“It’s not my church; it’s the church of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Kumuyi stated during a service.
The General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, William Folorunso Kumuyi, has dismissed speculations that he plans to hand over the leadership of the church to any of his biological children, insisting that the ministry belongs to Jesus Christ and not to him.
Kumuyi made the clarification during a church service while responding to discussions that surfaced on Wednesday regarding the future leadership of the ministry.
According to the cleric, some people had questioned whether he would eventually transfer the leadership of the church to one of his sons after his tenure.
He, however, stressed that the church is not a personal possession that can be inherited by family members, noting that its ownership rests solely with Jesus Christ.
“Many people were speculating, is he going to hand over the church unto his son? Won’t he search for his first son, second son, where are they? Where do they live? Is he not going to hand over the church?” Kumuyi said.
Rejecting the idea of family succession, he stated that leadership decisions in the church must be guided by divine direction rather than blood ties.
“Well, it’s not his church. And because it’s not his church, Jesus said, upon this rock, I will build my church… It’s the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and nobody has right to hand it over to his son,” he said.
Kumuyi also cited biblical examples to support his position, noting that early Christian leaders did not pass the church to their children.
“Peter did not hand over the church to his son. Paul did not have any son or wife, but Paul did not hand over the church to his son. And John did not hand over the church to his son,” he added.
The cleric’s remarks come amid growing public discussions about succession plans in major religious organisations and the increasing trend of family inheritance in some church leadership structures.
