| |Web Mail|Contact Us| |
Jos ECWA Theological Seminary 
| AIMS |
|
It is the desire of the Seminary to produce graduates who: 1. Have a well grounded knowledge of the Bible; 2. Are able to communicate the Bible message clearly, logically and relevantly ( i.e. contextually); 3. Are able to think biblically and theologically in order to address church and society as they apply the biblical world view to present realities; 4. Are exemplary leaders in their respective communities; 5. Live wholesome lifestyles consistent with biblical values which glorify God; 6. Have a passion for Christ and a vision for service of God and humanity. |
History |
| The ECWA Theological Seminary, Jos, (usually called JETS) is wholly owned and operated by the Evangelical Church of West Africa. In the early 1970’s the need arose in ECWA to start a theological institution with the distinctive purpose of meeting the contextual needs of both the church and contemporary African society. A Curriculum Consultation Committee was formed comprising of ECWA educators, church leaders and Professor G.O.M. Tasie, the then Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Jos. It met on a number of occasions at ECWA Headquarters between 1979 and 1980. The committee’s purpose was to give guidelines towards the setting up of a distinctive theological seminary and curriculum. It was the new philosophy of theological education and curriculum which attracted the first Principal of the Seminary, Professor H.W. Norton, the former Dean of Wheaton College Graduate School, who headed the new Seminary from 1980-1983. The early programmes of JETS were developed based upon research undertaken in early 1980 to determine the basic areas of need in the church and society. Three basic areas of need were identified: 1. The need to train competent pastors for the church, 2. The need to train Christian educators for teaching ministries in public and church institutions, and 3. The need to train Christian communicators and workers for society. The Seminary began with three basic programmes: (i) pastors; (ii) teachers, and (iii) communicators. Later a Biblical Studies programme was commenced in order to cater to the needs of women. Still later the Communications programme ended as a distinct programme, and the Evangelism and Missions programme emerged to address the need of evangelizing unreached peoples in West Africa. Initially, when discussions were in progress on the need for JETS, it was thought that the best strategy for ECWA theological education needs was to move the existing seminary at lgbaja to the new more central site in Jos. This idea was quickly dropped as everyone realised that one seminary could not meet ECWA’s future leadership needs. JETS moved to its permanent site at Farin Gada, Zaria Road, Jos in 1982 and has progressively developed since then. Despite the progressively more serious economic depression in Nigeria, facility development has continued, albeit at a slow pace. Starting with an office block, facilities have developed to include a large library building, a chapel, 6 staff houses, and a small classroom block, and most recently the Women’s Institute Building. In addition, two housing estates which have been bought to provide student accommodation and some temporary faculty housing, plus further development of married student accommodation which now consists, in addition to some rooms in the housing estates, of 4 blocks of 8 double room apartments as well as some accommodation elsewhere in Jos. |