Whether you are a researcher or just want to satisfy your curiosity as to the biggest church in Nigeria, well sit-tight you’re about to be wowed!
Churches have been known for their structural elegance and magnificent buildings even right from the time of Solomon, whose temple of worship took almost 10 pages of the Bible to describe (well, I might be exaggerating, but I’m sure you got the picture). The description of the Temple did not start with the completed building. No, it started with the very nature of the cedar wood used to construct the temple – where it was gotten from, how it was cut, and so on. It is this attention to detail, to the magnificence that has and keeps motivating churches in our era to build, as it were, magnificent edifices, which if God will come down might just be happy to rent a room there. But oh well… luckily for us all, God already dwells in hearts. Beautiful!
Why do churches build magnificent buildings?
- On a quest to build a befitting House of God: There is an innate belief and a strong conviction among believers that whatever we’re doing or giving to God must be our best. No! In fact, it must be the best of our best. Hence, the focus on building their possible best as most church leaders firmly believe or make it their life mission – to erect magnificent edifice to honour God. This trend has or can be traced to the Bible – the likes of Solomon, King Josiah, and other great leaders, who at one point time sought to give God their possible best!
- Population: Most churches usually grow in membership and so build gigantic worship places because of the unbelievable population of their members and expected growth. Due to the evangelical nature of most churches, they always plan to meet the exponential growth of their members.
- Spiritual need: A magnificent building calls for or appeals to the spiritual needs of the congregation. The more comfortable and more aesthetic a church building is, the more comfortable spiritually enriching a service becomes.
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Top 10 biggest churches in Nigeria 2021
https://youtu.be/D4qs19Ws8Eo
Below is a list of the top 10 biggest churches in Nigeria ranked from the last to the biggest church in Nigeria. The churches are ranked based on the yardsticks listed in the section for criteria, not independently but with the combination of each criterion.
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Hence, the 10 biggest churches in Nigeria are:
10. Omega Fire Ministries
9. Dunamis International Gospel Centre
8. The Lords Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries
7. The Synagogue Church of All Nations
6. Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM)
5. Christ Embassy (Believers LoveWorld)
4. The Apostolic Church
3. Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC)
2. Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners Chapel)
- The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)
10. Omega Fire Ministries
Established by Apostle Johnson Suleman, who was born on 24 March 1971. Apostle Johnson Suleman is a Nigerian televangelist and the senior pastor and general overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International, a church with its headquarters in Auchi, Edo State. He worked for years as an assistant pastor of the Armor of God Church in Lagos from 1998 before he left the said church allegedly under the voice of God to “Put an end to affliction; I AM SENDING YOU WITH AN OMEGA ANOINTING…” to start his own ministry now known as Omega Fire Ministries in the year 2004.
The Omega Fire Ministry auditorium boasts of a seating capacity of 70,000 at a single session with members nationwide. Omega Fire Ministries have branches nationally and internationally in Houston (Texas, USA), South Africa, Ghana, New Jersey (USA), Maryland (USA) and Turkey. It is this international outlook, size of its auditorium, and population that propelled the church to be ranked among the top 10 biggest churches in Nigeria.
9. Dunamis International Gospel Centre
Dunamis (Doo’na-mis) is an ancient Greek word that means “power”. According to the Dunamis Church website, the word means “A power source that reproduces itself without a reduction in intensity.” Dr Paul Enenche and Dr (Mrs) Becky Enenche established the Dunamis International Gospel Centre in 1996. It is a Pentecostal Church famed for its huge dome hall and its power-packed arena where the spiritual needs of worshippers are met. The auditorium is known as The Glory Dome and is located at their permanent site – The Lord’s Garden, Airport Road, Abuja. It was dedicated on Saturday, 24 November 2018 and has a seating capacity of about 100,000.
8. The Lords Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries
Founded by Lazarus Mouka in 2002. The Lords Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement is a Nigerian Christian denominated church with its headquarters located along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Surulere local government area of Lagos State. The church although quite young has witnessed a population explosion and geometric growth not just in fame and membership but also influence across the country. It has over 300,000 branches all over the world. Due to the increase in new converts in a short period, the church was moved to its present location in Ijeshatedo on a sixty-plot land, which can contain over 1,000,000 members in one service.
7. The Synagogue Church of All Nations
https://youtu.be/S4_bQtHOSOw
The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) is a charismatic Christian megachurch synagogue and one of the top 10 biggest churches in Nigeria. It is located in Lagos State, Nigeria and was founded by Temitope Balogun Joshua (born June 12, 1963), commonly referred to as T. B. Joshua. The church, like most established churches, began small with few members. However, it has since become one of Nigeria’s most influential churches having an average of 50,000 people attend its weekly Sunday services at the headquarters in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos. It is the church with the most international outlook. Even by its name, it opens itself to all nations. The Guardian reported that the church receives more weekly attendees than the combined number of visitors to Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. Also, This Day newspapers reported that “about two million local and inbound tourists” visit The SCOAN annually.
6. Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM)
Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) was founded in July 1989 at the home of Dr D. K. Olukoya with 25 people at the first service. The Church later moved to No. 60 Old Yaba Road, Alagomeji, and finally to the present headquarters site on 24th April 1994.
Famed as a prayer ministry, the MFM is a full gospel ministry devoted to the unlimited demonstration of the power of God. MFM owns a large expanse of land along Lagos–Ibadan Expressway called Prayer City and an auditorium capable of holding 100,000 members. The church also has a plethora of other praying branches all over the country, qualifying it as one of the biggest churches in Nigeria.
5. Christ Embassy (Believers LoveWorld)
Formerly known as LoveWorld Incorporated or Believers LoveWorld, Christ Embassy is one of the biggest churches in Nigeria. It was founded by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome in 1987. It started as a prayer group and immediately rose and turned into a global network of churches spurning about million-plus members. Its Lagos headquarters alone boasts of over 40,000 believers. It also runs three round the clock television channels including LoveWorld Sat, LoveWorld TV and LoveWorld Plus. Christ Embassy boasts about 13 million members worldwide.
4. The Apostolic Church
The Apostolic Church is one of the oldest churches in Nigeria with its roots from a prayer group called “Precious Stone” formed in Ijebu Ode by the Anglican leader Joseph Shadare in 1918. The church later joined the Apostolic Church in 1931. The Apostolic church is governed by the National Council and it is headed by the current president, Apostle E. S. Igwe.
The Apostolic Church is one of the biggest churches in Nigeria with its national headquarters at Olorunda Ketu, Lagos, and international headquarters in Penygroes, UK. In 2011, the church inaugurated a National Temple, which has a sitting capacity of 100,000. In 2018 the church reached a record 4.5 million members in Nigeria.
3. Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC)
The Deeper Life Bible Church was founded in 1973 by Pastor Williams Kumuyi, a former lecturer of mathematics at the University of Lagos. It sprang from a gathering of 15 students who came to learn the Word of God to a national force having over 65,000 congregants recorded in a single service in 2016. In the early 1990s, Deeper Life had more than 5,000 branch churches in Nigeria and many more branches all over Africa. The headquarters of the church at Gbagada attracts around 150,000 attendants during its five Sunday services. Known for its “Holiness code”, the Deeper Life Bible Church is somewhat unconventional and rigid. The church now has about 65 church branches in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand. This vast international outlook and varied auditoria with seating capacities of not less than 15,000 littered across the world ranks it among the top churches in Nigeria.
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2. Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners Chapel)
The Living Faith Church is one of the biggest churches in Nigeria. It was founded in 1981 by Bishop David Oyedepo. The church has grown from a mere gathering of Christians to a global phenomenon. The Winners’ Chapel has a network of churches located in over 300 cities, in all states of Nigeria, as well as in the United States, the United Kingdom.
Its auditorium, called Faith Tabernacle, located at the headquarters of the church or Canaan Land, can accommodate up to 50,000 people. It is located in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. The Faith Theatre, which would house up to 100,000 members, was announced in 2018. The Faith Tabernacle (auditorium) held the Guinness Book of record for being the largest church auditorium in the world in 2008.
The church’s most popular event is called Shiloh where millions from all over the world attend with a prayer intention the hope God would answer.
1. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)
Popularly known as the Redeemed or RCCG, the Redeemed Christian Church of God is by far the biggest church in Nigeria. It was founded by the late Rev Josiah Akindayomi in 1952, then as a fellowship known as Egbe Ogo-Oluwa (Glory of God) with 12 men. The fellowship later metamorphosed into the RCCG. When Akindayomi died on 2 November 1980 at 71 years, Pastor E. A. Adeboye was consecrated as the General Overseer of RCCG on 21 January 1981.
The Church has an average attendance of about 100,000 members with a total membership of about 5 million around the globe. It has an auditorium around the Lagos-Ibadan expressway that can house up to 3 million people at a time, by far the largest in Nigeria.
On the International scene, the church is present in other African nations including Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Gambia, Cameroon, and South Africa. In Europe, the church is spread in England, Germany, and France. In the United States, there are parishes in Dallas, Tallahassee, Houston, New York, Washington, and Chicago and the Caribbean states of Haiti and Jamaica.
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Criteria for ranking the top 10 biggest churches in Nigeria
- Landmass: Most big or gigantic churches in Nigeria usually situate their worship centre in an unbelievable expanse of land. For a church to be qualified as one of the biggest churches in Nigeria, it must have a landmass of at least 200 hectares. The landmass should be able to contain the church auditorium, which itself is usually an edifice, other admin blocks, or residential blocks for members’ retreat or to house their guests. There also should be a provision for a car park and future expansion. Thus, the land must have adequate space for the growth or expansion of the church
- Auditorium: This is a large hall that is used usually for the church national congregations or special events. The auditorium is a worship hall where all the congregants or members worship. This is one of the most important criteria. For a church to be ranked in the top 10 biggest churches in Nigeria, its auditorium must be capable to house the entirety of its members nationwide at a time. The auditorium should be able to house up to 5,000-100,000 members at a time.
- Membership/ population: No church can survive without memberships and in the same vein, churches with a strong or huge membership usually enjoy dominance and growth. The population of a church goes a long way to determine if it will be ranked as one of the biggest churches in Nigeria. Most very big churches boast of membership of a million-plus worldwide. It is the donations and gifts from this very large membership that keeps a church going. The bigger the population the stronger a church grows.
- International Outlook: Churches that rank in the top 10 biggest churches in Nigeria mostly have an international outlook and are not just restricted to local membership in Nigeria. Most churches that are ranked top have branches outside Nigeria and in many European and African countries. It is this ability to attract foreign membership that gives such churches a broad international outlook.
Conclusion
So that’s it for the top 10 biggest churches in Nigeria. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and that you can share it with others. Meanwhile, it is important to note that the above list was culled from research made on various online resources. Whereas structural edifices of most churches are sometimes a necessity and important, we shouldn’t, however, lose sight of the fact that God dwells in our heart and it is right there in our hearts that we should build the most outstanding and amazing architectural edifice.
Cheers!
I’m surprised. I didn’t know that RCCG was bigger than Living Faith
RCCG needs no introduction.