Encyclopedia, age, net worth, and ministry information for Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo
David Olaniyi Oyedepo, a Nigerian preacher, Christian author, businessman, and architect who was born on September 27, 1954, is also the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide and the head of the Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. Winners’ Chapel International is another name for the congregation.
More than 300 cities, including all of Nigeria’s states, as well as many cities in 45 other African countries, Dubai, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Europe, Asia, and Canada, are home to the Winners’ Chapel International network of churches.
One of the forerunners of the Christian charismatic movement in Africa, Oyedepo is regarded as one of Nigeria’s most potent speakers. He serves as both Covenant’s and Landmark’s chancellor. He was recognized as the wealthiest preacher in Nigeria in 2011 by Forbes magazine.
Early life
David Olaniyi Oyedepo was born in Osogbo, Nigeria, on September 27, 1954; however, he is originally from Omu-Aran in the Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. He was brought up in a multireligious household. Muslim healer Ibrahim was his father.
His mother, Dorcas, was a follower of the Aladura movement in Nigeria, namely the Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church (C&S). In Osogbo, where he was raised, his grandmother taught him the principles of living a Christian life by accompanying him to early morning prayers. She also stressed the value of tithing to him.
Education
At the Ilorin campus of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Oyedepo studied architecture. He also holds a PhD in human development from Hawaii’s Honolulu University.
Career
Oyedepo worked briefly with the Federal Ministry of Housing in Ilorin before resigning to concentrate on missionary work
Ministry
Through the influence of his teacher, Betty Lasher, who showed interest in him throughout his high school years, Oyedepo was “born again” in 1969. He claims that in May 1981, he was given a mandate by God through an 18-hour vision to free the globe from all devilish oppression by preaching the word of faith. This is the original vision that inspired the establishment of the Liberation Faith Hour Ministries, which later became the Living Faith Church World Wide (LFCWW) in 1981. Two years later, on September 17, 1983, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, ordained David and his wife, Florence Abiola Akano (known as Faith Abiola Oyedepo) to become pastors and officially commissioned the new church. Five years later, Oyedepo was ordained as Bishop by his life mentor, the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa.
Living Faith Church (AKA Winners Chapel International) started in Kaduna but moved to Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria in July 1989, to start a new branch of the church after Oyedepo claimed to have received instructions from God to reach out to the people of Lagos.
Oyedepo has a net worth of approximately US$150 million, making him the richest preacher in the world, according to Forbes. The church owns four private jets and a number of structures, including ones in the US and London. In addition to magazines, Oyedepo is an author and publisher who has written over 70 books. He serves as the chairman and publisher of the ministry’s publishing division, Dominion Publishing House (DPH). To date, more than 4 million DPH prints have been distributed. To prepare the youth for a worldwide impact, Covenant University, Faith Academy, and Kingdom Heritage Model Schools have been formed under Oyedepo. A third institution, to be called Crown University, is currently being built in Calabar, Cross River, Nigeria.
In 1998, Oyedepo claimed he was instructed by God to build a new base for the commission to accommodate the increasing number of worshippers. This resulted in Oyedepo’s church’s acquisition of the initial 530-acre (2.1 km2) facility, known as Canaanland, which serves as the headquarters. It is the home of the 50,000-seat capacity auditorium, the ‘Faith Tabernacle’. This was a feat also recorded by the Guinness Book of Records.
Construction was completed within 12 months. Reports also claimed that this building was built debt free. This 50,000-seat edifice was dedicated on September 18, 1999, under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Canaanland, a 5,000-acre (20 km2) estate and campus in Ota, Ogun State, has a 50,000-seat auditorium, the church secretariat, the church’s youth chapel, a primary school called Kingdom Heritage Model School, a full-boarding missionary secondary school called Faith Academy, with over 1,500 students, and the Covenant University facilities, which can accommodate over 7,000 students and have fully functional faculty. Canaanland campus also has for-profit establishments operated by the church such as a bakery, a bottled water processing plant, a petrol station, various restaurants and shopping stores, several residential houses that provide for the over 2,000 church employees and guesthouses. Four banks are also present on this Estate, three of which are branches of external commercial banks and one which is a community and micro-finance Bank and operated by the Church. The whole of Canaanland which includes a proposed 15,000 housing estate known as Canaan City had increased to 17,000 acres as of 2012.
Shiloh, the largest yearly meeting of the ministry, is held each December in the same Faith Tabernacle and frequently draws thousands of attendees from around the globe. The ministry is now constructing the “Ark,” a 100,000-seat auditorium that is said to have the biggest span in the entire world.
Christian ministry
Oyedepo falls under the umbrella of the so-called Word of Faith Movement as a result of his teachings. He has cited prominent Faith Movement figures as mentors, including Enoch Adeboye and the late Benson Idahosa from Nigeria, as well as Kenneth Copeland, Gloria Copeland, the late Kenneth Hagin, E. W. Kenyon, T. L. Osborn, and Smith Wigglesworth. Oyedepo has been characterized as a preacher of the prosperity gospel, like many of his mentors.
For both members and non-members, Winners’ Chapel International runs a Bible training program called the Word of Faith Bible Institute to advance leadership skills and prepare future pastors. The institute is managed by the church’s principal branches.
David Oyedepo Ministries International (DOMI) is led by Oyedepo as its president. DOMI is the umbrella organization that includes Living Faith Church World Wide (a global network of churches), the World Mission Agency (WMA), Dominion Publishing House, Covenant University, the church’s publishing arm, and the Social Development Missions projects, which include hospitals, maternity homes, schools, and other facilities.
Oyedepo has criticized ineffective government leadership and corruption across all of Africa.
He also has criticism for Muhammadu Buhari, the leader of Nigeria at the moment.
Publication of books
Oyedepo’s church operates its own publishing house, called Dominion Publishing House (DPH), commissioned on December 5, 1992, which has published over 70 Christian, inspirational and motivational books, mini-books, magazines and other resources.
Family
He married Florence Abiola Akano in 1982 (now known as Faith Oyedepo). Together, they have four children (David Jr., Isaac, Love, and Joyce). In May 2007, Kenneth Copeland anointed Isaac and David Oyedepo as pastors.
While Isaac Oyedepo leads Winners’ Chapel International in Maryland in the United States of America with his wife Ayomitide, David Oyedepo Jr. formerly served as the resident pastor of the ministry’s main church (Faith Tabernacle) with his wife Kemi. Love, his first child, is married to Stephen Ogah, another pastor at Winners’ Chapel. The second daughter and last child is Joyce Priscilla. In 2020, she married Abimbola Abodunrin.
David Oyedepo Day of Service (DODOS)
The DODOS is a program launched by the Covenant University Alumni Association with the intention of highlighting Oyedepo’s contributions and way of life. People who connect with this effort are expected to make a contribution to other people, organizations, or society as a whole. It was launched on September 27, 2012, Oyedepo’s birthday.
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