Biography of Bishop David Oyedepo

Bishop David Oyedepo is the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, popularly known as Winner's Chapel. He is also the presiding bishop of Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. He was born on September 27, 1954, in Osogbo, Osun State, but is a native of Kwara State.

He was raised in a mixed-religious family. His father, Ibrahim, was a Muslim healer, and his mother, Dorcas, was a member of the Holy Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, a branch of the Aladura Movement in Nigeria. He was brought up by his grandmother in Osogbo, who introduced him to the virtues of Christian life through early morning prayers, which she attended with him. His grandmother also taught him the importance of tithing.

Bishop David Oyedepo became born again in 1969 during his high school days through the influence of his teacher, Betty Lasher, who took an interest in him. He studied architecture at Kwara State Polytechnic and later received a PhD in Human Development from Honolulu University, Hawaii, United States. He worked briefly with the Federal Ministry of Housing in Ilorin before resigning to focus on missionary work.

While recounting how he ventured into ministry, he stated that he received a mandate from God through an 18-hour vision in May 1981 to liberate the world from all oppressions of the devil through the preaching of the Word of Faith. This vision led him to found Living Faith Church Worldwide, initially called Liberation Faith Hour Ministries, in 1981.

Two years later, on September 17, 1983, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, ordained him and his wife, Faith Abiola Oyedepo, as pastors and officially commissioned the new church. Five years later, Oyedepo was ordained as a bishop by his mentor, the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa.

Living Faith Church first started in Kaduna but moved to Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria, in July 1989 to start a new branch of the church after Oyedepo received instructions from God to reach out to the people of Lagos.

In 1998, he was instructed by God to build a new base for the commission to accommodate the increasing number of worshippers. This led to the acquisition of the facility known today as Canaanland, which serves as the headquarters of the church. It is home to the 50,000-seat auditorium known as Faith Tabernacle.

This auditorium was recorded by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest church auditorium in the world in December 2005. The construction was completed within 12 months, and the building was built debt-free. This 50,000-seat edifice was dedicated on September 18, 1999, under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Canaanland, located in Ota, Ogun State, is a 5,000-acre estate and campus that houses the 50,000-seat auditorium, the church secretariat, the church's youth chapel, a primary school called the Kingdom Heritage Model School, and a full-boarding mission secondary school called Faith Academy, which has over 1,500 students. It also accommodates Covenant University, which hosts over 7,000 fully residential students in ultra-modern hostel facilities, along with fully equipped faculty buildings and numerous staff housing facilities.

The Canaanland campus also includes for-profit establishments operated by the church, such as a bakery, a bottled water processing plant, a petrol station, various restaurants and shopping stores, and several residential houses for over 2,000 church employees and guests. Four banks operate within the estate—three branches of external commercial banks and one community and microfinance bank run by the church.

The church's biggest annual meeting, Shiloh, is held every December at Faith Tabernacle, attracting thousands of congregants from across the world. The church is currently building a 100,000-seat auditorium called The Ark, which is reputed to be one of the buildings with the longest span in the world.

Bishop David Oyedepo is recorded by Forbes as the wealthiest preacher in Nigeria, with a net worth of over $150 million. The church owns four private jets and several buildings in London and the United States. Oyedepo is also an author and publisher, having written over 70 books in addition to periodicals.

He is the chairman of Dominion Publishing House (DPH), the publishing arm of the ministry, which has published over 70 Christian, inspirational, and motivational books, mini-books, magazines, and other resources. Oyedepo is also the chancellor of Covenant University and Landmark University.

The Winners’ Chapel International Network of Churches is currently present in over 300 cities across all states of Nigeria and in several cities across 45 African nations, as well as in Dubai, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, the United States, and Canada.

His teachings align with the Word of Faith Movement, and he has acknowledged principal exponents of the movement, such as Kenneth Copeland, Gloria Copeland, the late Kenneth Hagin, E.W. Kenyon, T.L. Osborn, Smith Wigglesworth, as well as renowned Nigerian preachers such as Enoch Adeboye and the late Benson Idahosa, as his mentors.

Bishop David Oyedepo married Florence Abiola Akano, now known as Faith Oyedepo, in August 1982. They have four children together: David Jr., Isaac, Love, and Joyce. In May 2007, Kenneth Copeland ordained David Oyedepo Jr. and Isaac Oyedepo as pastors.

David Oyedepo Jr. formerly pastored the London branch of the church alongside his wife, Kemi.

Isaac Oyedepo previously pastored Winners’ Chapel International, Mitchellville, Maryland, in the United States with his wife, Ayomitide, before breaking away to start his own ministry.

David Oyedepo’s daughter, Love, is married to Stephen Oga, who also pastors in Winner’s Chapel. His last child and second daughter, Joyce Priscilla, married Abimbola Abodunrin in 2020.

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