24th July, 2021
The Living Faith Church, owned by Bishop David Oyedepo, paid pastors who were graduates N38,000 as salaries.
This was revealed by another pastor, who was among the 40 recently sacked pastors by the church.
The pastor who spoke to SaharaReporters said the church never paid any pastor N80,000 or N150,000 as stated in a report circulating on social media.
The pastor who spoke on condition of anonymity said;
“Oyedepo and his senior Pastors knew they would sack us before employing us. That was why they gave us employment on probation. Someone went online to post lies in support of the church that the recently sacked pastors were being paid N80,000 and house rent of N150,000.
“I will just say a little here; no employed pastor was paid N80,000 in the church. The highest salary is for degree holders which is N53,000 and, this N53,000 is not the net salary at the end of the month. The pastor will only receive N38,000 at the end of the month; N6,000 goes to the pension account and N9,000 goes to house rent account.
“It is very funny that the pastors, we honoured, could keep the money they removed from our salaries in their personal bank accounts for long without paying into our pension accounts. It was when they sacked us that they started paying into the pension accounts. Imagine that.”
However, this new angle came after Peter Godwin, a pastor who was also sacked by the church cried out on social media.
Godwin in a trending video said he was employed on the 28th of August 2020 and sacked on July 1, 2021 over low income generated in his branch.
Godwin had said, “Actually, by the special grace of God, our father in this great assembly, Living Faith Church received a mandate from the Lord to plant 10,000 churches in Nigeria and by the special grace of God, I was privileged to be one of the pastors that were employed on the 28th of August, 2020, that was last year.
“So after that, I started working, engaging myself in the work of the Lord. I tried my possible best to make sure I win souls for Christ but unfortunately, on the 1st of July, I received a call that the state pastor wants to see me, so I thought I was the only one. I was surprised, so I went to his office.
“When I got there, I saw other pastors too, over 40 of them, so I joined them. A few minutes later, we were issued a letter. I opened the content of the letter to see what was there and I saw that it was a sack letter.”
However, after the video went viral, Bishop Oyedepo said the pastors were sacked because they were “blatant failure.”
Oyedepo said:
”When we employed 7000 pastors at once social media was dead. We have more employees than most states in Nigeria and we have not owed them or taken bank overdrafts once.
”The pastors were asked to go because they were unfruitful. Many of the churches built can never pay for the church building in 30 years. We have no patience for failure here.
”We have built more than 1,000 Churches in rural areas where in the next 30 years, they can never generate such fund, with each costing more than 14 Million Naira. We are hunting after souls, not income.
”People are confused about our Ministry. I learned some fellows said, “you know, they are not bringing income, that is why they asked them to go.”
”We asked you to go because you are unfruitful. Unfruitful! Blatant failure. Doing what there? We have no patience with failure here.
”When we employed 7,000 people at a time, Social Media was dead.We have more employees in this Organisation than most of the States.
”No one is owed a dime salary and we don’t borrow, we don’t beg. Ask our bank whether we take overdraft. We are covenant-bound, working in the light of God’s Word. Enjoying an open Heaven.
”Money: NONSENSE! We have never lacked it and yet we have never prayed for it, we are just simply obeying God and He is backing up what He is asking us to do. Awesome God.
”Now the next set is about to be flagged off, just certifying the landed property issues, nothing else. We have no lack of anything. The world is confused. Walking in the light of God’s Word. Please obey God to the full and watch out for His manifestations in your life.
”Well, you don’t need so much Mathematics to know a thousand buildings; that is not 1000 Naira each, that is not 10 Million (Naira) each, that is not 12 Million (Naira) each, that is not 14 Million (Naira) each. Some are 35 Million (Naira). At a go!
”We have never seen it ourselves. We just watched God doing it. The only criteria: How many souls have they gotten there? Then, build for them.
How many souls? Not once: “how much money do they have?” he asked.
”You want to see what we see, go and do what we do. But if you are not saved, there is nothing you do that matters.”