David Oyedepo, founder of the Living Faith Church, also known as Winners Chapel, has urged critics to refrain from questioning the church’s decisions regarding the retirement of its pastors.
Oyedebo had been criticised following reports that his two vice presidents, Thomas Aremu and David Abioye, would be retiring after serving three and four decades in the ministry.
Their retirement is said to be in line with the church’s operational guidelines called “The Mandate”, which serves as its constitution.
Reacting to the criticims that trailed the retirement of the clergymen online while delivering a sermon at the valedictory service for Aremu at Winners Chapel, Orita Bashorun, on Tuesday, Oyedepo asked critics to focus on their own affairs.
He said the church’s Administrative Policy of 1998 was reviewed in 2001, while The Mandate of 2012 was revised in 2024, stressing that the ministry operates by divine order.
The revised Mandate has changed the retirement age from 60 to 55.
While the Founder, Oyedepo, retains the right to serve for life.
Future church leaders will be restricted to one or two terms of seven years, pending approval by the Board of Trustees.
Oyedepo, however, warned that those wishing for the downfall of the church were wasting their lives.
“My advice to commentators is to study to be quiet and mind your business. It is wisdom to learn what is working and find out what makes it work. Everything works here”, he said.
He urged Aremu to keep God at the centre of his life, adding that taking a spiritual break is risky.
He urged him to maintain a mindset focused on growth, saying, “There’s no such thing as the best today or tomorrow; what matters is your pursuit of God.”
Oyedepo urged Aremu to remain connected for the continued flow of grace, advising him not to be distracted by baseless criticism.
Earlier in his address, Aremu stated that he had no intention of leaving Winners Chapel to establish his own church after retirement.
“I don’t have a church, and I cannot have a church because God has not infused me with the capacity to do so. This is my church,” he said.
Aremu, a former accountant, transitioned into full-time ministry following a successful career in his field.
He is distinguished as the last surviving bishop among the seven consecrated at the Garden of Faith in Kaduna in November 1999.
Meanwhile, Abioye’s farewell ceremony is set for Friday, October 18, 2024, at Durumi, Abuja.
Credit: The Punch