Founder of the Living Faith Church World Wide
On September 27, 1954, David Olaniyi Oyedepo, a native of Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria, was born in Osogbo into a religiously mixed family. His father, Ibrahim, was a Muslim healer, while his mother, Dorcas, was a member of the Eternal Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement (C&S), a branch of the Aladura Movement in Nigeria. He was raised by his grandmother in Osogbo, who inculcated in him the virtues of Christian life through the early morning prayers which he attended with her. She also taught him the importance of tithing and other Christian virtues.
David Oyedepo was “born again” in 1969 through the influence of his former teacher, Ms. Betty Lasher, who took special interest in him during his high school days. He studied Architecture at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin and worked briefly with the Federal Ministry of Housing in Ilorin before resigning to concentrate on missionary work. David Oyedepo also earned a Ph.D. in Human Development from Honolulu University, Hawaii, United States of America.
David Oyedepo received a mandate from God in an 18 hour long vision in May 1981 to liberate the world from all oppression of the devil through the preaching of the word of faith. This is the inaugural vision that led to the founding of the Living Faith Church World Wide (LFCWW), first called Liberation Faith Hour Ministries, in 1981. Two years after, on September 17, 1983, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, ordained David Oyedepo and his wife, Florence Abiola Akano (now known as Faith Abiola Oyedepo) as pastors and also officially commissioned the newly started church. Five years after, David Oyedepo was ordained a Bishop.
Living Faith Church (a.k.a Winners Chapel) started in Kaduna, but David Oyedepo moved to Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria in September 1989, to start a new branch after receiving an instruction from God to reach out to the population in Lagos. This Church in Lagos grew to become the International headquarters of Living Faith Church, with a constantly increasing flow of crowds spilling over to adjacent roads, and on decks of uncompleted buildings nearby, compelling people to stand for hours to listen to his teachings. This led to the building of the renowned Faith Tabernacle, as instructed by God. David Oyedepo is an acclaimed author and publisher who has written over 90 titles apart from periodicals. He is also Chairman/Publisher of Dominion Publishing House (DPH), the publishing arm of his ministry. DPH has over 4 million prints in circulation to date. Through God’s grace upon him, Covenant University, Landmark University, Faith Academy and Kingdom Heritage Model Schools have been established to equip the youth for impact.
Largest Church Auditorium
In 1998, David Oyedepo set forth to
build a new building to accommodate
the increasing number of
worshippers. This resulted in the
Ministry’s acquisition of the
initial 530-acre (2.1 km2) facility,
known as Canaanland, which serves as
the headquarters of the Ministry. It
is the home of the 50,000-seat
capacity auditorium, the ‘Faith
Tabernacle’, which is reputed to be
the largest Church auditorium in the
world; a feat also recorded in the
Guinness Book of World
Records.
The speed of the construction of
Faith Tabernacle was breath-taking,
considering the size of the
building. Construction of this
gigantic project was completed
within 12 months, which experts
claim could only have been a
miracle, because such a project
would normally take a minimum of
three years to complete. To the
glory of God, this building was also
built debt-free. This 50,000-seat
edifice was dedicated on September
18, 1999.
Canaanland is in Ota, a suburb of
Lagos and is the 5,000-acre (20 km2)
estate and campus, that houses the
50,000-seat church building, the
church secretariat, the church’s
youth chapel, a primary school
called Kingdom Heritage Model
School, a full boarding mission
secondary school called Faith
Academy with over 1,500 students,
and Covenant University which
accommodates over 7,000 students,
fully resident in ultra-modern
hostel facilities, with fully
equipped faculty buildings and
numerous staff housing
facilities.
Canaanland also houses other
establishments operated by the
church such as a bakery, a bottled
water processing plant, a petrol
station, various restaurants and
shopping stores, several residential
houses that provide for the over
2,000 church employees, and guest
houses. Four banks are also located
in this estate, three of which are
branches of external commercial
banks and one which is a community
and micro-finance bank operated by
the Church.
Christain Ministry
The teachings of David Oyedepo have
put him in the category of what is
commonly called the Word of Faith
Movement. He has referred to
principal exponents of this
Movement, such as, Kenneth Copeland,
Gloria Copeland, the late Kenneth E.
Hagin, T.L Osborn, Smith
Wigglesworth, as well as renowned
Nigerian preachers, Pastor Enoch
Adeboye and the late Arch-Bishop
Benson Idahosa as mentors.
The teachings of David Oyedepo are
grouped under a range of topics
called ‘12 pillars of Destiny’,
which include: Faith, The Word,
Prosperity, the Holy Spirit, Praise,
Consecration, the Supernatural,
Wisdom, Prayer, Success, Vision and
Healing. The overall focus of his
teachings center around faith in
God’s Word, Prosperity and Signs and
Wonders. He teaches that faith in
the word of God is the key to a life
of God’s blessings and security from
the works of the devil. His
teachings on prosperity are aimed at
empowering people to live free from
poverty, particularly on the African
continent.
He describes his own teachings on
prosperity as “covenant software for
programming yourself into victories
and triumphs.” Winners Chapel also
operates a Bible training program
known as Word of Faith Bible
Institute (WOFBI) for members and
non-members alike to develop
knowledge of Christian principles,
and to develop leaders and future
pastors. This institute is run in
major branches of the
Church.
David Oyedepo is the President of
David Oyedepo Ministries
International (DOMI). DOMI is the
umbrella organization comprising
Living Faith Church Worldwide (a
global network of churches), World
Mission Agency (WMA); the global
missionary arm of the church’s
operations, Dominion Publishing
House; the publishing arm of the
church, Covenant University,
Landmark University, and the Social
Development Missions projects (made
up of hospitals, maternity homes,
schools, etc.)
David Oyedepo is also a strong
critic of corruption in Africa as a
whole and poor leadership in
government.
Family Life
In 1982, he married Florence Abiola Akano (now known as Faith). They have four children together (David Jr., Isaac, Love and Joys). David Jr. and Isaac Oyedepo were ordained as Pastors in May 2007 by Kenneth Copeland..