{"id":2054,"date":"2024-10-16T23:03:22","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T22:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/?p=2054"},"modified":"2024-10-16T23:03:22","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T22:03:22","slug":"ive-no-plan-to-start-a-church-retired-bishop-aremu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/?p=2054","title":{"rendered":"I&#8217;ve no plan to start a church \u2013 Retired Bishop Aremu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2053\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2053\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2053\" src=\"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Bishop-Aremu-300x150.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Bishop-Aremu-300x150.webp 300w, https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Bishop-Aremu-1024x512.webp 1024w, https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Bishop-Aremu-768x384.webp 768w, https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Bishop-Aremu-360x180.webp 360w, https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Bishop-Aremu-750x375.webp 750w, https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Bishop-Aremu.webp 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2053\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bishop Thomas Aremu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Retired bishop of the Living Faith Church (LFC), Thomas Aremu, has said he has no plan to open his own church, adding that he will remain a member of the LFC in retirement.<\/p>\n<p>Aremu said this during the valedictory service held in honour on Tuesday October 15.<\/p>\n<p>The service was held at the LFC branch, Orita Bashorun, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, South West Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Christian<\/em> reported that two of the church\u2019s bishops would be retiring this month.<\/p>\n<p>Apart from Aremu, Bishop David Abioye will also bow out after over three decades in the church. They were retired in line with the LFC operation guideline \u201cThe Mandate\u201d which stipulates the retiring age of pastors of the church at 60 years.<\/p>\n<p>Before his retirement, Aremu was the vice president of the LFC in charge of Mission Inspectorate.<\/p>\n<p>He said God gave the founder of the church also known as Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, to him as his pastor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGod\u2019s presence is my greatest asset. I have seen God in practical terms. He gave me a pastor after his own heart in the person of the apostle over this commission (David Oyedepo). He is my pastor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have a church, and I cannot have a church. This is my church. Even after retirement, I remain in the Winners family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI may be privileged to bless other churches other than Winners, but there is nothing I am going to teach them also than what I have learnt in Winners. God planted me in this commission, and I am convinced this is where I belong,\u201d the 67-year-old cleric said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t carry retirement mentality \u2013 Bishop Oyedepo<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the occasion, David Oyedepo, the presiding bishop of the LFC, advised Aremu, not to go about with a retirement mentality.<\/p>\n<p>Oyedepo, who prayed for the retired bishop and his wife, asked the duo to keep doing the work God has called them to do, stressing, \u201cPut on strength, put on your beautiful garment, get ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1130\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1130\" style=\"width: 212px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1130\" src=\"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/David-Oyedepo-Pix.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"119\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1130\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bishop David Oyedepo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cSomebody asked me, &#8221; Now you are 70, what are you still looking for? &#8221; I said I am in the centre of the race and I will run till I draw my last breath,\u201d the renowned clergyman, who turned 70 years on September 27, said, referring to his own example.<\/p>\n<p>While facing Aremu, Oyedepo said, \u201cPut on strength. Put on your beautiful garment. God has greater things for you in the name of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He reminded the retired bishop that when God speaks every obstacle gives way, adding \u201cIt\u2019s your turn. If you won\u2019t stop hearing from God no devil can keep you on the same spot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oyedepo further advised, \u201cStay connected, consciously so, spiritually so, genuinely so. Don\u2019t bug your head answering questions that are unfounded. No one can quote silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeware of strangers that may come your way and lay them aside. I have done that all my life and it is working.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven those who have gone to heaven, my connectivity remains intact and the grace is flowing unabated. Stay connected. Stay connected. There is no self-made man in the world. So, stay connected so as to secure the flow of grace in the name of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aremu, an accountant by profession, was one of the eight foundational members of the church in 1983 and became a pastor a year later. He was the pioneer pastor of the LFC Ibadan. He was ordained a bishop in 1999.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; \u00a0Retired bishop of the Living Faith Church (LFC), Thomas Aremu, has said he has no plan to open his own church, adding that he will remain a member of the LFC in retirement. Aremu said this during the valedictory service held in honour on Tuesday October 15. The service was held at the LFC [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ministry","category-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2055,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054\/revisions\/2055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechristian.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}