SCHOOL OF PREACHING

NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE, UYO

THE JOURNEY SO FAR…

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WHERE WE HAD BEEN (THE GLORIOUS PAST)

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        It all began in December 1979 when Brother O. E. Mkpong (now the President of Nigerian Christian Institute), then one of the Nigerian preachers who attended a meeting held at Etinan in 1978 informed Brother F. F. Carson that he had started a programme of preacher training that was to last for six months. The course met for four days every week at Ikot Akpan Ike in the then Eastern Nsit. The students included some who had previously been trained at the Bible College, Ukpom and some new entrants in the field. Among those who taught without pay were David Anako, A. U. Ituen, E. A. Ufot, E. A. Eshiet and E. J. Akpan, all of blessed memory. Brother Mkpong had to travel all the way from Ete in Ikot Abasi to teach that course within those stipulated days. We are told that Brother Carson quickly assembled Bibles and other materials and sent them to be distributed to the students and teachers at the end of the course in 1980. Both Brother Carson and the Nigerians who attended the course were so pleased with the outcome of the 1979 self-help effort which Brother Mkpong initiated that in 1980, they requested that he should start another course.

        The 1980 course was conducted at Ikot Osom in Etinan. Those who registered for it included professional and business people from the community and some faraway places. To accommodate everybody, the Ikot Osom course was conducted in two shifts (morning shift, 9.00am till 1.00pm and evening shift, 3.00pm to 7.00pm). This was done on Tuesdays through Fridays for six months. We are told that the South-side church of Christ where Brother Carson preached sent two brothers from the United States to witness the programme, they were Brother Marvin Jones of Richmond California and Brother Hubert Brown of Dallas Texas who arrived Nigeria in March, 1980, spent two weeks and carried home impressions of what they saw and the great awakening that had come upon the churches since Brother Jones visited with Brother Carson in 1978.

        In 1981, Brother Carson received a proposal for the establishment of the School of Preaching at Uyo Which Brother Mkpong sent after he had directed the short courses in 1979 and 1980 respectively. Convinced that a programme of preacher training that would last longer than six months was needed to put the churches in Nigeria back on their pre-war track, Brother Carson encouraged Brother Mkpong to go ahead with the proposal, and offered to raise money for the Bible teachers. On January 20, 1982, the School of Preaching was officially opened at the church building in Ikot Udoro Oku, Uyo in the then Cross River State of Nigeria. The school, from the beginning, was aimed at training preachers of the gospel, and teaching other subjects to equip the preachers with adequate knowledge of general educational courses, and vocational studies that would enhance their capability to register and pass public examinations in order to be qualified for employment in the public and private sectors of the economy while preaching the gospel.

        Brother Carson received the report of the opening of the school in March 1982 and in May; he started sending money for the payment of Bible teachers. This was continued regularly as Brother Carson sent support in cash, textbooks and other supplies until 1985 when he was informed by Brother Mkpong of the decision to retire from public employment to work full time with the School of Preaching. Brother Carson went to other supporters who responded by sending additional money to support Brother Mkpong to work full time with the school.

        In 1986, it became necessary for the school to be established on a permanent location; Brother Mkpong acquired the land at Akpa Ube Street, Uyo, surveyed it and obtained necessary government approval, and started assembling money and materials for the commencement of the work. When this progress was told to Brother Carson, he not only gave his blessings but also spent the first really big donation for the commencement of the construction of the school.

        The construction of the three-storeyed school building progressed remarkably but on August 12, 1987, Brother Carson, the main sponsor of the project died. His death did not stop the progress of the school as the Southside Church of Christ in Richmond with Howard Jack Wooling as Minister, undertook to raise the required money to complete the school building and continued the support of Bible teachers. That building was completed and dedicated on December 17, 1988 to the glory of God and the memory of Brother F. F. Carson.