Many people are aware that Pa Josiah Akindayomi is the founder of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, but very few knows that the church which is arguably the biggest pentecostal ministry in the world started with 13 men.
It was reported that when Pa Akindayomi ,left Ondo town on a long trek to Ile-Ife, he never knew he would become a prophet. But not long after he got to the cradle of Yoruba race he became a prophet of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church and rose to the rank of apostle.
As an itinerant preacher, he wandered the roads of western Nigeria in all-white garments, ringing a bell and winning converts through his healing abilities. in 1947, he left Ile-Ife for Lagos and started worshipping with the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church at its Ibadan Street, Ebute-Metta branch (Mount Zion Parish)
He was still with the church in 1947 when a zeal for a better service and a deeper experience with God prompted him to start a daily prayer fellowship which met at 9, Willouhgby Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos. By 1948 the Fellowship had metarmorphorsed into “Egbe Ogo Oluwa:” Society for the Glory of God.
Initially there were nine members; however the fellowship gradually grew as the news of the miracles that occurred in their midst spread. It became so popular that it drew not only members of the church, but others from the neighborhood. Pa Josiah Akindayomi soon moved the activities of the group from the C&S church premises to his private apartment, fuelling the suspicion that he harboured an intention to break away from the C&S. When efforts to get him to bring the group under the oversight authority of the C&S failed, he was formally excommunicated in 1952 , together with all the members of the group, for gross insubordination to constituted ecclesiastical authority of the C&S.
The Society for the Glory of God become the nucleus around which the future RCCG was to be built and it started with only 13 men. The names of these men are;
Bro.Josiah Akindayomi
Bro. J.A. Fakunmoju
Bro. Makun (He was the first ordained pastor in the church)
Bro. J.A. Adekoya
Bro. S.K. Padonu
Bro. S.A. Olonode
Bro. Fadiora
Bro Ilenusi
Bro Okuwobi
Bro Fetuga
Bro. Adefeso
Bro G. A Adefunwa
Bro. Matiluko
Afterwards,the group continued to worship at no. 9 Willoughby Street, Ebute Meta, Lagos having been excommunicated from the Cherubim and Seraphim Church. In the course of their meetings they needed to have their own identity. Thus, the group was first called the Apostolic Faith of South Africa and later changed the name of the group to the Apostolic Faith Mission of West Africa .
The first church building at 9 Willoughby Street, Ebute Metta.
All those names soon gave way to Redeemed Christian Church of God after a divine encounter the founder had with God. He was said to have been woken up in a trance and given its current name though he was not a lettered person. Bro. Olanode one of his founding members who was educated was said to have interpreted what the founder copied from the vision as REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD.
The church began in earnest and made modest strides until 1973 when Pastor Enoch Adeboye joined and began interpreting Yoruba to English for Pastor Josiah Akindayomi. In 1975, he was ordained a pastor and eventually became General Overseer of the church in 1981.
Today, the church which had about 40 parishes, prior to Adeboye becoming the General Overseer now has over 32,000 parishes in Nigeria alone with presence in over 180 countries.
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