souls to the kingdom. Now, you have to get to work. While growing your church, always use your influence as a pastor to make Nigeria a better place.
Also, consider setting up additional streams of income to avoid depending totally on your members' tithes, offering and donations. I've seen churches running paint factories, pure water companies, schools, bakeries and more.
What more? If I missed anything or you want to contribute to the article, kindly drop us a comment or contact us with the phone number/email above.
Before you lave, also check out our next post on how to start a nursery and primary school in Nigeria.
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