Daniel Breakforth
“Is it not scary that the World Council of Churches released papers about the state of the Nigerian church — that out of the 10 richest pastors in the world, five of them are Nigerians, but out of the 10 richest churches in the world, there’s no Nigerian church?” “It’s worrisome, it calls for concern.”
“The Roman Catholic Church is the richest church in the world, the pope has no private jet.”
Yesterday we addressed the issue of comparing the travels of the Pope by Alitalia with the travels of Nigerian pastors and we can now see that the cost of the Pope’s trip annually can buy 4 private jets every year. Once the Pope returns after each trip the amount spent whether 55 million USD or more or less whether from the Vatican or host country is finished. However a private jet can last 20-30 years although some could last longer depending on make, model, usage and maintenance.
Today we will be addressing the issue of 5 Nigerian pastors being among the richest. I must say that the points here will address only what we seek to clarify.
The list of pastors mentioned in that address unfortunately is an old list which is both questionable and outdated.
Here are the Nigerian names on the list:
1.Bishop Oyedepo
- Pastor Enoch Adeboye
- Pastor Chris Oyakhilome
- Matthew Ashimolowo
- T. B Joshua
This list is questionable because it merged the wealth of the Churches it named with the wealth of the leaders in question and this is outrightly false. Anyone who mentions Faith Academy, Covenant University or even the aircraft owned by the Church as Bishop Oyedepo’s properties is only trying to be smart while lying and being deceitful. This narrative is more faulty going by the implications. It is same as implying that Redemption City belongs to Pastor Adeboye, Love World Convocation Arena belongs to Pastor Chris or DLICC belongs to Pastor Kumuyi. The same list says Christ Embassy is worth 30 million dollars and automatically claims Pastor Chris is worth 30 million dollars
Question
Are we looking at the wealth of the Church or the individual? Why are the critics mixing both together?
If we attach the wealth of much richer churches to the leaders, will this argument stand?
Furthermore we have said it times without number that Winners’ Chapel does not own 4 aircraft. We have given names of aircraft, registration markings and dates to this effect and showed that the claim by Forbes in 2011 was false but we will address this particular issue again at the end of this article.
Secondly it is inaccurate to be quoting a list in 2025 which was written by a Nigerian in 2011 and includes a man who died in 2021 and hence the reason for our assertion that it is outdated.
The list fails to realize that Nigeria is one of the fast growing areas of Christianity in the world and that the biggest churches in the world whose founders are alive are in Nigeria. If in doubt, point out how many churches in the world whose founders are still alive have churches with the growth and spread of Living Faith, Christ Embassy, MFM and Deeper Life.
Finally, let’s even address another salient point. Let’s imagine that these 5 pastors are all alive and worth what was claimed by Forbes. The highest possible total amount owned by them as claimed by Forbes are as follows in USD:
Bishop Oyedepo-150m
Pastor Adeboye-65m
Matthew Ashimolowo-10m
TB Joshua-15m
Chris Oyakhilome-50m
Total -290 million dollars.
So from the above list, the amount spent for the travel of the Pope for one year is almost same as this networth even though the Pope’s name isn’t mentioned to be as rich as any of them.
Secondly and this might annoy many:
There have been several cases of mismanagement in one of the richest churches in the world that one single deal by some officials of that Church is higher than the net worth of the richest pastors in Nigeria yet the names of the Church leaders names are kept secret by the Church. Recently leaders of this Church did a 350 million Euro deal and lost 170 million Euros. The Heavens did not fall.
Read the story below as reported by the Church itself for context:
Fund Mishandling and Reforms in the Vatican:
The Vatican has had a history of money mismanagement ever since the Holy See’s inception. Many of these issues stem from the financial illiteracy of much of the Vatican leadership. In order to remedy this, leadership figures within the Vatican often give some of the Holy See’s revenue to funds and endowments with reputation, checks and balances, and other professional structures that guarantee the money is being invested in accordance with the Papal wishes.
However, this remedy is something not always followed.
The most recent and notable divergence from this strategy has been the 60 Sloane Avenue sale. Instead of giving money to a reputable fund or endowment, a group of Vatican officials gave 350 million euros ($390 million USD) to Italian broker Raffael Mincione in 2014 to buy a luxury apartment complex in central London. By 2018, the Vatican officials feared they were getting scammed by Mincione and turned to another Italian broker, Gianluigi Torzi, for help to get out of the first deal. However, the Vatican officials were allegedly deceived by Torzi into giving him voting shares for the property. As a response, the Vatican officials offered Torzi 15 million euros ($15.6 million) to retain the property and remove himself from the deal. In July 2022, ASPA sold the property to Bain Capital for 186 million pounds ($223.3 million), a $170 million loss.
There is nothing wrong in being rich either as a Church or as an individual.
Bible says and Abraham was very rich in cattle in silver and in gold. It also says and Abraham was rich and the Lord had blessed him in all things. Even if a Church buys 20 jets, it is bought for their assignment.
The Church is answerable to God not you.
#ChurchGist
