Sometime in the early 70s, Pa Akindayomi (the founder of R.C.C.G.) claimed that God had spoken to him about his successor. He claimed that The Lord told him that this man, who was not a member of the church then, would be a young educated man. Thus when a young university lecturer joined the church in 1973, Papa was able,as was claimed, to recognize him in the Spirit as the one that the Lord had spoken about in the past. This man, Enoch Adejare Adeboye who was then a lecturer of Mathematics at the University of Lagos soon became involved in the church. He became one of the interpreters translating Pa Akindayomi's sermons from Yoruba to English. He was ordained a pastor of the church in 1975.
As Papa was preparing to meet his Creator, he sent for Pastor Adeboye and spent several hours sharing with him details of the covenant and the plans of the Lord for the church. Even though a year before this, the Lord had revealed to Pastor Adeboye that he would be Papa's successor, it was still too difficult for him to fully contemplate such an awesome responsibility.
Pa Josiah Akindayomi was 71 years old when he died. Amidst controversy, Pastor Adeboye's appointment was formalized by the reading of Pa Akindayomi's sealed pronouncement after his burial.
Since 1981, an open explosion began with the number of parishes growing in leaps and bounds. At the last count, there are over 2000 parishes of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria. On the International scene, the church is present in other African nations, including Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Gambia, Cameroon, and South Africa. In Europe the church is spread in England, Germany, and France. In the United States there are parishes in Dallas, Tallahassee, Houston, New York, Washington, Maryland, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Delaware, DC, New Jersey, Rhode Island, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Chicago, Georgia (in fact nearly all the states in the United State) and also in the Caribbean states of Haiti and Jamaica.
One of the well-known programs of the church is the Holy Ghost Service, an all-night miracle service that holds on the first Friday of every month at the Redemption Camp at km. 46, Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The Holy Ghost Service now holds in London quarterly and in other parts of the world. Another major service is the Holy Ghost congress which holds in the second week of December every year at the Redemption Camp.
Some of the said promises of the Lord to the RCCG are as follows: 1. That He will meet this Church on His return. 2. That this Church will become a model to the whole world. 3. That other Churches from all over the world would come to learn and worship in this Church. Visit www.eaadeboye.com for more information.