Living Faith Church Worldwide (also known as Winners' Chapel) is an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

charismatic Christian denomination and a

megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

. The headquarters is located in Ota,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The organization has since become a global network of churches with over 6 million members in 147 countries.

History

The beginning of the church manifested on May 2, 1981, when

David Oyedepo David Olaniyi Oyedepo (born 27 September 1954) is a Nigerian preacher, Christian author, businessman, architect and the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, and presiding Bishop of the Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. T ...

(aged 26) had a spiritual encounter while lodging in one of the rooms within the International Hotel located in the Omi-Asoro Quarters of Ilesa city, in the present day

Osun State Osun State (; yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Ọ̀ṣun), occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Og ...

. He claimed to have an eighteen-hour supernatural encounter which was a vision from God. 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.Martin Lindhardt, ''Pentecostalism in Africa: Presence and Impact of Pneumatic Christianity in Postcolonial Societies'', BRILL, Netherlands, 2014, page 115

Faith Tabernacle

Canaanland was procured in 1998 and was initially . It is in

Ota, Ogun Ota (alternatively spelled Otta') is a town in Ogun State, Nigeria with an estimated 163,783 residents. Ota is the capital of the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area. The traditional leader of Ota is the Olota of Ota, Oba Adeyemi AbdulKabir Obala ...

. 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. In 1999, the Faith Tabernacle was inaugurated with 50,400 seats. On Dec 11 2013, Oyedepo's first son, David Oyedepo Jnr, ministered for the first time at the church's annual Shiloh gathering. In December 2015, Oyedepo Jnr became the resident pastor of th
Faith Tabernacle
Oyedepo announced the commencement of the construction of a 100,000 capacity sanctuary called "The Ark" (It was formerly called Faith Theatre). The Ark will specifically take 106,000 seats and will include a 20 Floor Mission Tower (International Headquarters Facility). It is to be built on the site of the old Faith Academy adjoining Faith Tabernacle which will now become its overflow facility. The groundbreaking of the project took place on Thursday 25 March 2021.

Organization

Canaanland (Living Faith Church Worldwide)

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.

Beliefs

The Church is founded upon twelve core emphases called the 12-Pillars. The theological position of the church is

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

. The denomination has a charismatic

confession of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The e ...

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 Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. 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's calendar 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 Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to th ...

References

External links

* , official website of the Faith Tabernacle
Winners Chapel London

Winners Chapel New York

Covenant University

Dominion Publishing House

Landmark University
{{coord missing, Nigeria 1981 establishments in Nigeria Charismatic denominations Christian organizations based in Nigeria Christianity in Lagos Evangelical megachurches in Nigeria Organizations based in Ogun State Pentecostal denominations established in the 20th century Religious organizations based in Lagos Christian organizations established in 1981 Word of Faith churches