The Reformed Theological Seminary Foundation – A New Beginning

The Reformed Theological Seminary Foundation – A New Beginning

The Reformed Theological Seminary Foundation (RTSF), at Rumuodara, Port Harcourt, Rivers State has recently undergone reorganization. On Friday, 22nd August 2025 lectures will commence with the new group of students. The institution used to be called Reformed Foundation Theological Seminary, but under the new management structure and leadership the name of the institution has been changed to Reformed Theological Seminary Foundation. The institution, situated in the premises of the Christ’s Reformed Baptist Church, will commence with eight students and four teachers. The students will be undergoing a two-year diploma course in pastoral and theological studies. The institution will be focusing on training men to become ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with a particular emphasis on the Reformed tradition and based on the 1689 London Baptist confessions.

The RTSF was formally under the leadership of Pastor Aniekan Ekpo and the Christ’s Reformed Baptist Church – in whose premises it is situated. In June 2023, Pastor Ani invited nine other men to form a board of trustees to oversee the overall running of the institution. Prof. Ibiwari Erekosima was elected the chairman of that board, and a series of board meetings, along with selected committee works were carried out over a period of two years. The board, today, has a vice chairman – Engr. Samuel Emediong. Pastor Taiye is the board’s financial secretary; and the secretary is Pastor Deji Yesufu. Pastor Oliver Allmand-Smith, an elder with Trinity Grace Church, Ramsbottom (UK), is an adviser to the board of trustees of the seminary.  Other members of the board are Pastor Aniekan Ekpo, Engr. Robert Ekpo, Prof. Amos Dlibugunaya, Pastor Ben Onwuzurike, Dr. Elisha Ujande, and Pastor Solomon Ekanem. The board has appointed a management team over the running of the seminary on an acting basis and these include Pastor Deji Yesufu (Director), Pastor Ben Onwuzurike (Deputy Director), Pastor Taiye Arimoro (Administrative Secretary), and Pastor Solomon Ekanem (Deputy Administrative Secretary). Pastor Aniekan Ekpo stands as an adviser to all the men in the management team.

The diploma in pastoral and theological studies, which our students will be using the next 24 months to be trained in, will consist of six disciplines and a four-month internship with reputable reformed churches all around Nigeria. These disciplines will include Systematic Theology, Pastoral Theology, Biblical Theology, Homiletics, Church History, and Biblical Languages. Systematic Theology will help the students to comprehend the 1689 Baptist Confessions. It will give the students a working knowledge of the main doctrinal emphasis of the Bible. Pastoral Theology will bring the students to appreciate the thrust of pastoral ministry, which includes biblical conversion, Christian prayer life, family, counselling, etc. Biblical Theology would help the students to have a working knowledge of key biblical passages like Genesis, Isaiah, John, Romans, and 1 and 2 Timothy – the pastoral epistles. Homiletics would introduce students to the art of preaching, and help lay a foundation for them to reach their audience with the gospel of Christ. Church History will bring a two-thousand-year period to the students in such a way as to show them that the Christian of today is not alone. We have a cloud of witnesses behind us, and a rich Christian tradition which has been tested over time and can be relied upon. Finally, Biblical Languages will introduce our students to Hebrew and Greek. The two-year training will be concluded with students have at least 16 weeks of pastoral internship in a Reformed Baptist Church anywhere in Nigeria. We hope that following that experience, our students will have a foundation in ministry to stand on and then go off to serve Jesus Christ in biblical ministry.

The RTSF is a charity and it is run by students’ fees and donations from well-wishers. It is not intended to be a profit-making organization. Our hope is that the institution can be built up so that one day it can obtain credible accreditation to begin to award higher degrees in pastoral work and theology. For now, we are offering a diploma course for students who will be taught in live classes on weekends alone. Subsequently, we plan to have students join our institution through remote learning. We are positioning ourselves to help build a theological future for Nigeria – a country where there is so much biblical illiteracy. We hope that our contribution to the spiritual climate of this country will help Nigeria emerge from the moral decline that has hit the country in the past fifty years. We also hope that by training men, we will be adding to the theology of the average Nigerian minister, in the process helping to build the country up, based upon the truth of the Bible that teaches that righteousness exalts a nation.

Between April and July 2026, opportunity will be opened for new students to join the institution. We hope that some readers will take advantage of this to enrich themselves in biblical theology to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in Christian ministry.

Thank you for reading.

Signed: Seminary Management