(1902) Rev. Mojola Agbebi, “Inaugural Sermon”

Rev. Dr. Mojola Agbebi, born April 10, 1860 as David Brown Vincent in Western Nigeria, was a leading proponent of “Ethiopianism,” which advocated an African-centered Christianity. In the 1880s, as an indication of his embrace of African culture he changed his name to Mojola Agbebi. In 1888 Agbebi was a founder of the Native Baptist Church (now the First Baptist Church), in Lagos, Nigeria. Later that year he helped establish the Ebenezer Baptist Church in that city. Agbebi was one of the first Africans to hold a degree in civil engineering from a British university but he was primarily known for his missionary work in southern Nigeria and the Cameroons between 1890 and 1910. His belief in Ethiopianism is outlined in the 1902 “Inaugural Sermon” which he gave in Lagos.