“RCCG of greed sinking in Bermuda Triangle” – former pastor warns Adeboye

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) came under fire for allegedly refusing to pay a former pastor who had worked for Christ Redeemer’s College.

Bayo Akinjiyan, the former RCCG pastor, also turned over his house at Redemption Camp (as he said church policy demands) to RCCG after he resigned. He said he wrote several letters to the church asking them to do the needful but they ignored him.

RCCG general overseer Pastor Enoch. A. Adeboye and wife Foluke were named in the alleged cover up worth at least N62 million.

Five days after Akinjiyan opened up to the press, RCCG arranged a secret meeting with him, apologised to him, and settled him, the former pastor said.

“Spiritually speaking, the ship of the church is sailing fast towards the abyss in the dangerous waters of the Bermuda Triangle and only divine intervention and prayers of saints can avert the imminent cataclysm. Forget about all the propaganda of foreign programmes, crowd gatherings and all the hypes, the chicken will soon come to roost.”

Akinjiyan said he’s forgiven RCCG but had strong words for the way the church has “turned a house of prayer for all nations into a den of thieves by the expressway.”

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Akinjiyan’s statement reads in part:

WATCH: RCCG must repent, former pastor warns

1. Structural review to enabling e communications to and from the leadership of RCCG to get to the desired destinations. There are so many Pastor Bayo Akinjiyans within their system, who have for so long been suffering in silence with no courage to cry out for justice. With the gargantuan size of RCCG, the newly appointed AGOs should be empowered to act decisively on some issues and only give feedback to the top. An enduring structure should be put in place immediately. I reliably learnt that there is now a complaints commission. I hope they ‘ll be empowered to act decisively. I also would like to suggest that the phone numbers of the G.O’s Secretary and that of his Personal Assistant  should be in the public domain. Please sir allow your people to get to you. Many of them are being oppressed on daily basis and their cries have reached the high heavens.
2. Many of RCCG senior pastors both at home and abroad are nice, refined and godly, but some of them have become larger than life pastors who have graduated to become provincial principalities and regional terrorists. Ask me of my experience, I’ll write you a book to read. God is against every form of oppression and injustice. Pastor Adeboye needs to do something fast on these demi-gods who have bought their way into leadership positions and have become untamable and uncontrollable. They sit over mega churches and have access to questionable wealth. I’m sure he knows them.
3. Need to review the rules bordering on home ownership at Redemption camp. Times have changed and only God remains unchangeable. Anyone exiting the mission without blemish and have served acceptably should be given the opportunity of his house being bought over by the Mission or sold at the prevailing market price to church members, provided his immediate family supports this in writing. The present scenario of losing your house if you leave the church calls for an urgent review as it is anachronistic, unprogressive, slavish and outrightly unjustifiable. This can’t be done in Redemption Camp at Fortsworth, Dallas in the USA  For those who saw my actions of building in church owned land as foolish, well I don’t blame you. Some of us who bought into this idea of building on camp ground in the first place are hurt by the fact that the church took undue advantage of us. Please carry out a survey on the present residents to know their fears and feelings.
4. A forensic audit should be carried out from time to time on RCCG Mission affiliated ministries- Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries, (CRM) and its agencies such as schools, bookshops, supermarkets, university and others. If pastors in charge of parishes cannot buy a bottle of coke for themselves with church money after a laborious Sunday service without being queried by auditors, same should apply elsewhere. What is good for the goose, is also good for the gander. What do you say in a situation where a school principal could single handedly award a contract of repainting a block of classroom, clinic and small crèche of the size of a 3 bedroom flat, a dining hall (seating less than 500) for a whopping sum of N8.438Million Naira. This is why many of the church members can’t afford to send their children to these high fee paying mission schools. It’s a shame! Are those in authority aware of this malfeasance? When you see them, please ask them. Please sir, sanitize the system so that God can answer the prayers of the saints.
5. Appointment into positions within the church and affiliate agencies should purely be on merit. People who are appointed into positions on other considerations by the church leadership tend to abuse the system and most often uncontrollable by the board or authority overseeing them. Family members should only be appointed into positions if they are qualified but not all positions. In the light of this, could there be consideration for an appointment into the position of AGO Finance?
6. The church should avoid double standard. Same yardstick should be used for everybody. Please sir, permit me give one or two instances here: a celebrity pastor was allegedly forced to resign a few years back because he went into a second marriage while the first wife walked out on him. What difference does that make to another pastor, a widower who was allegedly joined in ‘holy’ matrimony by the church to a divorced woman with three children from the first marriage while the first husband is still alive? Except that one took place in Nigeria, and the other in the USA. Or what do you say of a pastor who was allegedly asked to refund less than N5,000 which was unaccounted for during an audit exercise of his church while a foreign mission director was alleged to have collected $10,000 for a mission field abroad only to part with 40% of it to the missionary on ground out of which his (director) accommodation and honorarium were paid? The remaining 60% according to him was for the ‘people at home’. Meanwhile the missionary was made to sign for $10,000.00. No audit for such money transited? There should be no sacred cows. We are all equal before God.
7. Finally, it is time for the church to become more relevant to the needs of her members and the society especially at this trying times in our Nation. More efforts should be geared at giving back to the society. After 64 years of her existence, more is expected from RCCG. The annual budget of RCCG is alleged to be higher than that of some states in the federation. Please sir, kindly look into provision of more scholarships for indigent but brilliant students, lower school fees in schools owned and operated with mission fund, free skill acquisition for your youths and women in urban and rural communities throughout the Nation, better welfare package for full time staff and junior part time pastors below the rank of Zonal pastors, investment in hospital ministry through provision of drugs, hospital equipment and cancer screening Centres for members and the general public. Immanuel recreational park at the Redemption camp is a misplaced priority project; grossly under utilized and please sir, no gate fee should further be charged. Let those children enjoy the investments of their parents. There is no point for pastors riding expensive cars in the midst of hungry looking church members or building a gargantuan worship Centre, that will soon be burnt by fire at the imminent coming of the Saviour, it is abomination to pack in members who barely feed once a day in glass cathedrals. Ministry has gone beyond only gathering crowds in millions to impacting them with the word of life, raising disciples and meeting their emotional and financial needs through support systems. After all, how many auditoria did Jesus build? He gathered the people, taught them scriptures, gave them food and dispersed them. Please don’t misunderstand me for speaking the truth. Your best friend would tell you what you need to hear. Your worst enemy would tell you what you want to hear. Again, I wish RCCG well