William Folorunso Kumuyi (born 6 June 1941) is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry situated at Gbagada,

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Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He is the author of several Christian books and devotionals. William Folorunso Kumuyi celebrated his 80th Birthday on 6 June 2021.

Background

Kumuyi was born into a Christian family in Erin-Ijesa,

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the ...

, western part of Nigeria. He completed his secondary school education in 1961 at

Mayflower School Mayflower School was founded on 27 January 1956 by Tai Solarin, a Nigerian educator, humanist and civil rights pioneer, who was married to Sheila Mary Tuer, an English woman; they had two children Corin and Tunde Solarin. The school is located on ...

Ikenne Ikenne is a Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Ikenne at . It has an area of 144 km and a population of 118,735 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 121. Wards in Ikenne # Iken ...

, from where he proceeded to the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

and in 1967 graduated with a first-class honours degree in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

where he graduated as overall best graduating student in that year. He subsequently took a post-graduate course in

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

. He became a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

on Sunday, April 5th, 1964 at the age of 23. On his upbringing, Kumuyi was quoted to have said Kumuyi was influenced by

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

, Charles Finney and Charles Spurgeon. His father was a member of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

. According to an article in ''

The Sun (Nigeria) ''The Daily Sun'' is a Nigerian daily print newspaper founded and published in KiriKiri Industrial Layout, Lagos, Nigeria. As of 2011 ''The Sun'' had a daily print run of 130,000 copies, and 135,000 for weekend titles, with an average of 80% sales ...

'', Kumuyi is also said to be "a one-time member of the Anglican Church (now

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

Celestial Church of Christ The Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) is a church founded in Africa by Samuel Oshoffa on 29 September 1947 in Porto-Novo, Benin. It is located in most countries worldwide including the United States and various countries in Africa. History Osho ...

Scripture Union Scripture Union (SU) is an international, interdenominational, evangelical Christian organization. It was founded in 1867, and works in partnership with individuals and churches across the world. The organization's stated aim is to use the Bible t ...

(SU) movement and Apostolic Faith before breaking away to found Deeper Life."

Teaching career

Kumuyi began teaching

in 1962 at Mayflower School, his alma mater. He went on, in the early 1970s, to become a lecturer of mathematics at the

. In September 2016 a one day program was planned which involves Pastor Kumuyi addressing over 50,000 youths all over

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...

which would encourage the youths to inculcate in them the highest virtues in youths and stay away from antisocial and push-pull tendencies which causes distractions for the youths especially in this era of social media.

Christian ministry

In 1973, while being a lecturer of mathematics at the University of Lagos, Kumuyi began a Bible study group with 15 students who had come to him for Bible training. This training became the foundation of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry. In 1975, Kumuyi was expelled from the Apostolic Faith Church for preaching on the

baptism of the Holy Spirit In Christian theology, baptism with the Holy Spirit, also called baptism in the Holy Spirit or baptism in the Holy Ghost, has been interpreted by different Christian denominations and traditions in a variety of ways due to differences in the doc ...

. He continued his independent ministry, which in 1982 became the Deeper Life Bible Church. As at 2005, the

Christian ministry In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith, the prototype being the Great Commission. The '' Encyclopedia of Christianity'' defines it as "carrying forth Christ's mission in the world", in ...

is said to have over 800,000 affiliates.

Place of worship

The Deeper Christian Life Ministry founded by Kumuyi has the international headquarters of its church in Gbagada,

. The church

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

at the international headquarters could sit up to 30,000 worshippers; it was described by experts as the fourth largest in the world. The auditorium was inaugurated on 24 April 2018; the

Vice President of Nigeria The vice president of Nigeria is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the federal government of Nigeria, after the president of Nigeria, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. Officially styled vice president ...

Yemi Osinbajo Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo (born 8 March 1957) is a Nigerian lawyer, professor, and politician who is the 14th and current Vice President of Nigeria since 2015. A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he previously served as Attorney Ge ...

, and some other dignitaries attended the inauguration . Other notable places of worship of his Christian ministry include: the Deeper Life Conference Centre in

at Kilometer 42,

Lagos–Ibadan Expressway The Lagos–Ibadan Expressway is a expressway connecting Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State and Lagos, Nigeria's largest city. It is also the major route to the northern, southern and eastern parts of Nigeria. The expressway is the oldest in Nigeri ...

and the International Bible Training Centre (IBTC) at Ayobo, Lagos. Kumuyi is also noted to have contributed to the new translation of the Bible in to the Yoruba language

Published books

* ''The Hour of Decision'', 1990, * ''How to Know God's Will in Marriage'', 1990, * ''Have Compassion on Them'', 1991, * ''The Spirit Controlled Family: W.F. Kumuyi'', 1996, * ''The Lord's Prayer'', 1997, * ''The Truly Liberated Woman'', 2000, * ''Supernatural Supply in All Situations'', 2009, * ''Daily Manna, Volume 1'', 2011, * ''Daily Manna: A Daily Devotional Guide'', 2014, * ''Higher Everyday: A Daily Devotional Guide for Successful Youths'', 2014, 978-1-46759-810-1 *Kumuyi: Defender of the Faith

Personal life

Kumuyi met Abiodun Olowu in September 1972. She became one of his Bible study students and a member of his fledging Christian ministry. They got married on 13 September 1980 in Lagos, and they have two children, Jeremiah and John. Abiodun Kumuyi died on 11 April 2009. On 13 October 2010, exactly 18 months after the death of his first wife, Kumuyi married Folashade Adenike Blaize in London. Folashade was the Administrator of the Deeper Life Bible Church, London.

Awards

In 2013, ''

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

'' magazine listed Kumuyi among the "500 most powerful people on the planet". In 2018, Kumuyi received an honorary PhD from the University of Abuja.

Global Gospel Crusades

Pastor Dr. W.F. Kumuyi recently started conducting a series of Global Gospel Crusades since April 2021 in Abuja, Nigeria. The June, July, and August 2021 series in Abuja, Calabar and Enugu in Nigeria respectively, were conducted as Global Crusades. There were participants connecting to the Crusade both on social media and dedicated Zoom connections. The August 2021 edition just concluded featured

Don Moen Donald James Moen (born June 29, 1950) is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter of Christian worship music. Early and personal life Moen grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he attended high school in 1968. Moen attended Oral Rob ...

ministering along with him. These crusade series was branded Global Crusade with Kumuyi (GCK) in July 2022 with former president of Nigeria and former vice president of Zambia,

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

and

Nevers Mumba Nevers Mumba (born 1960 in Chitambo at Chitambo Mission, Zambia) is a Zambian politician and religious minister. He is the current leader of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy. He served as the eighth vice-president of Zambia in 2003–04 u ...

respectively among others in attendance at the brand launch.

Biography

The first ever biography of Pastor Kumuyi was written and published in 2021 by four authors. The biography titled Kumuyi: Defender of the Faith was forwarded by Pastor Enoch Adeboye. Nigeria's vice president, Yemi Osibanjo and

Lagos state governor The governor of Lagos State is the head of government of Lagos State in Nigeria. The governor leads the executive branch of the Lagos State Government. This position places its holder in leadership of the state with command authority over the ...

BabaJide Sanwo-olu Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu (born 25 June 1968) is a Nigerian politician and the current Governor of Lagos State. He became governor under the platform of the All Progressives Congress after contesting and unexpectedly winning the gubernatorial p ...

were among prominent world leaders that launched the book.