St Paul's Church, Breadfruit

Our History...

St. Paul’s Church, Breadfruit is one of the earliest churches in Nigeria. Its members had been men and women who featured in the early history of the British administration which had invited the Church Missionary Society to start the work of evangelism in Lagos in 1851.

Like all early churches in Nigeria following the establishment of Christianity in the country in the mid-nineteenth century, St. Paul’s Church, Breadfruit, had modest beginnings. The church building began as a bamboo shed on the site where slaves were tied to the breadfruit trees en route to the Americas.

A new and contiguous church site was procured in 1869 and the church building, which was subsequently constructed there in 1880, is the ancestor of the church present structure.

St. Paul’s Church, Breadfruit developed rapidly and was soon to outstrip in importance its contemporaries in Lagos. It became the choice church for the hosting of state services in Lagos before the construction of the Cathedral; and not a few of its parishioners were eminent personalities in the society. Indeed the Rev. Later (Bishop) James Johnson, twice it vicar (1874-77 and 1881-1901), was a member of the Lagos legislative Council in the 1890s.

The solid foundation which had been laid down for the church, made possible the subsequent growth and development spiritually and physically in succeeding decades and also enables it to adequately respond to its changing environment.

The Vicars of SPCB

From 1852 to present

Date	Administrator	Position
1852 - 1862	The Rev. C.A. Gollmer	Parish Vicar
1862 - 1872	The Rev. Lancelot Nicholson	Parish Vicar
Sep - Dec 1872	The Rev. Adolphus Mann	Parish Vicar
Dec 1872 - March 1873	The Rev. E. Roper	Parish Vicar
April 1873 - June 1874	The Rev. Victor Faulkner	Parish Vicar
June 1874- Feb 1877	The Rev. (later Bishop) James Johnson	Parish Vicar
March 1877 - April 1881	The Rev. (later Archd) Henry Johnson M.A.	Parish Vicar
April 1881- Oct 1901	The Rev. (later Bishop) James Johnson M.A.	Parish Vicar
Oct 1901- Aug 1921	The Rev. (later Arch.) Nathaniel Johnson	Parish Vicar
Oct 1921 - June 1929	The Rev. (later Arch.) T.A. Ogunbiyi, L.Th	Parish Vicar
April 1930 - Apr 1931	The Rev. (laterBishop) S.C. Phillips, MA, L. Th	Parish Vicar
April 1931 - May 1936	The Rev. Canon H.V.E. Johnson, M.A. L.Th	Parish Vicar
June 1936 - July 1962	The Rev. (later Canon & later Arch) J.O. Lucas, M.A. D. D.	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos
Aug 1962 - Jan 1976	The Rev. (Later Arch) T.L. Oredugba	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos
Feb 1976 - Aug 1982	The Ven Arch B.A. Adelaja, M.A. Dip. Th, Dip Ed	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos
Sep 1982 - June 1986	The Ven Arch (later Bishop) C.A. Akinbola, M.Div	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos
July 1986 - Aug. 1994	The Ven (Dr) (later Bishop) Simeon Olu M. Adebola, B. A., B. D., Ph. D.	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos
Aug 1994 - April 1998	The Ven. S.S.O. Sodipe M.A.	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos
May 1998 - July 2002	The Ven (Dr) Yinka Omololu, M.D. DTPH, PSC, MNI	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos
Aug 2002 - April 2006	The Ven S.B. Akinola B. A., LL. B.,B. L.	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos
May 2006 - to date	The Ven. Michael A. Kolawole, M.Div	Vicar/Archdeacon of Lagos

The Church exists to develop her members to full christian maturity, thereby empowering them to reach out to the lost and needy in an atmosphere of fellowship, worship and prayer.