Brief History of the Mission,
RCCG.
In July 1909, a son was born into the Akindayomi
family of Ondo State of Nigeria. Even though this
child grew up surrounded by idol worshippers,
he knew there existed a greater power and yearned
to know "the God who created the earth and
everyone on it". This pursuit for God led
him to the Church Missionary Society where he
was baptized in 1927. Still spiritually unfulfilled,
he joined the Cherubim and Seraphim church in
1931. 
Whilst there, he began to hear a voice within
him saying, "You will be my servant."
Since this was not his intention, he decided to
ignore the voice. This went on for seven years
during which all the business ventures that he
tried resulted into failure. In debt and without
peace of mind, he found himself totally dependent
on the grace of God. Here marked the beginning
of a definite relationship with God. Totally broken,
he yielded saying, "Lord, I will go wherever
you want me to go." He asked for signs to
confirm that this was indeed God's call. The confirmation
came through the Bible passages of Jeremiah 1:4-10,
Isaiah 41:10-13 and Romans 8:29-31. The Lord assured
him that He would provide for all his needs, as
he would not receive any salary from that point
on. This proved to be a comforting reminder during
the trials in the months ahead. He became married
in 1941. He continued to worship with the Cherubim
and Seraphim. In 1947, he started to become concerned
that the Church was departing from the true Word
of God in some of its practices. By 1952, he felt
totally persuaded to leave the Church. He started
at Willoughby Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos a house
fellowship called, the Glory of God Fellowship.
Initially there were nine members but before long
the fellowship rapidly grew as the news of the
miracles that occurred in their midst spread.
Pa Akindayomi also had a vision of words that
appeared to be written on a blackboard. The words
were "The Redeemed Christian Church of God."
Amazingly, Pa Akindayomi who could not read or
write was supernaturally able to write these words
down. In this visitation, God also said to him
that this Church would go to the ends of the earth
and that when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in
glory, He would meet the Church. The Lord then
established a covenant with Pa Akindayomi, synonymous
to the Abrahamic covenant in the Bible. He said
that He the Lord would meet all the needs of the
church in an awesome way if only members would
serve Him faithfully and be obedient to His Word.
It is upon this covenant that the Redeemed Christian
Church of God was built.
Thus, the Redeemed Christian Church of God was
born in 1952, destined by the Lord Himself to
take the world for Him. The Church continued to
meet at 9 Willoughby Street until they were able
to acquire some land thereby witnessing relocation
to the present site of the Headquarters of the
Church at 1-5 Redemption Way, Ebute-Metta, Lagos
(formerly 1a, Cemetery Street).
Sometime in the early 70s, God had spoken to
Pa Akindayomi about his successor. The Lord told
him that this man who was not a member of the
Church then, would be a young educated man. Thus
when a young university lecturer joined the Church
in 1973, Papa was able to recognize him in the
Spirit as the one that the Lord had spoken about
in the past. This man, 
Enoch
Adejare Adeboye who was then a lecturer of Mathematics
at the University of Lagos soon became involved
in the Church. He became one of the interpreters
translating Pa Akindayomi's sermons from Yoruba
to English. He was ordained a Pastor of the Church
in 1975.
Papa was preparing to meet his Creator, he sent
for Pastor Adeboye, (who is fondly known as "G.O"
or "DADDY G.O." and is still the General
Overseer of the Church) and spent several hours
sharing with him details of the covenant and the
plans of the Lord for the Church. Even though
a year before this, the Lord had revealed to Pastor
Adeboye that he would be Papa's successor, it
was still too difficult for him to fully contemplate
such an awesome responsibility. Pa Josiah Akindayomi
passed on to glory in 1980
at the age of 71. Amidst controversy, Pastor Adeboye's
appointment was formalized by the reading of Pa
Akindayomi's sealed pronouncement after his burial.
Since 1981, an open explosion began with the
number of parishes growing in leaps and bounds.
At the last count, there are at least about 2000
parishes of the Redeemed Christian Church of God
in Nigeria. Today, there are over 5000 Parishes
of RCCG worldwide. RCCG is present on six continents
except Antarctica. There are over 300 parishes
in North America. The most phenomenal programs
of the RCCG are the Monthly Holy Ghost Night,
and the Yearly Holy Ghost Congress, all-night
prayer, worship, healing and miracle services,
which take place at the Redemption City' near
Lagos, Nigeria. The Holy Ghost Night, a monthly
event attracts on overage attendance of 500,000
people. No doubt that under the leadership of
Pastor Adeboye, the RCCG is experiencing phenomenal
growth in pursuit of the Covenant upon which the
Church was built as he faithfully continues with
the work where Pa Akindayomi stopped.
Today, God is still doing marvelous deeds through
the Redeemed Christian Church of God, worldwide.
One of the well-known programs of the Church is
the Holy Ghost Service, an all night miracle service
that holds on the first Friday of every month
at the Redemption City at Km. 46, Lagos-Ibadan
expressway. The average headcount of those who
attend the Service is about 500,000. The Holy
Ghost Service, popularly known as the Festival
of Life now holds in London quarterly and in the
United States of America.
RCCG Mission Statement
Below is the Mission Statement for the Redeemed
Christian Church of God:
- To make Heaven, this is the ultimate goal.
- To take as many people as possible with us to
Heaven.
- To have an RCCG member in every family of the
earth.
- To make Heaven, we must live a Holy life.
- To accomplish Nos. 2 and 3 above, we will plant
Churches within five minutes walking distance
in every city and town of developing Countries
and within five minutes driving distance in every
city and town of developed Countries.
- We will pursue these objectives until every
Nation of the Earth is reached for Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Obedience to the Word
And in obedience to the above, RCCG Light House
presently have three (3) Parishes to the Glory
of God, (including our Parish in Banbury) with
our Mother Parish in Oxford.
- Below are the list of the Parishes and the Pastors-in-charge:
Name
of Parish |
|
Pastor-in-charge |
|
Website |
Light
House, Oxford |
|
Pastor
Abraham Adegoke |
|
Light
House, Abingdon |
|
Pastor
Mike Davies |
|
Light
House, Banbury |
|
Pastor
(Mrs.) Funmi Adegoke |
|
