William Kumuyi, the general superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, says leadership of the church will not be handed over to any of his sons, stressing that the church belongs to Jesus Christ and not to any individual or family.
In a sermon that has since gone viral on social media, the octogenarian cleric cautioned against treating church leadership as a family inheritance.
Kumuyi made the remarks while preaching about King Saul’s desire to preserve his dynasty by ensuring that his son, Jonathan, succeeded him on the throne instead of David.
According to Kumuyi, some people have speculated about whether he intends to hand over the church to one of his children.
“My friends, it’s not always the will of God that you pass it to your son,” he said.
“Especially in the New Testament, the kingdom of God and leadership in the kingdom is not a family affair.
“There are people who are saying, now you are an overseer, don’t you have a son? Are you not passing over the leadership, royalty and dignity to your son.
“Well, God will choose and God will tell who is to have the kingdom.”
INDIVIDUALS DON’T HAVE POWER TO TRANSFER CHURCH LEADERSHIP TO SONS
Kumuyi maintained that no individual has the authority to transfer ownership of the church to a family member.
“It is not his church,” he said.
“Jesus said, ‘Upon this rock, I will build my church.’ Jesus said it is his church.”
“It is not Peter’s church. It is nobody’s church. It is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and nobody has the right to hand it over to his son.”
The cleric cited biblical figures including Peter, Paul and John, noting that none of them passed leadership of the early church to their children.
“Peter did not hand over the church to his son. Paul did not hand over the church to his son. John did not hand over the church to his son,” he said.
Kumuyi added that the focus of Christian leaders should be on faithfully serving God rather than establishing family dynasties within the church.
