Living Faith Church Worldwide (also known as Winners Chapel) is a megachurch and a Christian denomination founded by Bishop David Oyedepo in 1983. The organization has since become a global network of churches with congregations in 65 countries.
Living Faith Church Worldwide
Classification Evangelicalism
Theology Neo-charismatic movement
Headquarters Canaanland, Km. 10, Idiroko Road, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria
Founder Bishop David Oyedepo
Origin 1983 (36 years ago)Ilesha, Nigeria
Official website faithtabernacle.org.ng
History
The beginnings of the church start May 1981 when Oyedepo aged twenty six had a spiritual encounter. He claims to have an eighteen hour supernatural encounter which was a vision from God.
He says God spoke to him saying, "Now the hour has come to liberate the world from all oppressions of the devil, through the preaching of the Word of faith; and I am sending you to undertake this task".
In 1983, the church began operating with four members on December 11.
Faith Tabernacle to present
Canaanland was procured in 1998 and was initially 560 acres (2.3 km2), it is in Ota, Ogun, Nigeria. The church's international headquarters, Faith Tabernacle, was built in Cannanland between 1998 and 1999, taking twelve months to complete.
The foundation laying took place on August 29, 1998. The dedication of the building took place on September 19, 1999 with 97,800 people in attendance. The structure is purported to have been built without any debts.
In 1999, the BBC reported that Faith Tabernacle was the largest church the world with respect to how many worshipers it can seat. It has a seating capacity of just over fifty thousand people. The largest church in terms of size is Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
In December 2015, Oyedepo Jnr became the resident pastor of the Faith Tabernacle.
Oyedepo announced commencement of the construction of a 100,000 capacity Faith Arena. The Theatre will be centralized within a 15,000 housing estate to be known as 'Canaan City'.
Beliefs
The Church is founded upon twelve core emphases as follows:
1. Faith (1 John 5:4; Eph. 6:16)
2. The Word (John 1:1-12; Heb. 1:3)
3. Signs and Wonders (Ps. 82:5-7; John 3:8)
4. The Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-8; Isaiah 10:27)
5. Prosperity (3 John 2; Ps. 35:27; Zech. 1:17)
6. Prayer (1 John 5:14)
7. Healing (Isaiah 53:3-4; Jer. 8:22; Matt. 8:17)
8. Wisdom (Prov. 24:3-4, Isaiah 33:6)
9. Success (Joshua 1:8-10)
10. Vision (Prov. 29:18, Jer. 29:11)
11. Consecration (Hebrews12:14; 2Tim. 2:19)
12. Praise (2 Chro. 20:20-22; Ps. 67:1-7; 149:1-9)
The theological position of the church is Pentecostal.
Organisation
Living Faith Church entrance in Canaanland
As of 2014, the Church was in 65 countries.
Dominion Publishing House
The publishing house that grew out of Winner's Chapel was founded on 5 December 1992.
Dominion Publishing House has published over 120 books, most of which have been written by Oyedepo.
Education
Several educational institutions are linked to the chapel, including Covenant University, Landmark University, Faith Academy and over 150 Kingdom Heritage Model Schools.
In addition, there is a ministry training college called The Word of Faith Bible Institute.
United Kingdom
In 2014, the church applied to open a Kingdom Heritage Model School in Kent. Concerns were raised by the National Secular Society about the church linking disobedience to witchcraft. The application was later withdrawn.
Shiloh
Every year in December, the church hosts a global event called Shiloh. The church says the mandate for this event is drawn from the Bible books of Joshua 18:1 and 1Samuel 1:3.
The event is held mostly in the first week of December.
The church sees the purpose of the event as being to usher the visitation of God to his people. It also marks the end of the Church year.
As of 2012, there were millions in attendance. The Presiding Bishop also said up to 160 nations hooked up to Shiloh 2015, with nationals from 55 nations present at the Canaanland, Ota Ogun State.
No comments:
Post a Comment