Esther Salifu
Bishops David Abioye and Thomas Aremu, Vice Presidents of the Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel), are set to retire after serving for over four and three decades, respectively. It is believed that their retirement aligns with the church’s operational manual, The Mandate, which recently lowered the retirement age from 60 to 55 ¹[3).
A church member revealed, “We have heard that Bishop Abioye and Bishop Aremu will leave during Bishop Oyedepo’s birthday celebration. That is the new law in the church; only Bishop Oyedepo can remain in his position for life.” One of the bishops had been considering retirement for some time, so this news comes as no surprise to some church members.
Bishop Abioye, 63, is currently the Senior Pastor of Living Faith Church, Goshen City, Abuja. He first met Bishop David Oyedepo in 1979 and led one of the church’s pioneer branches in 1987. He was consecrated as a bishop in 1993 at just 32 years old [1).
Bishop Aremu, 67, transitioned to full-time ministry after a successful accounting career. He was one of seven bishops consecrated in November 1999 at Garden of Faith, Kaduna. Aremu has served as Senior Pastor and Regional Overseer in various branches of the Living Faith Church [3).
Valedictory services will be held for the two bishops at their respective churches. Bishop Abioye’s farewell service is set for October 18, 2024, in Durumi, Abuja, while Bishop Aremu’s service will take place on October 15, 2024, at LFC Basorun in Ibadan, Oyo State.
