Oyedepo Speaks on Church Decision to Retire it’s Senior Pastors.

Oyedepo Speaks on Church Decision to Retire it’s Senior Pastors.

Bishop David Oyedepo, founder of Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel), has called on critics to stop questioning the church’s decisions regarding the retirement of its senior pastors.

This comes after social media criticism followed reports that Bishops Thomas Aremu and David Abioye, both long-serving vice presidents of the ministry, would be retiring after decades of service.

Their retirement, according to sources, aligns with the church’s operational guidelines, known as The Mandate, which functions as its constitution.

In response, during a sermon at Bishop Aremu’s valedictory service held on Tuesday at Winners Chapel, Orita Bashorun, Oyedepo urged people to focus on their own affairs. He explained that the church’s administrative policy, first established in 1998, was revised in 2001, with The Mandate being updated again in 2012 and 2024. This revision set the retirement age at 55, down from 60.

While Oyedepo himself holds the right to serve for life, future leaders will be limited to one or two seven-year terms, pending the Board of Trustees’ approval.

He warned detractors that any hopes for the ministry’s decline were futile, saying, “My advice to critics is to remain quiet and focus on their own business. Wisdom lies in learning from what works.”

He also encouraged Bishop Aremu to remain spiritually grounded, cautioning that taking a break from spiritual commitments is risky. Drawing from Genesis 49:26, Oyedepo reminded the congregation that no one inherits from a teacher or pastor, advising Aremu to maintain his focus on pursuing God.

Aremu, in his own remarks, made it clear that he has no plans to start his own church post-retirement. “This is my church, and I have no capacity or intention to start another,” he stated.

Aremu, once an accountant, transitioned into ministry after a successful professional career, and is now the last surviving bishop from the seven consecrated in Kaduna in 1999.

Meanwhile, Bishop Abioye’s farewell service is scheduled for Friday, 18th October 2024, in Durumi, Abuja.