RCCG pegs retirement age for pastors at 70, makes leadership changes

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has announced some changes in the leadership of the church, following the retirement of some familiar faces.

Various sources, who confirmed the changes announced at the end of the church’s ministers’ conference on Sunday, said a formal announcement of the full list would be made available by the administration department of the church.

Usually, the conference is not broadcast or covered by journalists.

Among the announcements made was the retirement of Pastor Joseph Obayemi, RCCG national overseer, and some other pastors who are over 70 years old.

Adeboye was said to have explained that the retirement age for all RCCG pastors will now be pegged at 70, but some of those on retirement could be given lesser roles.

A source said the general overseer is under “clear instruction (from God)” to inject younger persons into the leadership of the church.

Pastor Sunday Akande is to replace Pastor Obayemi as the RCCG national overseer, while Pastor Kalu Ndukwe will serve as the overseer of the African continent.

The position of national overseer of the church will now be on a two-year tenure basis, while the pastor occupying the position will operate from the Redemption Camp.

All churches in the camp would henceforth report to Pastor Akande, who will also represent Pastor Adeboye on special assignments.

Also affected by the leadership change is Pastor Johnson Odesola, who was in charge of administration and personnel of the church.

His twin portfolios will now be taken over by the duo of Julius Olalekan, who will be in charge of personnel, and Pastor Dele Balogun, who will take charge of administration.

An elder of the church described Dele Balogun and Julius Olalekan as “vibrant and dynamic pastors both born in 1968″.

“Pastor Balogun, for example, was a professor at Olabisi Onabanjo University, who has dropped his academic titles to serve the Lord,” the elder added.

Pastor Adeboye added that although God has not revealed the next general overseer to him, he has the confirmation that the person would be young.

As part of the changes, he also said the Redemption Camp will henceforth carry the tag of a city, just like the Vatican City, while the ring road in the camp, named after the founder of the church, Pastor Josiah Akindayomi. Some other roads were named after some retired pastors of the church.

The City, according to Pastor Adeboye — when as the general overseer in the early 1980s, he was living in a one-room apartment in Mushin, a suburb of Lagos because of the weak financial position of the church — is clearly one of the miracles of the church, which continues to spread worldwide, even to countries like Libya.

Pastor Adeboye had left his job as a university lecturer living a large seven-bedroom house, to be the RCCG general overseer.

DAY ONE

On the first day of the 2022 national convention of the church, Pastor Adeboye spoke passionately to house-fellowship leaders and workers of the church about the joy of being in the presence of God.

He cited the example of King David, who spoke often about the joy of being in God’s presence. For example, David had said: ‘I was glad when they told me let us go into the House of the Lord’.

According to Pastor Adeboye, David was glad because he knew that in the presence of the Lord, there is the fullness of joy and an end to problems. He was also glad because in the House of the Lord, there are prayers; and the Scripture says, ‘seek the Lord, when He is near’.

“David, who desired to live in the house of the Lord for the rest of his life, knew with that, goodness and mercy would follow him all the days of his life. But because we all cannot relocate to the House of the Lord, there is wisdom in creating conditions for God’s presence in our homes,” he said.

“House fellowship centres in homes invites God’s presence. The presence of the Ark of the Lord in the house of a stranger, Odededom, changed his fortunes so dramatically in three months, that David rushed to take it with energetic dancing, now known as David’s dance.”

He also said ‘Jubilee’, which is the theme of the convention, means restoration — a new beginning.

“And David danced and rejoiced greatly, because he got his jubilee restored to him. When you open up your house for God, He will be near to you,” he said.

The day was full of activities, including the colourful graduation ceremony of the Redeemed Christian Bible College (RCBC). Among them was an octogenarian, Ojie Mabel Iwegbundu, who bagged a postgraduate diploma in theology.

An excited Pastor Adeboye, himself aged 80, tweeted about her.

“In the 42 years existence of RCBC, we had the oldest graduating student ever in attendance. She is an 87-year-old grandmother who was admitted and successfully completed her studies leading to the award of postgraduate diploma in Theology today from Faith Campus Zone, Ejigbo, Lagos State,” he said.

“It is such a wonderful delight that RCBC programmes have a broad-spectrum appeal to diverse age groups.”