In July 1909, a boy was born in the Akindayomi family in Nigeria. Despite growing up among idol worshippers, he strongly desired to know the world’s Creator. He was baptized in 1927 by the Church Missionary Society, but he still felt spiritually unfulfilled. In 1931, he joined the Cherubim and Seraphim church.
While there, he heard a voice telling him he would be a servant of God, which he initially ignored. He surrendered to God’s will after seven years of failed business ventures, debt, and turmoil.
He received confirmation through Bible passages and accepted God’s call, committing to go wherever God led him. In 1941, he got married and continued his religious journey.
By 1952, he believed the Cherubim and Seraphim church was straying from true teachings, so he started a house fellowship called the Glory of God Fellowship. This small group grew due to reported miracles. He had a vision where he saw the words “The Redeemed Christian Church of God” written on a blackboard, and despite his inability to read or write, he wrote them down. God told him this church would spread worldwide and meet Jesus upon His return.
God established a covenant with him, promising to meet the church’s needs if members remained faithful. This formed the foundation of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, founded in 1952. The church moved to its present headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria.
In the early 1970s, he was told about his successor, Enoch Adejare Adeboye, a young university lecturer who joined the church in 1973. Adeboye became involved in translating sermons and was ordained a pastor in 1975.
Before his passing at 71, the founder spent time with Adeboye, sharing details of the church’s plans. Although Adeboye knew he would be the successor, it was a challenging responsibility. After the founder’s death, Adeboye’s appointment was confirmed by reading the founder’s sealed pronouncement.
Our Belief
The Bible and Salvation through Jesus Christ
We believe the Holy Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and only infallible, authoritative word of God; that in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, we find the complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of men and the Divine source for all Christian faith and action.
We believe in one God, the Creator of all things who is infinitely perfect and eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
We believe that Jesus Christ is a faithful God and true man. He was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Further, He arose bodily from the dead and ascended into Heaven and is now seated at the Father’s right hand as our High Priest and Mediator, and we look forward to receiving Him as our soon-coming King.
We believe that man was created in the image of God but fell into sin and is therefore lost; only through regeneration by the Holy Ghost can salvation and spiritual life be obtained. Jesus’ shed blood, and resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation.
Baptism in Water and the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s Supper, and Supernatural Living
We believe in the ministry and baptism of the Holy Ghost empowering and enabling the believer to live a holy life in this present world and to minister with supernatural power and anointing as Jesus did; that every believer should be filled with the Holy Ghost with speaking in tongues as the initial physical evidence.
We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances to be observed by the church during this present age. However, they are not to be regarded as means of salvation.
We believe that the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ provides not only the new birth of the believer’s human spirit but also physical healing and prosperity; that we are redeemed from the curse of the law of Moses: poverty, sickness, and death.
We believe that the true church is composed of all those who are born again and that through this new birth, we are united together in the body of Christ, Jesus being the Lord and Head of the Church.
We believe in the local church as the assembly of the righteous together to preach the gospel and world evangelization and discipleship.
We believe in giving tithes and offerings to the local church and itinerant and other ministries in the body of Christ to do the work of the ministry; this is a divinely instituted avenue of spiritual, financial, and material blessings to the individual believer.
Perfection of the Church
Furthermore, in the light of the preparation of the Church to experience the perfection and fullness of Christ, we believe:
In using the principles of faith daily to obtain eternal life, which is having the nature of Christ: (eternal life) in an abundant measure for the needs of your spirit, soul, body, and circumstances each day.
This is a vital key to the end-time revival that will cause the gospel of the Kingdom to be preached and demonstrated in the fullness of the character and power of Christ to all nations for a witness which will usher in the physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ for the rapture and ultimately the millennial reign.
We believe in using the principles of faith to create and develop, and ultimately perfect the character of Christ in the individual Christian. Another vital key to the end-time revival.
We believe it is possible to grow in both nature and character to a place of Christian Perfection, i.e. having total dominion over sin in this life and being cleansed from the sinful nature in the spirit, soul, and body. This is the trigger of the end-time revival.
We believe that this is the day of the Lord and that God is presently raising a company of saints who will obtain the end of their faith: the total salvation of the soul and body from the sin nature and so walk as Jesus walked upon this earth in the fullness of His character and power, and do more wondrous works than Christ did according to 1 Peter 1:5,9, John 14:12 and 1 John 2:5,6:
Second Coming of Christ, Resurrection, and Eternal Judgement
We believe in the personal, pre-millennial, and imminent coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the restoration of His kingdom here on earth. This “blessed hope” has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer, as possessing this hope encourages the believer to be in a state of perpetual purity.
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, the believer to everlasting joy with the Lord,and the unbeliever to judgment and eternal conscious punishment.