The United Kingdom branch of
the Winner’s Chapel church is currently under probe from the United Kingdom
Charity Commission for misapplication of charities and tithes of about £16
million (N4 billion).
The Guardian reports
that the inquiries “regarding the charity’s management and policies” are
ongoing, a spokeswoman for the regulator said. “We have considered documents
and information shared by the trustees and our case is continuing.”
It is
not clear which aspect of the church’s management the regulator is looking
into. The charity behind the church, World Mission Agency, has £8.5m in assets
and large sums are paid back to Nigeria. In 2011, £663,532 was “donated by the
congregation … for onward transmission to the world headquarters in Nigeria”,
accounts show. The previous year the payment to the Living Faith Church
amounted to £324,683. In 2009 £149,000 was sent “for charitable activities in
Africa”.
Other
payments from the cash donated each week by churchgoers include £192,000 in
2009 and 2010 as “welfare assistance” for unspecified “certain members of the
church”.
Named
charitable donations are smaller and include £10,500 to Great Ormond Street
Children’s hospital, £9,000 to Christian Aid for the Haiti earthquake appeal
and £2,500 to charities in Lewisham.
Meanwhile,
Oyedepo’s movement thrives in line with a trend of booming Pentecostalism in
the capital driven in part by immigration from Africa.
Around
450 new Pentecostal churches have opened in London in the past eight years and
close to a quarter of a million people attend regularly – up 50% since 2005,
according to research by church consultant Peter Brierley.
Ahead
of the appearance of the Nigerian bishop – affectionately known as “Papa” – the
main worship hall resounded to praise for the Lord, women shook tambourines,
while in side chapels smart-suited men spoke in tongues. Worshippers are bussed
in to the 8am and 6pm services from 15 different locations across Essex, Kent,
and London.
Max
Blaise, 36, an unemployed man living near Heathrow, said he was taking
inspiration from God to help him start a business.
“Abraham
had a company,” he said. “Even Adam, because God created the garden of Eden and
told him to manage it. So in a sense it was a business for him to manage.”
Daniel
Onyekhchi, a 35-year-old businessman from Abuja in Nigeria, cautioned against
seeing the Winners’ Chapel as a uniquely Nigerian phenomenon. “It is a church
for everyone,” he said.
Joel
Edwards, a senior figure in the British evangelical movement and director of
the Micah Challenge which is running Exposed, a global anti-corruption campaign
directed at churches, business and government, applauded the generosity of
congregations such as that of the Winners’ Chapel. But he challenged all church
leaders to be more transparent.
“All
of us have a growing concern about any kind of mercenary response that puts
cash at the centre of Christian faith,” he said.
“I
challenge any movement, including Winners, to be open and account for its money
wherever it goes because it comes originally from hard-working faithful
people.”
Winners’
Chapel declined to comment.
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