ABSTRACT
The aim of the study was to investigate the contributions of the Baptist Church towards the development of Ogbomoso and to access various measures adopted by the Baptist missionaries to evangelize Ogbomoso land, an area that used to be a citadel of African religion. The objectives were to inquire into the circumstance under which the Baptist Church came to Ogbomoso, examine the nature of institution (educational, health and commercial) and infrastructure introduced by the Baptist Church in Ogbomoso and lastly, to access the impact of the contribution of the Baptist Church on Ogbomoso.
The data from the study were generated from unstructured oral interviews with some selected Baptist pastors and members of Aro and Ikolaba families in Ogbomoso, correspondence letters and missionary reports by Baptist missionaries including Thomas Jefferson Bowen, William H. Clarke and C.E. Smith, and the Book of Reports by the Nigerian Baptist Convention and serial The Nigerian Baptist. Visits were paid to sites of historical importance to the Baptist Church, such as graves of missionaries at Osupa in Ogbomoso. The oral and documentary data were analysed and the contents were used to generate the research narrative.
The study found that the planting of Baptist Church in Ogbomoso was accidental. The rejection of T.J. Bowen’s team by Ilorin people on their mission expedition to the north led them to seek a safe haven in Ogbomoso and this led to the opening of a Baptist mission station. The Baptist institutions and infrastructure provided educational training, medical services, recreation and empowerment. The impact of the Baptist Church contribution in Ogbomoso resulted in building a spiritual moral, social, economic and political development of the people and society of Ogbomoso.
