According to Daily Mail, a Uk Based online News Source. A church run by a controversial multi-millionaire African preacher has been accused of ‘cynical exploitation’ after its British branch received £16.7 million in donations from followers who were told that God would give them riches in return.
Today’s Mail on Sunday revelations about the Winners’ Chapel movement have prompted the Charity Commission to review the charitable status of the church – one of the fastest-growing in the UK.
Winners’ Chapel is part of a worldwide empire of evangelical ministries run by Nigeria’s wealthiest preacher David Oyedepo, who has an estimated £93 million fortune, a fleet of private jets and a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Dubbed ‘The Pastorpreneur’, he was accused earlier this year of slapping the face of a young woman he said was a witch. The assault case was struck out but is being appealed.
Branches of the church have sprung up in major UK cities in a huge recruitment drive centred on Mr Oyedepo’s ‘prosperity gospel’. This claims that congregants who make regular donations and pay tithes – a ten per cent levy on their income – will be rewarded financially by God.
Followers are urged to target vulnerable people such as the lonely, the sick, the homeless and the suicidal as potential candidates for conversion.
Last night, Labour MP Paul Flynn said Winners’ Chapel was cynically exploiting supporters. ‘They [Winners’ Chapel] are making clearly spurious claims and it seems to be a cynical exploitation of the gullible,’ he said.
Referring to the slapping incident, Mr Flynn added: ‘What is also alarming is the reported violence and the lack of respect for the status of women. It’s taking us back to a previous age of ignorance and prejudice that we all thought the church had escaped.’
This newspaper’s investigation can further disclose:
Congregants are handed a payment slip requesting payments using cheque, cash or debit card when they enter London’s Winners’ Chapel.
Donations to the ministry in England almost doubled from £2.21 million to £4.37 million between 2006 and 2010.
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Mr Oyedepo’s superchurch in Nigeria received £794,000 or 73 per cent of the charitable donations paid out by the British Winners’ Chapel between 2007 and 2010. This was despite claims in Africa that he is enriching himself at the expense of his devotees.
The registered charity has spent £6.81 million on evangelism and ‘praise, worship and fellowship’.
The church’s ‘Joseph Squad’ preaches in British prisons and has a weekly broadcast named ‘Liberation Hour’ on satellite and cable TV here.
In the past three years, Winners’ Chapel churches have been established in Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds and Bradford, adding to those in London, Manchester, Dublin and Glasgow.
An undercover Mail on Sunday reporter attended Sunday services at Winners’ Chapel’s ‘London HQ’ in Dartford, Kent, which attracts 1,000 congregants – chiefly African and Caribbean immigrants. It is run like ‘a business conference’ by Mr Oyedepo’s son, David Oyedepo Jnr. Packed buses deliver singing worshippers from South-East London, Essex and Kent to the huge auditorium.
The reporter saw a payment slip being given to every person entering the church encouraging them to donate money by cheque or cash or to fill in a form with their debit card details. The slip said tithes should be paid separately using a ‘Kingdom Investment Booklet’ and the reporter was informed that payments could also be made by phone. A pastor told the worshippers: ‘You shall be financially promoted after this service in Jesus’s name if you are ready to honour the Lord therefore with all your givings, your tithes, your offerings, your Kingdom investment, your sacrifices.’
Congregants were told to fill in their slips and hold them above their heads while the donations were blessed
A jet belong to Bishop Oyedepo
The service was interspersed with testimonies. ‘I received a bill from the bank that I didn’t understand, so I prayed,’ said one congregant. ‘A few days later, the bank wrote to apologise for their mistake – Hallelujah!’ ‘Hallelujah,’ the audience shouted back.
Congregants were told they could gain favour by persuading others to follow Mr Oyedepo’s teachings. His son said: ‘Look around you. Someone is sick and already wishing he or she were dead, that is a fruit ripe to harvest. Someone is confounded and considering suicide as an option, that is another fruit that is ripe to harvest.
‘Someone else is lonely and wondering if there is any future for him, that is another fruit ripe to harvest.
‘Also there are many men and women, young and old that are homeless, these are fruits ripe to harvest.’
The reporter was taken, with 20 other new recruits, to a room where preachers gave sermons claiming acceptance of the Lord would prevent them ever being ill or suffering misfortune.
The Mail on Sunday has seen video footage of Mr Oyedepo striking a woman across the face and condemning her to hell after she said she was a ‘witch for Jesus’. He attacked her in a Winners’ Chapel superchurch, believed to be in Nigeria, in front of worshippers. A separate video shows him saying: ‘I slapped a witch here last year!’
In May, he was sued for £800,000 over the alleged assault. The case was struck out – a decision which is now reported to have been appealed.
The Winners’ Chapel movement, also known as the Living Faith Church, has hundreds of churches in Nigeria and across Africa, the Middle East, the UK and the US.
Mr Oyedepo has received fierce criticism in Africa. One Nigerian journalist accused him of ‘leading a growing list of pastorpreneurs – church founders exploiting the passion and emotion that Christianity commands to feather their nests’.
Catholic Cardinal Anthony Okogie criticised such preachers for placing materialism above Jesus’s message. He reportedly said: ‘They have been skinning the flock, taking out of the milk of the flock.’
Among Mr Oyedepo’s fleet of aircraft are said to be a Gulfstream 1 and Gulfstream 4 private jets. It is also claimed he and his wife, Faith, travel in expensive Jeeps flanked by convoys of siren-blaring vehicles. He is the senior pastor of Faith Tabernacle, a 50,000-seat auditorium in Lagos reputed to be the largest church in the world, and runs a publishing company that distributes books carrying his message across the world.
His other business interests span manufacturing, petrol stations, bakeries, water purification factories, recruitment, a university, restaurants, supermarkets and real estate. The latest addition is a commercial airline named Dominion Airlines.
A Charity Commission spokesman said: ‘The Charity Commission is currently assessing what, if any, regulatory role there is to play with regard to the complaints made against the World Mission Agency. It is important to clarify that this does not constitute an investigation at this stage.’
Winners’ Chapel administrator Tunde Disu declined to comment.
Daily Mail.
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ReplyDeleteIn europe and parts of united states churches are closing up and the buildings put for sale.we in nigeria are easily deceived because of staged managed miracles,poverty and fear.people pls ponder over Jesus words at matt.7:21-23. And matt.7:13-14.pls u guys need to study hard to find the true religion.I weep and pity poor nigerians,these guys are ripping u.pray sincerely to God he will show u d way.
ReplyDeletethou shall not jugde
ReplyDeleteYeah...thou shall not judge...bt no need to judge its clear..so many poor ppl on d street and in churches wif nufin to eat...and our pastors own several private jets..think
DeleteMay God almighty help us so we can give to those who need if that is the key to our greater blessing then we av no option than to give "blessed is the hand that giveth than the one that receive.
ReplyDeleteThe members of his church are usually very rich, n members of d other churches that are not "ripped" are not as rich. Also its nt like the jets are used for pleasure trips but to preach the gospel.I wonder wat u guys will be saying when the members start to own their own personal jets.
ReplyDeleteWonderful!!! Are u forced in any way to pay tithes or give offerings? Has Bishop Oyedepo or any other of these so-called super-rich pastors forced anyone to be a member of their church or to donate money to their ministries? Its simply by choice! How come no one is probing into the financial accounts of the church of satan and other cult/occult groups? Give if u feel like, hold back if u feel like, u are not forced to give! Believe in God if u want to & dont believe if u dont want to, u are still not forced! Life and the way we live it is simply a matter of choice!
ReplyDeleteJust one question is prosperity a proof of your Christainity?don't u know u could gain the whole world and lose your soul?d reason why all these things are coming to light now is bcos God is exposing Dem; He is allowing His people to see clearly so they can ask Him wot is going on, then He would answer. This is how revival starts get ready for the next great outpouring
ReplyDeleteIf there were jets in the days of Abraham, David, Solomon or even Job. They would have owned it yet they are prophets and serVants of God. The bible said I have found David my servant! A servant of God but heavily rich. For Abraham, he said "in blessing will I bless the" it was later recorded that Abraham was very rich in all. Job was the richest man in the east. For Solomon, non has ever over taken him in wealth till date. Jesus rode n a bout alone. Meaning he hired a bout for himself simply saying he was not poor. He rented an upper room for himself during Passover meal which is similar to hiring the hall of a wonderful hotel as of today meaning he had the money. When people came for tax, he paid them an evidence of wealth otherwise why would be taxed. Jesus was gorgeously dressed on a white horse and triumphantly escorted to Jerusalem, as evidence of wealth, respect, honor and dignity. And the same Jesus said whatever u think I have done, you shall even do more if you believe in me (paraphrased). So what are we talking about. There are so many preachers who have been preaching for years but no evidence of a single car let alone a jet. If God has chosen to pour down wealth on him, it's God who sees where man cannot see that has done so. This man started preaching since 1981 but God started blessing him after many year from then. If you want the same blessing follow the rules of kingdom prosperity and u will be blessed also for God is not a respecter of man, what he does for mr A, he can do for mr B if they meet the rules.
ReplyDeletethe days for a deceite pastors to be judged is nearer, but Jesus never demanded any money from no one when He was doing His duty when he was on earth. Many preachers will deceive the people for bleesing and riches, but whoever allow themselve to be deceived they will blame themselves.Pray to God HE will hear you, God said call on me and He will answer you, I know whom Iam serving, I will never by GOd's grace to be deceived.
ReplyDeleteAs a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. blv wat u 1t,but whoever God has blessed, no man can curse or harm him. Give to God..if u blv in Him. keep ur money if u dont. ds criticisms are baseless as far as I am concerned.
ReplyDelete