The Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, Biodun Fatoyinbo, has backed Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church International aka Winners’ Chapel on the sack of pastors from the church.

The news of the sacking of pastors from the Winners Chapel broke the internet earlier this week when one Pastor Godwin, claimed that he and 40 other pastors were sacked for failing to generate enough income.

Addressing the issue while speaking to his congregation, Oyedepo described the sacked pastors as ‘unfruitful, blatant failure’.

The clergyman said, “People are confused about our Ministry. I learnt 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.”

Backing the Bishop, Fatoyinbo took to his Instagram to back Oyedepo’s stance, stating that there is no room for laziness and fruitfulness.

He wrote, “No room for laziness and unfruitfulness. Question: If you were fired in the bank for not meeting up with your deliverables, will you go on social media?”

Fatoyinbo went on to give a parable from the Bible, “He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.

“Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:

“And if it bears fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Luke 13: 6 – 9.”

In a similar development, fomer presidential aide, Reno Omokri, says that the Living Faith Church, popularly known as Winners’ Chapel, is ‘in order’, following the report on the sacking of pastors at the church.

He made this known on his verified Facebook page on Monday, stating that any pastor that fails at growing the church should be sacked.

He wrote, “I read the letter from Winners Chapel and it did not mention anything about money. Rather, it used the word ‘church growth’. Christ called us to engage in evangelism-Matthew 28:18-20.

“Any pastor that fails at that core duty should be sacked. This is what Christ told us in Matthew 25:14-29.

“The sacked pastor who went to the press after releasing a live video is playing on your emotions. He is not considering that he is undermining the faith of believers.

“In John 15:16, Christ said ‘I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.’ Now, ask yourself what the consequence of not bearing fruit is.

“Christ answered that question in John 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away”.

This is why the only thing Christ ever cursed in His lifetime on Earth is the fig tree that bore no fruit-Mark 11:14. Winners, Chapel is in order.”

This came shortly after one Pastor Peter Godwin, a cleric at the Winners Chapel, claimed that the church sacked him and about 40 other pastors in Ekiti State for failing to grow their respective parishes.

The PUNCH, however, learnt that the figure might be much higher than 40 nationwide.

In a letter that has been trending on social media, which is dated June 25, 2021 and signed by the Executive Secretary of the church, Adebisi Aboluwade, the pastors were asked to vacate their official accommodation and hand over their identity cards to their respective area pastors.

In a trending video, Pastor Godwin, who claimed to be one of the pastors affected in Ekiti State, said he was employed on August 28, 2020.

He claimed that he was invited with about 40 of his colleagues by the state pastor on July 1, 2021, but was sacked for failing to grow the revenue of the church.

Godwin said, “When I got there, I saw other pastors too, over 40 of them. So, I joined them

“A few minutes later, we were [each] issued a letter. I opened the content of the letter to see what was there and I saw that it was a sack letter.

“So, I called the management the next day to find out what happened since I wasn’t involved in any dubious activity or evil act. I was told by the management that the church doesn’t operate at a loss.

“They also told me that the total income that is being generated from my station should be able to cater for my welfare and accommodation, so as a result of low income, I’m hereby dismissed.”