Religion

Bishop Oyedepo Addresses Retirement Criticism Amid Transition of Leadership

Written by Jerry Alomatu on October 16, 2024

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Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel), has urged critics to cease questioning the church’s retirement policies for its pastors. This response follows backlash on social media regarding the upcoming retirements of Vice Presidents Bishops Thomas Aremu and David Abioye after three and four decades of service, respectively.

In a sermon delivered during Bishop Aremu’s farewell service at Winners Chapel in Orita Bashorun on Tuesday, Oyedepo stressed the importance of individuals focusing on their personal matters. He clarified that the church’s operational guidelines, known as The Mandate, govern these decisions. He highlighted that the Administrative Policy underwent a review in 2001 and that The Mandate was updated in 2024, which included reducing the retirement age from 60 to 55.

While Oyedepo has the right to serve indefinitely, future leaders will be restricted to one or two terms of seven years, subject to Board of Trustees approval. He cautioned those wishing for the ministry’s decline that such thoughts were futile, stating, “My advice to commentators is to study to be quiet and mind your business.”

The bishop encouraged Aremu to keep his focus on God and warned against taking a spiritual hiatus, describing it as potentially hazardous. He quoted Genesis 49:26 to underline that “no one has an inheritance in a teacher or pastor,” urging Aremu to adopt a growth mindset. “There’s no such thing as the best today or tomorrow; what matters is your pursuit of God,” he affirmed.

Aremu, who shifted from a successful career in accounting to full-time ministry, assured congregants that he has no plans to establish his own church post-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 declared.

Bishop Abioye’s farewell ceremony is set for Friday, 18th October 2024, in Durumi, Abuja.