Genesis of RCCG
The Divine Revelation and Spiritual Journey of Reverend Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi
The Redeemed Journey
The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) was founded in 1952 in Nigeria, following a divine revelation received by a young man whose heart had been set ablaze with an unquenchable desire to personally encounter the Supreme Being, in spite of a prevailing environment of nature worship. Seeking a fervent relationship with the God he still knew little about at the time, Reverend Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi was fired by the intuition that there was a greater power than those commonly known to his people. This pursuit of God led him to the Church Missionary Society where he was baptized in 1927. Yet, remaining largely spiritually unfulfilled, he later joined the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, an indigenous African Church that emerged from the Anglican (Episcopal) Church in Nigeria.
The Call of Josiah
Reverend Akindayomi’s call to ministry began while he was still a member of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church. He initially ignored the prompting, but after several business failures, he repented and sought divine confirmation. In 1947, he felt a strong call to ministry, and by 1952, he left the Cherubim and Seraphim Church due to doctrinal concerns.
Divine Vision
The House Fellowship he later set up in Lagos, Nigeria soon became the hub of spiritual conversions and remarkable miracles, causing the group’s membership to grow rapidly. During this period, Rev Akindayomi who couldn’t read or write English not having had a formal education, received a vision in which the words “The Redeemed Christian Church of God” were written, being the name of the Church that the Lord would establish through him. By supernatural enablement, Rev Akindayomi was able to write these words spelling out the name of the Church. In the course of that spiritual encounter, God also revealed to him that the Church would spread to the ends of the earth and that when the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in glory at the end of the age, He would meet the RCCG. Without doubt, these were extraordinary prophecies to a man with no formal education or great means. Yet, he did not doubt the promises of the Lord but set out in faith to do His will.
Akindayomi's Successor
Rev Akindayomi remained faithful to his vision until his death in 1981. In the early 1970s, he received a message about his spiritual successor. When Dr. Enoch Adeboye joined the church in 1973, Rev Akindayomi recognized him as the one. Dr. Adeboye became an interpreter and was ordained as a pastor in 1975.
