Comparative Missiology: Examining the Church Missions Society and SIM’s Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Northern Nigeria

This study conducts a comparative missiological analysis of the historical and contemporary approaches of two major Protestant missionary agencies, the Church Mission Society (CMS) and Serving in Mission (SIM), to Christian witness in northern Nigeria. These two organisations represent distinct missiological traditions, with CMS rooted in Anglican establishmentarianism and SIM in interdenominational evangelicalism, and their divergent approaches have shaped the character of Christianity in northern Nigeria in different ways over more than a century. Using a qualitative historical-analytical design, the study draws on archival documents from both mission organisations, published missiological scholarship, and twenty interviews with current CMS and SIM field workers and Nigerian church partners across the North West and North East zones. Comparative analysis focuses on four dimensions: theological motivation for mission, contextualisation strategies, approaches to Islam, and contemporary church partnership models. Findings indicate that while both organisations have evolved significantly from their colonial-era approaches, CMS demonstrates greater theological flexibility and partnership orientation in contemporary practice, while SIM maintains a stronger evangelistic directness and institutional control in its programme delivery. Areas of convergence include shared commitment to church planting and theological education. The study recommends greater missiological dialogue between the two organisations and calls for a joint evaluation framework that measures mission effectiveness through Nigerian church leadership indicators. Keywords: missiology, Church Mission Society, SIM, northern Nigeria, comparative mission