Wednesday, 3rd of December 2025 remains a historic day in the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, as the Primate of all Nigeria, The Most Rev’d Dr. Henry Ndukuba inaugurated the Missionary Diocese of Ikom in Cross Rivers State as the 171st Diocese in the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Ikom.

The service which started by 11:30am featured a procession by the choir, lay readers, priests, wardens, legal officers, Bishops and Archbishops, Registrar and General Secretary of the Church of Nigeria, the Dean and the Primate.

The only lesson for this service was taken from the book of Matthew 16:13-28.

In a sermon delivered at the inauguration, the Most Rev’d Marcus Ibrahim, Archbishop of Jos province and bishop of Yola Diocese stated under the theme, “I will build my church, says the Lord,” a challenge to the Rt. Revd David Michson, the pioneer bishop of the diocese, and the entire congregation to adopt a strategic, spiritual defense against rising insecurity, vowing that “the Lord is saying that nothing, not even the devil, can stop God’s work in this Diocese.”

While acknowledging attacks from groups like Fulani, Boko Haram, and foreign entities, the speaker provided Bishop David with five building blocks for the Diocese’s growth, insisting that the Church in Nigeria “will keep growing from strength to strength.”

The five core mandates laid out for the Ikom Diocese are:
1. Bold Witnessing and Aggressive Evangelism: Calling on the Bishop to engage the clergy in “aggressive evangelism” and “boldly preach about Witnessing,” proclaiming Christ as the answer to every human problem.
2. Possessing Keys of Divine Success: The archbishop encouraged the Diocese to receive and process “keys of divine success” to unlock every opportunity, ensuring church growth and divine protection.
3. Modeling the Early Church: He instructed the Bishop to model the Diocese after the early church recorded in the book of Acts, specifically calling for it to be a multi-ethnic body by bringing in all tribes in Ikom, including the Fulanis, Hausas, and Igbos.
4. Fire for the Lord: He stressed the necessity of being a “Diocese of Fire for the Lord,” noting that the early church was sustained by the Holy Ghost despite persecution. He warned that any man or diocese not “on fire for God” will be “finished” by the devil.
5. Praying and Bible-Based Foundation: He pointedly challenged the Bishop to be constantly available for the people—cautioning against being a “traveling bishop”—and ensuring the Diocese remains a praying church. “We don’t pray and fast anymore; we only do ceremonies,” the speaker lamented, before concluding that prayer and dwelling in the Word must be central.

Archbishop Marcus concluded by reaffirming Christ’s promise that “the gates of hell will not destroy the church,” serving as both a stern warning about the current peril and a firm assurance of divine victory for the Ikom Missionary Diocese.

After the message, the representatives of the various archdeaconries being carved out as a diocese namely, Ikom, Yakurr, Obubra, and Abi Archdeaconries, presented their humble petition to create the diocese before the Primate who accepted the petition and called for the deeds (relinquishment and acceptance) to be read and executed.

The primate thereafter inaugurated the Missionary Diocese of Ikom with a great applause from the congregation and lead the prayers for the new diocese, the bishop, clergy and laity.

The service was conducted by the Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, The Rt Rev’d Dr. Aloysius Agbo and attended by bishops and Archbishops of the Church, clergymen from various dioceses, Church of Nigeria officials among other dignitaries.

Ikom Missionary Diocese was created out of Calabar Diocese as part of the 15 newly created dioceses in the Church of Nigeria at its last Standing committee meeting held at Ekiti Diocese in September.
Immediately after the inaugural service, the enthronement service commenced.

Korede Akintunde
CoN Communications Officer
3rd December, 2025
Email: communication@anglican-nig.org