Let Somebody Shout Halleluyah!!!
Authors: Ruth Mba and Daniel Breakforth
The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) was founded in 1952 in Nigeria, following a divine revelation received by a young man, Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, whose heart had been set ablaze with an unquenchable desire to personally encounter the Supreme Being, in spite of a prevailing environment of nature worship. This pursuit of God led him to the Church Missionary Society where he was baptised in 1927 but he later joined the Cherubim and Seraphim Church.
Akindayomi’s call as a servant of God began whilst still a member of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, a prompting he ignored for several years, until repeated business failures brought him to the point of repentance. This season became the turning-point for him in his relationship with God. Humbled, he made the decision to totally yield to God and His purposes, seeking divine confirmation of a call to ministry. The confirmation he sought eventually came through the Holy Scriptures. By 1947, he had also become increasingly concerned about some of the doctrinal beliefs of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church to which he belonged and became totally persuaded to leave in 1952.
He set up a House Fellowship at Willoughby Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos called, the Glory of God Fellowship. Initially there were nine members but before long the fellowship rapidly grew as the news of the miracles that occurred in their midst spread. During this period, Akindayomi who couldn’t read or write English not having had a formal education, received a vision in which the words “The Redeemed Christian Church of God” were written, being the name of the Church that the Lord would establish through him. By supernatural enablement, he was able to write these words spelling out the name of the Church. In the course of that spiritual encounter, God also revealed to him that the Church would spread to the ends of the earth and that when the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in glory at the end of the age, He would meet the RCCG. The Lord then established a covenant with Pa Akindayomi, synonymous to the Abrahamic covenant in the Bible. He said that He the Lord would meet all the needs of the Church in an awesome way if only members would serve Him faithfully and be obedient to His Word. It is upon this covenant that the Redeemed Christian Church of God was built.
Thus, the Redeemed Christian Church of God was born in 1952, destined by the Lord Himself to take the world for Him. The Church continued to meet at 9 Willoughby Street until they were able to acquire some land thereby witnessing a relocation to the present site of the Headquarters of the Church at 1-5 Redemption Way, Ebute-Metta, Lagos (formerly 1a, Cemetery Street).
Reverend Akindayomi remained faithful to this heavenly vision until he went to be with the Lord in 1981. Prior to this, sometime in the early 1970s, he had received a message from the Lord about his spiritual successor, a young educated man who at the time was not a member of the Church. Hence, when Dr Enoch Adejare Adeboye, a young university lecturer in Mathematics became a member of the Church in 1973, Reverend Akindayomi spiritually discerned that this was the person the Lord had spoken about. Dr Adeboye soon became involved in the activities of the Church and began to serve as an interpreter for Reverend Akindayomi, translating his live sermons from Yoruba to English. The young man was ordained a pastor of the Church in 1975.
In addition to bringing Adeboye closer to himself, Pa Josiah took 4 decisive steps in order to realise his will about a successor. i) Reverend Akindayomi prepared a “writtenwill”.
ii) He tape recorded his intentions for the Church and who was to succeed him as leader.
iii) He wrote out the name of his successor and hid it in his Yoruba Bible, revealing this to just one person – Pastor J.I. Olukowajo – who was present when he died.
iv) He also confided in his son-in-law, Pastor Akindele, who he (Josiah) intended to succeed him.
The significance of all the above measures, particularly the tape recording of his will and last intentions on an audio tape was to make sure that no one doubted the authenticity of what he desired for his church. Reverend Akindayomi placed a curse onanyone who would stand in the way of his wish or cause dissension. Such a person “would beremoved by God.”
The Constitution of the Church clearly stipulated that in the event of the death of the General Superintendent, another
shall be elected by the General Council at their annual meeting by a simple majority vote of those present and entitled to vote. However, Pa Josiah informed his ministers that his successor would not be elected as the constitution stipulated but selected by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Pa Josiah Akindayomi was 71 years old when he died. A disagreement and leadership struggle ensued after the death of Pa Josiah against the proclamation of Adeboye as Josiah’s successor. The leadership contest was among three principal contestants: Pastor Ogedemgbe, an engineer by training; Pastor Chris Fajemirokun, a lawyer and Pastor Adeboye, a university don. These three pastors were the first educated people that joined the Church. Incidentally, it was Pastor Chris Fajemirokun who first invited and encouraged the Adeboye family to join RCCG.
There are a number of reasons why some pastors dissented: there were some older pastors who started the Church with Pa Josiah. They felt both betrayed and short-changed; Pa Josiah’s actions were against the written letter of the constitution. At some point however, Pa Akindayomi informed them that the Constitution was drafted to fulfil government requirements but that God himself would choose his successor. Adeboye was himself a newcomer to the Church as well as a young man with little or no prior experience in Church leadership and politics. Some of the senior pastors of the Church were saying that because he
(Adeboye) was a PhD holder, he used his worldly wisdom to convincePa Josiah to write in his will that he was to take over from him. Some of the pastors seceded and established their own independent Churches while others left the RCCG and joined other churches. Among those who seceded soon after Pastor Adeboye became leader of RCCG was one Pastor S. Adenuga who left RCCG in 1981 to establish his own church, Onward Gospel Church, in Ibadan. At another time, another pastor angry about the succession debacle declared on the pulpit that he was ready to go to hell and that he would take Adeboye with him.
Amidst controversy, Pastor Adeboye’s appointment was formalized by the reading of Pa Akindayomi’s sealed pronouncement after his burial. Interestingly, a number of the pastors in the hierarchy still opposed the choice but none was willing to incur the curses placed by the former GS, curses, the efficacy of which they had previously witnessed. After the death and burial of Reverend Akindayomi, the then Council of Ministers held a meeting. A letter indicating the choice of Josiah’s successor had already been prepared and addressed to each of the ministers of the Church’s Supreme Council. This letter also contained the names of all Principal Officers of the Church as selected by Josiah before his death and their posts in the church. This letter was read out before the assembly of ministers, indicating that the new General Superintendent was the young, educated pastor and former translator of Josiah: Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye.
On 20 January 1981, Pastor Adeboye was prayed for and installed as the leader and successor of Josiah. Between the day Reverend Josiah died (2 November 1980) and the day Pastor Adeboye was consecrated as his successor, Pastor Joseph Abiona functioned as Acting General Superintendent. The day Adeboye was installed he formally assumed duties as the new and second General Superintendent of the RCCG but immediately changed his designation from General Superintendent to General Overseer. He was 39 years when he assumed office.
Since 1981, an open explosion began with the number of parishes growing in leaps and bounds. As at January 1981, there was only one foreign branch in Ghana and 38 others in Nigeria. Today, on the International scene, the Church is present in virtually every nation in the world..including other African nations, Europe, the Middle East, Far East, United States and also in the Caribbean states of Haiti and Jamaica.
At the apex of the Church is the General Overseer. As the title indicates, he is generally overseeing the affairs of the church, both spiritual and temporal. He reports to no one (except God). The constitution of the Church calls him “the Chief Officer of the Mission” and specifies his responsibilities to include the provision of spiritual welfare and direction of themission; the discipline of ministers, clergy and laity; the propagation of the Gospel as well as the ordination of ministers.
Next to the General Overseer’s office is the Governing Council (GC). The Article 13 of the RCCG constitution stated that the general governance of the Mission shall be undertaken by: The General Overseer and The Governing Council. The Governing Council consists of the General Overseer and some persons so appointed to render assistance to the General Overseer over the Corporate governance affairs of the Mission referred to them. It functions as advisory committee on important matters such as doctrine, discipline, acquisition of property and senior appointments. The group also discusses important revelations from God through the General Overseer before it is made public. The body is always chaired in its sessions by the General Overseer.
The Board of Trustees follows the Governing Council. The Article 10 of the constitution of the Mission acknowledged a body of Trustees of the Mission in accordance with section 673 (i) of the Companies & Allied Matters Act 1990 which shall be known as the Incorporated Trustees of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The composition and duties of the Trustees are also detailed in the Mission’s constitution. All business transactions at any level of administration from Parishes/Departments and above are done in the name of The Incorporated Trustees of The Redeemed Christian Church of God including invoices and receipts of purchases and transactions.
The office of the Deputy General Overseer (DGO). The DGO is appointed into office by the GO and reports to him. His responsibilities are such as the GO may assign him, including representing him at certain occasions and functions. The DGO is followed by the Mother-in-Israel, a post that was created after Pastor Adeboye became leader. This title is drawn from the Old Testament book of Judges 5:7, which described Deborah as “a mother in Israel.” The wife of the GO can only occupy this post; hence, the occupant is there for life.
The office of the National Overseer came into place following a Federal Government of Nigeria policy which instructed Church leaders in the Country who have spent more than two tenures in office to retire. The source was the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria’s Code of Corporate Governance, which was first put forward in 2015. The office of the National Overseer reports to the General Overseer on issues relating to his operations; He is be appointed over a Country and shall oversee, direct and organize all activities of the mission in the Country over which he is appointed under the general supervision of the General Overseer. Pastor Joseph Obayemi became the National Overseer (Nigeria) by Pastor Adeboye’s appointment. Pastor Sunday Akande is the current National Overseer.
The office of the Assistant General Overseers (AGO) follows the office of the National Overseer. AGO Admin/Personnel, Training, Finance, Doctrines, Church Growth, Establishment and Young Adults/Youths Affairs are the general Terms of Reference and Schedule of Duties for Assistant General Overseers.
There are National Elders and Assistant National Elders/Special Assistants to the General Overseer who render special assistance to the General Overseer in the areas assigned to them. They oversee management of external Relationship relation to the RCCG Global Network, oversee Provinces as Pastor in Charge of Region or Coordinators of nations, oversee the preparation and serving of Holy Communion and Anointing service during national programmes. They have oversight function on the Provinces/Regions Activities under them.
The rest of the administrative structure of the Redeemed Christian Church of God includes the Pastor In Charge Of Region, the National Secretary 1 and 2, pastor in charge of province/assistant national secretary, assistant pastor in charge of province/church growth officer 1 and 2, Pastors in charge of zones, areas, parishes, ordained deacons/deaconesses/Head Of Departments and finally, church workers.
Today the RCCG is the fastest growing Pentecostal church in the world with about 8 million adherents in over 40,000 parishes across 196 countries in all the six continents of the world – the brand logo remains the white dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit encircled with the name of the Church, a logo that Akindayomi has warned must NEVER be changed nor redesigned until the trumpet sounds. Pastor Adeboye began planning his retirement from the moment he turned 60 but according to him, God said he has not completed his assignment. He also thought that by 80 he would have completed his assignment and be released by God, but that is not the case. During one of his sermons, Pastor Adeboye said that the person to succeed him was still inside a beer parlour but he has reiterated that although God has not revealed the next General Overseer to him, he has the confirmation that he would be a young person. A successor for Pastor Adeboye is now more ‘juicy and tasking’ than when Pastor Adeboye succeeded Pa Josiah considering the enormous growth of RCCG but Pastor Adeboye has said that whoever will succeed him will do even greater works than he has done. The succession plan of the RCCG is enshrined in Pastor Adeboye on the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The Constitution now provides for the GO to select a successor subject to the direction of the Holy Spirit and without naming any potentials, we await the nomination in due season.
Sources: The RCCG Website
The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Nigeria: Local Identities and Global Processes in African Pentecostalism by Asonzeh Franklin-Kennedy Ukah
RCCG Abridged Missions Policy 2018
RCCG Ordained Ministers Handbook 2017
Church Gist transcripts
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