When it comes to religion and religious enthusiasm, Nigerians do not carry last. Some Nigerians are religious to a fault. It’s a known fact that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and by far the most religious. With each rising day arises a new church and this means that are quite a several churches in Nigeria and it seems it has become a means of livelihood for some. Yes, we have many churches, but some churches have more members than others. We have compiled a list of the top 10 most attended churches in Nigeria.
1. The Catholic Church In Nigeria
The Catholic church of Nigeria is a subset of the worldwide Catholic church. It is also known as the Roman Catholic church. It has over 20 million members all over Nigeria. It is one of the oldest churches in Nigeria. It is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). The Catholic church has a lot of branches in every nook and cranny of Nigeria. The Catholic church also has schools in various stages, hospitals, and health care centers.
2. Anglican Communion
The Anglican church of Nigeria is one of the oldest churches in Nigeria. It was even the first church through which British colonials introduced education and Christianity to Nigerians. Like the first purpose of the church, Anglican churches have several schools and health care centers in Nigeria. They have about 18 million members all over Nigeria. The Anglican Communion believes in the Holy Trinity- God The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
3. The Redeemed Christian Church Of God
The Redeemed church popularly known as RCCG is one of the largest churches in Nigeria with over 2.5 million members. There’s no state, town, street, or corner you would get to in Nigeria where you would not find a Redeemed church, no matter how small. The church is headed by Pastor E.A. Adeboye. The RCCG has lots of branches all over the world and not just in Nigeria alone. The RCCG holds an annual convention and holy congress where even those not church members attend. The Redeemed Church has different Redeemer’s Colleges all over the country and also a university called The Redeemer’s University.
4. Living Faith Church
It is also known as the winners’ chapel headed by Bishop David Oyedepo. This church has over 2 million members worldwide. Because of its ‘wokeness’, it has more of its attendees as youths and young adults. The annual Shiloh program is filled with many people from different walks of life and different denominations. The Winners’ chapel is not only one of the most attended churches but also one of the richest churches there are. The Living Faith Church has schools all over the country, both primary, secondary, and tertiary.
5. Christ Embassy
Christ Embassy Church is another church that can boast of having a multitude congregation with a membership of over a million people. The church is headed by Pastor Chris Oyahkilome. This church is popular for organizing onsite, online, , and ebook prayer, healings, and deliverance crusades.
6. Deeper Christian Life Ministry:
Initial, this church did not begin as a church but as a Bible study center. As time goes by it began to grow in capacity and numbers. The church of headed by Pastor W.F. Kumuyi. Even though the teachings of the church, according to many, are too hard to practice, the church continues to grow in population. The church has almost a million members nationwide. Members of these ministries usually refer to themselves as ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’. With their kind of doctrine, one would expect that it should be a church for the oldies, but surprisingly, they have one of the most populated students fellowship on various campuses in Nigeria.
7. Mountain Of Fire And Miracles Ministry
You could simply refer to this church as MFM or Fire Fire. As its name portrays, the church is popular for its revival and warfare prayer. As expected of Nigerians, we love where miracles happen and where we can battle both our unseen and seen enemies. The General Overseer of the church is Dr. Dcn. Olukoya. They are also known for their strict doctrines but that does not stop the miracle-seeking prospects. The ministry has several schools for primary, secondary, and tertiary education all over the country named Mountain Top.
8. The Apostolic Church Of Nigeria
The children of the glorious vision as they usually call themselves are also one of the most populated churches in Nigeria. Their slogan is “One Shepherd, One Fold”. TACN was once a part of the CAC before they were separated.
9. The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement
With a membership of over 600,000 people, this church has found its way into our list of the most attended churches in Nigeria. The church’s general overseer is Senior Pastor Lazarus Mouka. He was once a Catholic before he went and established his church.
10. Daystar Christian Center
This church is founded by Pastor Sam Adeyemi, an influencer pastor in Nigeria. With 600,000 members, the church can be said to be one of the most attended churches in Nigeria. Each Sunday service is attended by nothing less than 100,000 youths as they constitute the majority of the congregation. This church has one of the largest church auditoriums in the country.
With the numbers mentioned above and the other numerous churches that didn’t make it to this list, we can say categorically that Nigeria has so many Christians. Some statistics show that 46% of Nigerians are Christians. It is such a pity though, that the more churches and Christians we have, the more the rate of decadence in the country.
