Editing The African Church (section)

==Establishment and structure==

The African Church is led by His Eminence, Augustine Afolabi Odufuwa

The African Church structure has a Primate who serves as the spiritual head and the overall head of the church, and a Lay President who is the head of the laity and who assist The Primate in temporal matters. Major decisions affecting the Church are taken by both the clergy and the laity. The highest governing body is the Conference. Since 1983 clergy are trained at the African Church College of Theology, which was affiliated for many years with the University of Ibadan. The Church has had several Primates in the past. It is spread all over, with seven Provinces comprising forty-seven Dioceses in every geopolitical zone of the country.<ref>{{cite web |title=The African Church "Heaven's Light Our Guide" ... Official Website |url=http://www.theafricanchurch.org/aboutus.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728001512/http://www.theafricanchurch.org/aboutus.htm |archivedate=2012-07-28 |accessdate=2013-04-09 |publisher=Theafricanchurch.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=23 September 2021 |title=The African Church Profile – Updated Information About the African Church |url=https://www.christianevents.com.ng/the-african-church-profile-updated-information-about-the-african-church/}}</ref>

{{As of|2006}} the church membership was about 2,080,000, with 580 priests in 47 dioceses, primarily in Nigeria. It had 720 individual parishes.<ref name="oikoumene.org">{{Cite web|title=The African Church|publisher=World Council of Churches |date= 1 January 2006|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/africa/nigeria/the-african-church.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907140902/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/africa/nigeria/the-african-church.html |archive-date=7 September 2008 }}</ref> Church membership dropped as the rise of new day Pentecostal churches challenged older-established orders in Nigeria.

The Church runs several schools, two hospitals and some social centers and development projects. It publishes a guide for daily Bible reading (in English and Yoruba). The Church is widely popular in major cities outside [[Lagos]], especially in Oyo, Ijebu, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Kwara, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Benue and other areas. The Church is headquartered in Lagos, Lagos State; participates in the activities of the [[Christian Association of Nigeria]] and World Council of Churches.