About The Bishops/Clergy Registration Exercise

The task of registering all Bishops and Clergy of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) was assigned to the Bishop Theologian, Rt. Rev. Prof. Dapo F. Asaju, by the Archbishop, Primate and Metropolitan of the Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Dr. Nicholas Okoh, LLD. DD, Fss. The House of Bishops and the General Synod were duly briefed about this exercise.
The rationale for the exercise is the authentic identification of Bishops and Clergy of the Church of Nigeria taking note of their relevant records and for quality control. In secular organizations such as civil, military, and educational institutions, the use of identification numbers for staff or students is common.

The Bishop/Clergy identification number will capture codes for their Province, Diocese, Theological College, place and year of ordination,present status, and personal number. For an example, a priest of Kafanchan Diocese in the Province of Abuja ; who trained at St. Paul's Seminary Awka and was ordained in 1980 would have the following entry- Province of Abuja (13); Diocese of Kafanchan (02); St. Paul's Awka (2); Ordination year (80); Personal number (15). Registration Number will be (13-02-2-80-15). This will reflect in the Identification card and in the records of our Church.

GUIDELINES ON HOW TO REGISTER

1. Bishops shall take charge of the registration of themselves and their clergy in each Diocese while Rectors of Theological Colleges and Seminaries shall take charge of the registration of their ordained clergy in the respective institutions. The task of coordinating the registration exercise can be delegated to an appointed but competent officer.

2. All Bishops and Clergy are to visit this website www.bishoptheologian-anglican.org.ng and electronically enter their particulars. The system will automatically generate the registration number for each person but shall leave the personal number open to be determined by each Diocesan or Rector.

I advise that the list of the Clergy in each Diocese be used by the Bishop to allocate personal numbers which should be published among the Clergy or staff. When each Clergy knows his personal number, they can then fill it online. This will enable the full registration number to be captured.

3. When the Bishop Theologian collates all entries, he shall send back the comprehensive register to all Bishops for verification and confirmation. When this is completed, it shall be submitted to the Primate of the Church of Nigeria for due processing and approval.

4. In view of this exercise, a deadline of January 15th, 2018 has been set. The exercise should be completed before the next Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria scheduled for February 2018.

Registration Form Links

Bishops/Clergy ID Code Format

The format used is as follows
A.

Each province has been coded 1-14 (according to the list in the Church of Nigeria Year Book)

B.

Each diocese within each province has been numbered (e.g. Province of Lagos has thirteen dioceses, so it is coded (1-13)

C.

The eight recognized theological colleges of the Church of Nigeria have been numbered 1-8. Institutions that have affiliation with the Anglican Church, such as the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (T.C.N.N), Bukuru are coded 9, while other theological colleges (unrecognized) are codified as 0.

D.

The year of Diaconate ordination is captured.

E.

The last code is the personal Bishop/Clergy number within each diocese. The Bishop's number will be 001 while other numbers shall be generated based on seniority or any other parameter that each Diocesan may desire.

OFFICE OF THE BISHOP THEOLOGIAN

The office of the Bishop Theologian was created by the House of Bishops of the Church of Nigeria in October 2009, when the Rt. Rev. Prof. Dapo Folorunsho Asaju (Dip. Th.  (Vining), B.A. (Hons), M. A., PhD. (Ilorin),  in Christian Theology  and Professor of Theology, was duly elected . He was consecrated on 10th January 2010. The inspiration for this office derived from the Roman Catholic Church’s operating office of ‘Cardinal Theologian’ under the Pope’s office in the Vatican. 

The need to have a Bishop Theologian to supervise all theology related institutions and policies became more germane in view of current crisis and controversies in the Anglican communion arising substantially from abuse of theology to perpetrate revisionism, heresies, false doctrines  and various shades of ecclesiastical evil.

The duties and Jurisdiction of the Bishop Theologian are the following:

  1. He shall be the supervising authority   over all Theological Colleges and Seminaries of the Church of Nigeria(Anglican Communion). These include staff appointments, curriculum, quality control, recommendation of potential seminaries or closure of illegal ones,  Staff condition of Service , Students’ Admission policies and all policy matters related to theological education. He shall be the liaison officer  between the Governing boards and Academic Boards of these institutions and the Primate’s Office.
  2.   He shall supervise  Rectors of all the recognized Theological Colleges and Seminaries and  shall preside at central meetings of  all theological educators.
  3. He shall  be in charge of  training of Bishops, Clergy and lay members of the Church of Nigeria.
  4. He shall be the desk officer of the Church of Nigeria on Theological debates and consultations. In this capacity, he shall convoke theological consultations of Bishops, clergy and theologians to take position on theological issues and debates. He shall, when delegated or mandated  by the Primate, be the voice of the Church of Nigeria on matters relating to Theology , Anglican doctrines, apologetics  and  dogmas.
  5. He shall supervise the processes of the Theological Publications of the major Church of Nigeria for purposes of theological education, evangelism and apologetics.
  6. His office shall be based in the national Headquarters under the Primate’s Office from where he shall superintend over arms of his jurisdiction. He shall carry out other special assignments as may be directed by the Primate of All Nigeria, the House of Bishops and the General Synod.