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On Tuesday, April 24, 2018, Deeper Life Bible Church inaugurated what is today known as the world’s fourth-largest church auditorium as a place of worship for members and guests. The 30,000-capacity edifice, if not anything, shows leadership in action and vision.
When in 2005 the church decided to pull down its old worship centre in Gbagada for a befitting edifice to worship the King of kings, it was undoubtedly because it had a leader in W. F. Kumuyi with a clear vision to lead the people into a new glory.
The new giant leap of the church is being commended and celebrated, but the church started humbly in 1973 with just about 15 members. However, over the years, through grace, hard work and provision of leadership, the Deeper Life Bible Church has grown into a mega church with outreaches across the world.
And, just as the scripture said in Haggai 2:9, “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, says the Lord Almighty. And in this place I will grant peace, declares the Lord Almighty”, Deeper Life Bible Church has shown that this verse of the scripture is a testament to what God can do, if people put their trust and hope on him.
However, like the new motto of the church, ‘Achieving heaven’s goal’, there is therefore no better time to tell the story of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry and its Gbagada church than this time when the doors of its ultra-modern headquarters building were opened to worshippers.
Like someone rightly wrote on social media few weeks ago, Deeper Life also inaugurated what is the biggest and most magnificent hospital in Gbagada. The hospital is open to every member of the public at no cost. Indeed, the beauty, tenacity of purpose, solidity and sheer commitment that characterise this edifice are metaphoric expressions of what constitutes the Deeper Life.
How it all began
For many who know the history of the Gbagada church, it all began with a group of 15 individuals wanting an in-depth study of the word of God from a man who was then a Mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Kumuyi would gather the people in his sitting room on the campus of the university, and with this group, he began a bible study in August of 1973. Thus, was born the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM), a non-denominational endeavour committed to the spiritual welfare of the people.
However, in 1980, the church commenced the construction of the first 3,000-capacity auditorium, which like Kumuyi said at the inauguration of the new auditorium, was a ‘leap of faith’. This act of faith essentially shows that the Deeper Life lives and walks by faith.
With steel stanchions, the auditorium was considered to be a luxury considering where the church was coming from and the fact that it had been without a fellowship centre of its own for many years. Weekly fellowships of the church – Monday Bible Study and Thursday Revival sessions – ran along with construction activities and continued until the hall became inadequate for the growing membership.
Gradually, other adjoining auditoriums were raised and completed. In all, five halls covering the entire landscape measuring a little more than an acre were built up. Additional space was secured across the road with a structure to accommodate the children church. Besides, the church rented blocks of flats nearby to serve as offices and for administrative purposes.
It could be said that out of a supposedly unattractive landscape, beauty and elegance have emerged. The new church location was nothing but a marshy lowland that did not appeal to individuals or estate developers until the church acquired it. Anyone who was interested in the land then must have considered the cost of several layers of sand-filling that must be done over a period of time to guarantee a future building.
Exponential growth
The group of 15 which started the bible study in a flat apartment at the University of Lagos continued until early 1976 when the venue of the bible study became too small for their growing membership, necessitating relocation. The RCCG headquarters provided a sanctuary for this purpose. Located at 1-5 Redemption Way, Ebute-Metta, Lagos, the then moderate church auditorium was venue to the now-famous Monday bible study sessions, which held for several years before DCLM acquired a permanent site at Gbagada.
Besides the central Monday bible study sessions at Ebute-Metta, pockets of believers met regularly in different parts of Lagos for studies and evangelism. By 1977, several centres were created across Lagos, which is today referred to as Old Group of Districts by the church. Siting study locations closer to the people later appeared to be a strategic move by the church meant to bring the benefits of in-depth bible study closer to the people, and thereby grow the church. This, coupled with the exemplary lifestyle of the leaders and members, brought rapid growth to the new movement.
The moment of transition
The old structure continued to experience different forms of renovation and maintenance for more than two decades until 2005 when the church took a bold decision to commence work on the new edifice. The soil texture of the land was a big issue to consider if a standard multi-storey building was planned. In this case, piling (a process of pushing stone or steel into the ground to serve as support base) was compulsory.
The piling work was awarded to Messrs Trevi Foundation on 17th June, 2005. The foundational work took about a year to complete. Afterwards, Cappa D’Alberto Construction Engineering Company began the first phase of the 30,000-capacity super structure on 8th March, 2006.
At various stages of the work, the architectural and structural details were reviewed and modified to achieve the goal of a modern international church auditorium in line with the vision of the founder, which also keys into the new motto of the church to achieve heaven’s goal.
The church has had to cut through numerous challenges to make the project a reality. These challenges include responding to technical, economic, social and regulatory dictates.
Constructing a 30,000-capacity church auditorium with adequate offices and facilities is obviously an ambitious project; what with the limited land-space! Of course, standard would not be compromised, irrespective of the challenges. Space became a huge challenge that must be overcome.
Besides the option to raise the floors to a permissive level, the other is to acquire more landed properties and buildings which were not readily available. The church embarked on a difficult shopping for land, and convincing landowners to sell their properties to make way for what is today regarded as a mega church building.
At this point, let me take a moment to reflect on some of the comments made by some of the church representatives at the inauguration of the new Gbagada church on 24 April.
According to one Pastor Obodo, who represented the South-South region of the church, “We see a testimony of God’s ability to do all things; testimony of dedication and selflessness of leadership at the top, and testimony and obedience in followership.”
On his part, Pastor Bayo Oyeyemi, representing Lagos church, said a new Lagos shall be born with the commissioning of the new auditorium. “There shall be rain of power, anointing in the new Gbagada church,” he said.
Pastor Jerry Asemota, the church secretary, believes the newly commissioned and dedicated auditorium will draw more people to the service of God.
However, it was a dream come through for Pastor Dabo, who represented North-West Zone of the church, as he said, “Truly a scripture has been fulfilled; the glory of the latter house is indeed bigger than the former. I am glad to be alive to witness the opening of the Gbagada project: the reason Gbagada was born and reborn will be fulfilled.”
As the Deeper Christian Life Ministry continues in earnest with the propagation of the gospel to the farthest recesses of the earth, in anticipation of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ, one can convincingly write that indeed a scripture has been fulfilled and the glory of this present house is greater than that of the former.
SEYI JOHN SALAU
