The General Overseer of Living Faith Church, also known as Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has a message for those criticising the church leadership over the retirement of its Bishops.
This comes after the news that two vice presidents in the church, Bishops Thomas Aremu and David Abioye, would retire after serving three and four decades in the ministry.
It was learnt that the pastors’ retirement is in line with the operational guidelines of the church, also known as The Mandate, which serves as the church’s constitution.
The revised Mandate has changed the retirement age from 60 to 55.
While the Founder, Oyedepo, retains the right to serve for life, future church leaders will be restricted to one or two terms of seven years, pending approval by the Board of Trustees.
Responding to criticisms, Oyedepo, while delivering his sermon at the valedictory service for Bishop Aremu at Winners Chapel, Orita Bashorun, on Tuesday, said critics should be quiet and focus on their affairs.
The clergyman stated that those wishing for the ministry’s downfall were wasting their lives.
Oyedepo also revealed that the church’s Administrative Policy of 1998 was reviewed in 2001, while The Mandate of 2012 was revised in 2024, adding that the ministry operates by divine order.
He said, “My advice to commentators is to study to be quiet and mind your business. It is wisdom to learn what is working and find out what makes it work. Everything works here.”
He urged Bishop Aremu to remain connected to God for the continued flow of grace and not to be distracted by baseless criticism.
Quoting the Bible in Genesis 49:26, Bishop Oyedepo stated that no one has an inheritance in a teacher or pastor.
He encouraged Aremu to maintain a mindset focused on growth, saying, “There’s no such thing as the best today or tomorrow; what matters is your pursuit of God.”
