CHURCH GAMES: Chris Oyakhilome’s Brother, Rev. Ken, Also Accused Of Adultery

The tension surrounding the reported divorce of pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his wife Rev. Anita intensifies as pastor’s younger brother, also a clergyman, is accused of fornication and adultery.

The news about the marriage end of the founder of the Christ Embassy Church broke out last week as Rev. Anita had allegedly filed the divorce documents to the London court stating “adultery” and “unreasonable behaviour” as reasons for her decision.

The move caused split among the church members, who took to social media to express their support either to the one or the other side of the conflict. Some people were sympathetic to the wife, the others said that all humans make mistakes. Some even refused to believe the newы saying that everything was fine with their marriage.

Amid the hot discussions of the issue Nigerian Times has exclusively reported that Oyakhilome’s brother Rev. Ken, also the founder of the church, allegedly impregnated a South African lady  a member of the Church in Randburg, Guateng, which is the headquarters of Christ Embassy, South Africa.



 

The famous cleric’s brother used to act as the regional pastor of Christ Embassy in charge of South Africa and was later transferred to the branch in the USA. Rev. Ken is believed to have romanced with the church member, which was an “open secret” among the parishioners. When the news about the woman’s pregnancy started making rounds, church officials reportedly fudged the issue to prevent scandal. Moreover, the child was aborted with the knowledge of church leaders, report says.

It was at the time when Rev. Ken lived and served in South Africa, while his wife Pastor Ose managed the Okota, Lagos branch of the church. The two still live apart as now Oyakhilome runs the church in Texas.

Outraged church members took to Facebook to comment on the situation and confirm the shocking disclosures:

From Sister Lebogang Radibela:

“It’s true, here in Johannesburg a pastor impregnated a young lady and forced her to do abortion, later on the lady was promoted to being a pastor, till today she is still a pastor, working together with the wife to the pastor who impregnated her. Members act like this is normal; I mean where we draw a line.”

From Jacob Nnoli:

@Sister Lebogang Radibela, “it’s not just a pastor. it’s our darling older brother Rev Ken himself that activated the pregnancy button but it’s shocking to know that our regional pastor, Pastor Ose Oyakhilome, a mother herself supported the abortion and by (following the principle of the ) 48 laws of power, she’s keeping her close. That sounds like what an ‘area mother’ would do and to top it up, the grandfather himself Rev Chris ordained the sister a pastor and probably help seared the damaged conscience with some rands/dollars. How many more in Nigeria region? Time will fail us to speak of Asaba, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Benin and many too numerous to mention. I had to listen to that Youtube message again this morning and I can now understand when Pastor Chris said Pastor Anita should have moved with those who will help her as the wife of global pastor. Is this what she should learn, to help Pastor Yemisi and other indicted ladies? Actually Pastor, you forgot to announce the firing of Pastor Pat, the CSO as a result of leaked White House (Pastor Chris’ residence in Lagos) information and the hiring of a brother-in-law Deacon Kingsley Osazuwa. Our darling Rev Ken, it looks like Durex, Trojan, and Gold circle condoms etc have all finished in the market because of ….May God have mercy but we need to obtain the mercy.”

It would be recalled that rumours about Chris Oyakhilome’s and Rev. Anita’s break-up first surfaced in May as some members started inquiring in social media where Rev. Anita wasexpressing their worries over her long-term absence.  However soon the church officials denied the reports about the divorce of the famous couple blessed with 2 children.

As for the current information, the church is yet to drop an official comment.

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Divorce Drama: Anita Oyakhilome’s Name Removed From Christ Embassy Church Website

 

The divorce mess between Pastors Chris and Anita Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy Church has worsened, P.M News reports. 

On Sunday, two days after it was reported that Anita Oyakhilome had filed for divorce, Christ Embassy deleted her pictures and personal information from its official website, www.christembassy.org.

Many describe the action as the beginning of a process to shut her out of the church, after she accused her husband of “adultery” and “unreasonable behaviours” in a divorce suit filed in London last April but only made public on Friday. Continue…

Christ Embassy’s new website now shows only Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, with a broad smile welcoming his followers to the month of August, and tagging it, ‘Month of Praise’.

In the message on the website, Oyakhilome also urges his followers to “rejoice for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Also, on the website of the Rhapsody of Realities, a daily devotional co-authored by the esrtwhile couple, there’s nothing to show that Anita is still recognised as the only visible face on the website among the family members is that of her husband.

It was too early to know if the September edition of the Rhapsody of Realities still has the photographs of both the pastor and his wife as it used to be.

In the past, when the going was good, Anita and Chris Oyakhilome held hands on the church website and smiled broadly. They projected the image of a perfect couple.

But P.M.NEWS checks at the weekend revealed that there is confusion in the church following the divorce suit filed by Anita to end her over two decades marriage to the founder of Christ Embassy Church.

In the past, Pastor Chris headed the Nigerian branch of the church, though he travelled to other branches occasionally, while Anita headed the branch in London and its environs.

Christ Embassy and its founder have been embroiled in a myriad of controversies in the past. In 2010, Oyakhilome was accused of engineering a money laundering scheme in Nigeria, and questions swirled around his finances because of his glamorous lifestyle.

Many pastors and theologians also excoriated Oyakhilome for his “New Creation” doctrine—a form of gnosticism that says after a person becomes a Christian, any sin they commit is only in the body and will not affect the spirit.

In 2008, Oyakhilome’s reputation as a faith healer was tarnished badly in Johannesburg, South Africa, when a man told a Soweto newspaper that Christ Embassy offered him more than $1,200 to sit in a wheelchair and pretend to be crippled until Oyakhilome prayed for him.

“The man went to the media instead of taking the money, sparking concerns that healings were being faked to impress growing crowds,” said Lee Grady in an article in 2012 published by Charisma Magazine.

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has also been a target of criticism by the Treatment Action Campaign for his support of faith healing to cure HIV.

Allegations that Christ Embassy members are reportedly being forced to give huge sums of money in offerings with the biggest donors receiving the biggest awards have left many people concerned.

Many Nigerians have also alleged that the church operates like a cult and pressures members to marry only within Christ Embassy.

Many people also remember the scandal involving Christ Embassy and Sheraton Hotel some years ago when a member of the church, who worked at the Sheraton Hotel, stole money from his employers and gave it to Christ Embassy. But when Sheraton approached the church for reimbursement, the church allegedly claimed that the money had been given to God and could not be refunded.

Many also excoriated Pastor Chris some years ago when the church began collecting gate fees from members for their New Year Eve’s Service.

More recently, Oyakhilome came under attack after he claimed that Christians were free to masturbate because it was not a sin.

But the latest scandal involving Anita and Chris, who have two daughters, seems to threaten the very existence of one of the biggest churches in Nigeria.

Christ Embassy runs several arms including the Healing School, Rhapsody of Realities, and an N.G.O called the Innercity Missions as well as three Christian television channels: LoveWorld TV, LoveWorld SAT and LoveWorld Plus.

The church is scattered all over the world, including in the United Kingdom, the United States, South America and the whole of Europe.

Stories about women bringing men of God down are not new. In 1988, Jimmy Swaggart, a famous American preacher was implicated in a sex scandal involving a prostitute that resulted initially in his suspension, and ultimately defrocking, by the Assemblies of God.

Three years later, Swaggart was implicated in another scandal involving a prostitute. As a result, Swaggart’s ministry became non-affiliated, non-denominational and significantly smaller than it was before the scandals.

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