LESSONS AT THE NATIONAL CHURCH OF NIGERIA
The national church of Nigeria is a neo-gothic style church located in Abuja. It used to be known as the National Ecumenical center and it was one of the stops we made when we visited Abuja.
The belfry
Look at those archs.
During our visit, we met a Mr Dan who gave us a history lesson on the church and according to him these are some facts about the church:
It is called the ecumenical center because it doesn’t belong to one denomination.
There are 5 ‘blocks’ that constitute the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) – Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria – CSN, Christian Council of Nigeria -CCN (this comprises of Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists etc), Organisation of African Instituted Churches – OAIC (white garment, Cherubim & Seraphim), Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria/Pentecostal fellowship of Nigeria – CPFM/PFM (Redeem, Christ Embassy, Living Faith, MFM etc They are the largest of all the blocks), TECAN ECWA which started from the Northern part of Nigeria, Jos.
Funny story about this look
All these arms contributed money to build the church.
The church was completed in Oct 2005.
Construction of the church started at the same time with the National Mosque.
A Nigerian man designed the church – Architect Olumide
It was given to 3 companies abroad to execute. Costain, Julius Berger and Gitto. Gitto completed it.
The church can seat 8,000 people. More chairs can be brought in if they are needed.
The pulpit rotates 360 degrees. It can go clockwise or anticlockwise depending on how you want it. This rotation is done when the church is filled up so everyone can see the speaker.
The Pulpit
The pipe organ is electronic
The day is divided into 3 segments at the church. 9am – 4pm, 5pm – 10pm and 10pm – 4am.
The hall and sound system are available to rent for any of the time frames listed above. The hall goes for N300,000 and the sound system is N250,000.
Most importantly it’s a beautiful church and Mr. Dan took his role of telling us about it seriously. He would get upset when he felt we weren’t paying attention to him.
My favorite parts of the church were the stained glass and the pipe organ. I also learnt what the colours on stained glasses represent.
Red represents the blood of Christ, blue symbolizes heaven, green symbolises faith, immortality & contemplation, white is for purity, yellow is for divinity, power and glory and brown is for spiritual death.
Guided tours are available on most days, but be sure to speak to someone when you get there as you may be cautioned if you just bring out a camera and start snapping away. Entry is also free (at the time of writing this post).
L – R Sage Travels, Mr Dan, Travel With A Pen, Naija Nomads & Fola’s Waka
So did you know all these things about the National Church of Nigeria and will you be visiting when next you’re in Abuja? If you’ve visited, what are your thoughts on it?
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Disclaimer: This trip was sponsored by Travelstart Nigeria. Transfers, meals and experiences were organised by them. However, all views and opinions remain ours.
*Reviews are based on opinions and personal experiences, and may differ from person to person
*A muezzin is the person appointed at a mosque to lead and recite the call to prayer for every event of prayer and worship in the mosque.