ABOUT THE REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD

The Redeemed Christian Church of God was founded in Nigeria, West Africa, in 1952. A man by the name of Josiah Akindayomi, born originally into an idol-worshipping family in 1909, became a Christian after he met members of the then “Church Missionary Society” in 1927, and then joined the “Cherubim and Seraphim” church for a while. Not long after, he received a call from God to start a new, non-denominational church. He resisted the call for seven years. When he finally surrendered his will to God, he was given the name of the Church in a vision. He could neither read nor write at the time, but in a vision he saw some strange symbols or letters appear on a wall, and he was instructed to copy what he saw on a piece of wooden board. He did so very painstakingly and diligently. He then took the board to Lagos and showed it to relations of his who read out the name “The Redeemed Christian Church of God”.

When he told them that this was the name of the church he had been instructed to start, he was mocked and ignored for a while. He also disclosed that during that same visitation, God told him that this church would spread out to reach the ends of the earth, and that when the Lord Jesus Christ would return in glory, He would meet the church still going strong. He was also given clear conditions for this covenant to be in effect: he and the whole must live holy, never stop witnessing and winning souls, and always worship God with their all. Akindayomi went ahead and started a fellowship which he called “Ogo Oluwa” or “Glory of God Society”. Then with great signs and wonders happening daily, the church was established before the end of 1952. Josiah Akindayomi became the “General Superintendent” at inception.

Meanwhile, Akindayomi was supernaturally taught to read the Bible in the Yoruba language, his native tongue, and it soon became clear to all that this was a truly anointed man of God, a prodigy and a great Bible scholar. He demonstrated amazing gifts of preaching, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, etc. Many souls were saved, and the Church grew very rapidly in the then Western Region of Nigeria. In the late seventies, God revealed to Pa Akindayomi that his successor would be a young, educated and anointed man who would fulfill the covenant of taking the church to the ends of the earth. By the time this great founder passed on to glory in 1980 at the age of 71, the Church could count about 2000 members in 39 parishes in the southern part of Nigeria. It has been and remains a Holy Spirit-filled Church that believes in the total counsel of God as expressed in the Holy Bible.

In the early 1970’s, Dr. Enoch Adejare Adeboye, a young university teacher with a Ph.D. in Mathematics (specializing in hydrodynamics) joined the church and later became the interpreter who translated the messages of Pa Akindayomi from Yoruba into the English language. This was the man the General Superintendent later named to succeed him, and who is now the General Overseer of the Church. Since he took over the mantle of leadership in 1981, Pastor Adeboye has carried on and expanded the vision, the anointing, and the success of the Church. By the end of the year 2003, the Church can count an estimated 2 million members in 80 nations of the world.

Perhaps the most phenomenal program unique to the Redeemed Christian Church of God today is the Holy Ghost Service, an all-night prayer, healing and miracle service which takes place on the first Friday of each month at the “Redemption Camp” near Lagos, Nigeria. The regular attendance is about one million worshippers. It has now been extended to other cities and locations in Nigeria and the rest of the world, often at the request of members and congregations in those places. It has been held in South Africa, in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, etc.

Recently the Holy Ghost Services metamorphosed into the “International Holy Ghost Festival” which was first celebrated in 1998 (called “Lekki ’98) because it took place at the Lekki Beach near Lagos, the only place that could take the crowd at the time). That gathering drew a crowd, which CNN reportedly estimated at over six million. The attendance has since grown, and the Holy Ghost Festival - recently renamed “Holy Ghost Congress” - now takes place once a year at the specially prepared Holy Ghost Arena at the Redemption City near Lagos, Nigeria.