The Celestial Church of Christ

A church in white garments and bare feet, born from a Methodist carpenter's vision in Dahomey in 1947, led from Lagos, and gathered each Christmas at Imeko, its holy city.

The Celestial Church of Christ Constitution (web text; the page is headed "Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese)")

Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese), "Brief History of Celestial Church of Christ" (with the Divine Order, Tenets and Mode of Worship, Membership and Administration)

Rev. A. A. Bada, "Lecture on the Tenets of Celestial Church of Christ," delivered 4 April 1987 as "Pastor & Supreme Head, C.C.C. Worldwide" at Makoko, Lagos (reproduced by the West District, USA; hosted by the Nigeria Diocese)

Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese), "Biblical Justification for Celestial Church of Christ"

Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese), "Our Code of Conduct"

Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese), "Days of Worship"

Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese), "About Us" (with the Articles of Our Faith)

Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese), "Order of Service (Sunday)" document page (the booklet itself could not be downloaded)

Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese), "Naming Ceremony" document page (culled from celestialnewsonline.com)

Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese), "Pastors" (staff page)

Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide Official Site, home page

Afe Adogame, "Building Bridges and Barricades," Marburg Journal of Religion 3, no. 1 (1998), University of Bayreuth

"Christianisme céleste : Ediemou pour Semè comme le lieu de pèlerinage annuel à Noël," Fraternité Matin, 21 February 2009 (Ivorian daily, reproduced on Abidjan.net)

Mary Ekah, "I'm the Authentic Successor to Oshoffa," ThisDay (Lagos), 15 July 2016

Ranmilowo Ojalumo, "Celestial Church leadership tussle gets messier," Factual NG, 20 January 2020

Mills & Reeve, "Trustees of the Celestial Church of Christ v Lawson: something for everyone," 24 September 2020 (a law firm's report of a High Court judgment in England)

The Trustees of the Celestial Church of Christ, Edward Street Parish v Lawson [2017] EWHC 97 (Ch), High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, judgment of 27 January 2017 (The National Archives, Find Case Law)

Owodunni v. Registered Trustees of Celestial Church of Christ & Ors., Supreme Court of Nigeria, 30 June 2000, (2000) JELR 43877 (SC) (headnote and opening of the leading judgment, judy.legal)

Wikipedia, "Celestial Church of Christ" (used only for facts, as a last resort; never for the church's words)

Wikipedia, "Celestial City, Imeko" (used only for dates, as a last resort)

Wikipedia, "Samuel Oshoffa" (used only for facts, as a last resort)

Wikipedia, "Alexander Abiodun Adebayo Bada" (used only for dates, as a last resort)

Wikipedia, "Emmanuel Oshoffa" (used only for facts, as a last resort)

The church dates itself from September 1947, when Samuel Oshoffa, a Methodist carpenter and timber trader, received in prayer what the church calls the Divine Order. He worked first as a healer and prophet in Dahomey, where the church was recognized by the state in 1965. A conflict with the government sent him into exile in Nigeria in 1976, and the center of the church moved to Lagos. He died in 1985. Since then the office of Pastor has been the church's great trouble: it has had several claimants, and the courts have been asked to decide between them. The dates below are the church's own wherever the church gives one.

Called in the forest

The church's history says God called Oshoffa "on the day of total Eclipse of the sun in West Africa," when he was in the forest of Dahomey to buy ebony wood as a carpenter and timber trader, as his father had been. It compares his forty days and forty nights in the wilderness to those of the Lord Jesus. The church gives no calendar day for this. (The 23 May often printed comes from Wikipedia, which itself notes that the eclipse was on 20 May.)

The spiritual message

In prayer, "a winged Angel bathed in intense light" brought him God's word: that he was sent on an errand of preaching in the world, to help those who run to fetish priests and other powers of darkness. The church's history gives this date. Its Constitution gives the same message under the date of 29 September.

The Divine Order and the founding

The Constitution says the church "came into the world from heaven by DIVINE ORDER on the 29th of September 1947 in PORTO NOVO," through a single individual, the founder. The message added that works of divine healing would be done through him in the name of Jesus Christ as proof that God had sent him. The church counts this as its beginning.

The seating is revealed

The church's history says the seating arrangement of the church was revealed through a Prophetess who, in the wilderness on Friday 5 October 1947, "sketched the seating arrangement using oranges." The name of the church came by a trance of seven days, undergone by Alexander Yanga, one of the early followers, and he wrote it on the wall as Église du Christianisme Céleste.

The visitation

The church's Order of Service page says that on the first Sunday of August 1954 "our Lord Jesus" visited the church and spoke with Oshoffa and with Reverend Pastor A. A. Bada, and said that all the worship the church conducts is acceptable to the Father. The church holds this as the seal on its form of worship.

Recognized in Dahomey

Wikipedia reports that the Republic of Dahomey recognized and authorized the church in 1965.

Exile in Nigeria

A spokesman for the church's Ivorian diocese, quoted in a newspaper in 2009, said Oshoffa had been in exile in Nigeria since 16 January 1976. Wikipedia reports a conflict with the government of Benin and a looming arrest, and that he held a public meeting at Yaba, Lagos the same year. The center of the church moved with him, and Nigeria became its larger branch. (Another Wikipedia article gives 1979 for the move. The church-side date is used here.)

The founder's death

Oshoffa died in Lagos on 10 September 1985, a few days after surviving a car crash, and was buried at Celestial City, Imeko, on 19 October 1985. The church's history says he was "translated at the age of 76 (in 1985) after leading the church for 38 years."

The second Pastor

Alexander Abiodun Adebayo Bada was proclaimed the second Pastor on 17 December 1985. The Christmas convocation at Imeko ratified him on 25 December 1985, and he was enthroned at Celestial City in December 1987. Wikipedia's two accounts differ on the day of the enthronement, 24 or 25 December 1987. In April 1987 he gave the lecture on the tenets that is quoted below.

The succession before the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Nigeria gave judgment in Owodunni v. Registered Trustees of Celestial Church of Christ. The leading judgment says the dispute "arose as a result of the demise on 10th September, 1985" of the founder, and the question before the court was whether Josiah Kayode Owodunni had standing to bring it. Only the headnote and the opening of the judgment were read.

A succession in dispute

Bada died on 8 September 2000, having been Pastor for fifteen years. Philip Hunsu Ajose was appointed Pastor (on 24 December 2000 at Celestial City, by one Wikipedia article; on 2 October 2000, by another) and died on 2 March 2001. After his death the office was claimed from several sides, and by October 2003 Wikipedia counts four factions: one led by the founder's son Emmanuel Oshoffa, chosen by the board of trustees; one by Paul Suru Maforikan, chosen by the council of superiors; one by Agbaossi of Benin; and one by Josiah Kayode Owodunni. The factions are set out one by one in the fold below.

Where to make the pilgrimage

In February 2009 an Ivorian paper printed the view of the church's Ivorian diocese, headed by Ediémou Blin Jacob, that the Christmas pilgrimage belongs at Semè, by the sea at Porto-Novo in Benin, and that Imeko is a place of pilgrimage for anyone at any time. It was answering a statement by Emmanuel Oshoffa, whom the paper calls the world Pastor, that Imeko remained the holy land for the pilgrimage; the spokesman, for his part, called Agbaossi of Benin the present world head. He thanked Benin's President Yayi Boni for making Semè the church's property on 24 December 2008.

Suits in the Federal High Court

A Nigerian news report of 20 January 2020 says that Rev. Josiah Kayode Owodunni had sued Emmanuel Oshoffa and members of the board of trustees in the Federal High Court in Lagos (suit FHC/L/CS/389/18), asking the court to restrain Oshoffa from presenting himself as Pastor of the church worldwide. On Tuesday 14 January 2020 Justice Ayokunle Faji fixed 7 and 8 April 2020 for hearing. The report adds that another case was then "at the court of appeal." No later report of either case was found, so their present status is not known.

Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa

The founder, whom the church calls "Reverend, Pastor, Prophet, Founder." A carpenter and timber trader, raised a Methodist, he held the highest office of the church until his death. The church's history says that through him "the Lord Jesus Christ raised a number of dead, restored a number of blind, deaf and dumb."

Alexander Yanga

The man through whom, the church says, its name came down from heaven. He was being healed at the founder's residence, and fell into a trance for seven days, and at the end of it asked for chalk and wrote the name of the church on the wall.

Alexander Abiodun Adebayo Bada

The second Pastor (born 1930), who gave his 1987 lecture as "Pastor & Supreme Head, C.C.C. Worldwide." His lecture on the tenets is the fullest statement of the church's rules found on its site. He died in London on 8 September 2000 and was buried at Celestial City on 29 September.

Philip Hunsu Ajose

The third Pastor, appointed in 2000: at a meeting at Celestial City on 24 December by one Wikipedia article, on 2 October by another. In his short tenure he ordered the seminary at Makoko, outside Lagos, moved to Imeko. He died on 2 March 2001 and was buried there on 30 March, when youths carried placards reading "The emerging pastor must stay in Imeko."

Emmanuel Mobiyina Oshoffa

The founder's eldest son. Installed as head in December 2002, he is the Pastor named on the Nigeria Diocese's own site and, in Wikipedia's words, the pastor of "the major faction."

Benoit Agbaossi

Chosen by the Supreme Headquarters at Porto-Novo to head the church, "contrary to the procedure of succession in Nigeria." Shortly before his death in 2010 he appointed Benoit Adeogun as the next Pastor.

The factions, each with its source. The sources do not agree on every date, and the church's own Worldwide pages, which would give its own account, returned errors on every try. What is reported:

- The board of trustees' line (Emmanuel Oshoffa). The Nigeria Diocese's site names him Pastor, Worldwide. Wikipedia says he was installed as head in December 2002 as successor to Ajose, and that he "controls the overwhelming fraction of the church" and the Imeko pilgrimage city.
- The council of superiors' line (Maforikan). Wikipedia reports that after Ajose died some declared Gilbert Oluwatosin Jesse the leader, and that after Jesse's death his faction declared Superior Evangelist Paul Suru Maforikan the spiritual leader. A second Wikipedia article says Maforikan was chosen by the council of superiors.
- The Porto-Novo line (Agbaossi, then Adeogun). The Supreme Headquarters chose Agbaossi (1931–2010), who appointed Adeogun shortly before he died in 2010 (ThisDay, 2016).
- Owodunni. His dispute with the church's Registered Trustees over the succession reached the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which gave judgment on 30 June 2000 on whether he had standing to sue (the full judgment was not read, only its opening). Named as a fourth claimant in 2003 (Wikipedia). He sued again in the Federal High Court in Lagos (suit FHC/L/CS/389/18), as set out in the history above. Status after the April 2020 hearing is not known.
- June 2015. ThisDay reports that Rev. Olatosho Oshoffa, another son of the founder, declared himself "a unification leader worldwide" after saying he saw his father twice in a dream telling him to unite the factions.
- July 2016. ThisDay reports that Prophet Ehoun Xavier Gbedayi of Benin said he was "the authentic successor," chosen by the founder's prediction. The paper gives his word alone; no other source for it was found.
The present status of each claim in October 2026 is not established. A separate case in England, a High Court judgment of 27 January 2017 about one parish (Edward Street) and its Shepherd, was a dispute within one parish: the court held that the parish's own constitution, lodged with the Charity Commission, governed, and not the Nigeria Diocese's constitution ([2017] EWHC 97 (Ch); a law firm's report of 2020, Mills & Reeve).

What the sources disagree on. The day of the forest is undated by the church (above). The church's own Days of Worship page says "Our church began the activity in 1929," a date no other source supports and that the page does not explain. The Supreme Court of Nigeria's judgment of 2000, in its summary of the facts, says the church was "founded in 1942" and registered in Nigeria as a corporate body in 1958; the church's own Constitution says 1947. The move to Nigeria is 1976 (the Ivorian diocese's spokesman) or 1979 (one Wikipedia article). The date the Ketu headquarters was set up is not given by any source read. Who is the world head is itself in dispute: the same 2009 article that calls Emmanuel Oshoffa "pasteur mondial" (world Pastor) quotes the Ivorian spokesman calling Agbaossi of Benin "chef mondial actuel" (the present world head).

Whether the church draws on Yoruba religion. The church "vehemently refuses any connecting nexus with traditional religious thought and praxis," in the words of the scholar Afe Adogame, and its membership rules require a convert to renounce "the worship of all idols and fetish practices." Adogame himself judges that its worldview "is a synthesis of biblical belief, christian liturgical tradition and elements from Yoruba cultural milieux." The chart reports both and does not decide between them.

Two sites. The Constitution page that was read names the body "Celestial Church of Christ (Nigeria Diocese)," a diocese of the world-wide church with its Supreme Headquarters at Porto-Novo and its International Headquarters at Ketu. This chart describes the church as it presents itself in these pages, and says "the Nigeria Diocese" where only that diocese's text is meant.

The Bible, with a founder's revelations beside it: the tenets and the order of worship are held to be given by the Holy Spirit and grounded in the Scriptures.

The Celestial Church of Christ appeals to the Bible for everything it does. Its site lists each practice with the texts that support it, and Pastor Bada's lecture says of the tenets that they are "divine in origin and grounded in the scriptures." At the same time, the church holds that its tenets and its form of worship were given to the founder by revelation. Bada says they came "through divine revelations" to Oshoffa, and the church's history says the order of service is "strictly as revealed by the Holy Spirit." Its history describes the church as living "under the absolute dictatorship of Holy Spirit."

The Articles of Our Faith on the Nigeria Diocese's site are the Apostles' Creed with one change: the clause on the Holy Spirit reads "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Celestial Church of Christ." The Mosaic law holds a large place. Bada says "all the laws given to Moses and the prophets are strictly adhered to," and the ordinances are brought into the announcements every worship day. No statement was found that ranks the revelations against the Bible. The church's pages put the two side by side.

To me, the tenets are divine in origin and grounded in the scriptures.

not only did the Celestial Church of Christ tenets come through divine revelations to our beloved Saint S.B.J. Oshoffa, the Prophet, Pastor, and founder of the Church, but also have their basis in the Bible

The order for the respective occasion is strictly as revealed by the Holy Spirit and as set out in the booklet titled "Order of Service".

The visitation of 1954. The church's Order of Service page tells the Celestians who conduct services that it is essential to follow the mode of worship "as laid down by Reverend Pastor and Founder," and says that the Lord Jesus visited the church on the first Sunday of August 1954 and told Oshoffa and Bada that all the worship the church conducts "are acceptable to the Father." So the form of worship is held to carry a word from the Lord himself, beside what the Bible says of worship.

The name and the seating. The church's Constitution says its name "came down from Heaven by divine revelation" through a man held in a trance for seven days. Its history says the seating of the church was sketched by a Prophetess under the Spirit's influence. These are not commentary on the Bible. They are the church's account of how its form came to it.

A person confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, goes through sanctification, and is immersed after twelve months. Baptism admits to full membership; the sources do not say it is for the forgiveness of sins.

The church welcomes anyone who "earnestly and sincerely desire to be saved" and who accepts "Jesus Christ as the son of God and the only Lord and Savior of mankind." It asks them to confess "with their mouths the Lord Jesus" and to believe "in their hearts that God hath raised Him up from the dead." Its Articles of Faith affirm the forgiveness of sins. Its Easter teaching calls the Passion Week the time when the Son of God "surrendered his life an atonement for the sins of the world."

Entry then has three steps, in Bada's lecture: sanctification, baptism and anointment. Sanctification comes first. A new member is cleansed with water, sponge and soap while a stick of candle is lit, and the member's house is sanctified too. Baptism is by immersion, "the type which Christ our Lord underwent in Jordan." A person may be presented for baptism only after twelve months of worship and keeping the rules of the church, "to examine the doctrine and the mode of worship thoroughly before taking the plunge." Anointment comes two years after baptism. Baptism in the Celestial Church of Christ is required for membership, whatever baptism the person had before in another church. The sources read describe baptism as the rite that admits a person to full membership and equips him to take communion. No church page read says that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins.

accept Jesus Christ as the son of God and the only Lord and Savior of mankind

Baptism therefore is the first rite performed to admit formally a worshiper into full membership of the church

A prospective member may be presented for the rite of baptism only after he has participated in the worship and adhered to the rules of the church for 12 months

Sanctification in the church's words. The membership page says new members "shall normally, prior to admission as worshippers, undergo sanctification with a pail of water, candle, sponge, and soap for spiritual purification in the church." Bada explains it as the removal of "filth and stain of darkness," and after it "the new member is numbered among the children of promise in the new faith in Christ Jesus." The church treats it as separate from baptism.

The washing of feet. On Holy Thursday the church washes feet. Bada says "it is believed that the eternal curse Gen. 3:15 on the descendants of Adam is removed," and that "All the signs of the curse should be washed off before one can enter the Kingdom of God." He tells of a Senior Elder at Arepo, in the nineteen-sixties, who missed the service three years in a row and was turned away from a white ship in a dream until his feet were washed.

Holy Communion is given quarterly, and a full service of it follows the washing of feet on Holy Thursday. The church counts it among its holy rites with baptism and the washing of feet.

Bada says it "has become statutory" in the church worldwide to give Holy Communion "on quarterly basis," three months apart. The one occasion he names is Holy Thursday evening, when a full service and administration of Holy Communion follow the washing of feet. He cites Mark 14, Luke 22 and 1 Corinthians 11 and the Lord's words, "This do in remembrance of me." The church lists Holy Communion among its holy rites or sacraments, with baptism, the annual washing of feet, the annual pilgrimage to Imeko, the harvest thanksgiving and Holy Mary's Day, and calls on members to take part in them. Baptism is the rite after which a member becomes "elevated to partake of holy communion."

The sources read do not say what the elements are, who gives them, or how the service goes. The 1987 lecture is the only source on frequency, and no later statement was found.

It has become statutory in Celestial Church of Christ worldwide to administer Holy Communion on quarterly basis

A full service and administration of Holy Communion follow washing of feet on Holy Thursday evening.

Members shall avail themselves of the opportunity to partake in these rites or sacraments: Baptism, Holy Communion, Annual Washing of Feet, Annual Pilgrimage to Imeko, Ogun State, Nigeria at Christmas Eve, Annual Harvest Thanksgiving Service, and Holy Mary's Day.

One Pastor is head of the church in all matters, with a ladder of heads beneath him, a board of trustees and a Pastor in Council. Men who are anointed serve at the altar.

The Nigeria Diocese's Administration page says "The pastor is the Head of the church in all matters," and lists the offices that carry his authority down: a Shepherd over each parish, a District Supervisor, a Regional Head, and a Head of Diocese. The Pastor is helped by the Board of Trustees, the Pastor in Council, the staff of the International Headquarters, and the heads of dioceses, regions, districts, zones and parishes. At the parish a Parochial Committee helps the Shepherd. The page says the first Pastor was the founder.

Anointment, given two years after baptism and at Christmas, is described as a consecration to priesthood. Bada says that by anointment a member "is made a priest unto the Lord and a king to reign over the earth." Only men who are anointed go into the altar, and no woman may go beyond the threshold near it or touch the sacred items. The church forbids women "to mount the pulpit to deliver sermon or lead congregational worships," citing 1 Timothy 2:11-12. The church's history of the Pastor's office, and its disputes, are given in Part 2.

The pastor is the Head of the church in all matters and he is represented at the Parish level by the Shepherd, at the district level by the District supervisor, at the regional level, by the Regional Head, and at the diocesan level by the Head of Diocese.

The first Pastor of the Church was the Founder, Reverend, Pastor and Prophet Samuel Bilehou Oshoffa.

No Male not yet anointed is allowed into the altar.

Worship in white garments and bare feet, with kneeling, face to the ground, candles, incense and sanctified water. The order of each service is held to be revealed.

Bada says worship has "a prime of place" in the church, in "frequency, mode, and intensity." He lists the hours of prayer and the weekly services: Wednesday and Friday services with special services for barren women and those seeking work, for prophets and dreamers, and for pregnant women, Sunday worship, and a new moon service on the first Thursday of the month, kept at midnight in 1987 (the current list on the church's site gives it at ten at night). At the new moon service the congregation lifts up their hands, bows, and kneels with the forehead touching the ground, "in absolute lowliness before God," with no sitting on chairs or benches, and "intense use of incense and perfume." At other services they kneel to the sound of a bell and chant "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts."

The church's history says the mode of worship, "the setting of the Altar, and the seat therein, the number of candles used for various types of services and the seating arrangement," was revealed. The altar has a seven-pronged candlestick, an ever-burning lamp, a communion box and a table. The church uses sanctified water and oil. It holds that the seven candles stand for "the 7 spirits of God." The code of conduct speaks of "Musical instruments used for the glory of God," so instruments are part of the church's life; the sources read do not say which, or how they are used in the service.

The shepherd and the whole congregation in unison lift up their hand (acknowledging the sovereignty of God), then bow down, and finally kneel down with face to the ground, the forehead touching the ground.

Mode of worship includes the setting of the Altar, and the seat therein, the number of candles used for various types of services and the seating arrangement

There is intense use of incense and perfume.

The Holy Spirit gives the church its name, its order and its prophets. The church holds that healing and raising the dead came through its founder, and it keeps services for prophets and dreamers.

The church speaks of itself as under the Holy Spirit's direction in everything. Its name was revealed in a trance. Its order of service is "Revealed through the Holy Spirit as promised by our Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:25-26)." Its history says that "through him," the founder, "the Lord Jesus Christ raised a number of dead, restored a number of blind, deaf and dumb," and the founding message promised works of divine healing as the proof that God had sent him. The church counts prophets and dreamers in its life. Its weekly Friday service at midday is "for prophets, dreamers and those seeking the power of the holy spirit."

In the naming ceremony on the eighth day, the church's lecture says "the spirit of God will descend on the prophet carrying the child to give the child a name." The sources read give no account of visioners beyond this. They do not say how often prophecies are given in an ordinary service or how they are tested.

The name of the Church came down from Heaven by divine revelation through MR. ALEXANDER YANGA, who was at that time undergoing spiritual healing at the residence of the Pastor Founder and who was held in trance for seven days.

Through him, the Lord Jesus Christ raised a number of dead, restored a number of blind, deaf and dumb.

special service for prophets, dreamers and those seeking the power of the holy spirit

The church confesses that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead and that the body will rise, and it reads itself into the vision of Revelation 7.

The Articles of Our Faith say of Christ: "From thence, He shall come to judge the living and the dead," and end with "the resurrection of the body" and "life everlasting." The church's stated mission is "To prepare believers for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." Bada closes his account of worship by saying that the church is "the fulfillment of the-vision of John in the scene described in Rev. 7:9-17": the great multitude in white robes before the throne is, for the church, its own people in their garments.

The church keeps a "Mass in Remembrance of the dead" among its occasions with a fixed order, and its membership rules ask the convert to declare that he be buried by its rites. It forbids carrying a corpse into the temple or burying the dead close to it. A holy city at Imeko, with the founder's tomb, is described by the church's Worldwide site as a "premier spiritual destination" it aims to develop. Wikipedia reports that the church believes God chose Imeko as the New Jerusalem, on a citation the chart did not check, and no page read from the church says so.

From thence, He shall come to judge the living and the dead

To prepare believers for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is evident that Celestial Church of Christ is the fulfillment of the-vision of John in the scene described in Rev. 7:9-17.

The white garment and bare feet

Members worship in a white garment, the sutana, and without shoes, from the holy ground of Exodus 3 and the white robes of Revelation 7.

The white one-piece garment is called the sutana (spelled Soutana on one page). The church's list of practices and their proof texts gives the white garment with texts from Revelation, Daniel, the Gospels and Leviticus, and "wearing no shoes" with Acts 7:33, Joshua 5:15 and Exodus 3:5. Bada's list of the practices of worship names "Walking barefoot and not wearing cap in the Church" and "White Garment." The rule on shoes is firm: they "cannot be worn into the Sanctuary and when in your Sutana." The code of conduct requires that the sutana not be transparent or tight, and forbids red or black apparel except for professional reasons. Women cover their heads in the Sanctuary, citing 1 Corinthians 11, and men are asked not to wear their hair too long.

Walking barefoot and not wearing cap in the Church – Exod. 3:4-6; Rev. 1:14; 1:15

Shoes cannot be worn into the Sanctuary and when in your Sutana.

Wear Red or Black apparel, except for professional reasons

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

And the prince of Jehovah’s host said unto Joshua, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they? And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch (all which things are to perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Moses was told to "put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5), and Joshua was told the same (Joshua 5:15). Each was at a place where the Lord had just appeared. Nothing in the New Testament carries the command into the Christian assembly. The white robes of Revelation belong to those who "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:14): the whiteness is the cleansing Christ gives, not a garment worn to church. A church may ask for modest dress and bare feet, and the reverence behind it deserves credit, but the church binds it as a rule of worship, with exclusion for the one who breaks it. Paul calls rules like "Handle not, nor taste, nor touch" a "show of wisdom in will-worship" that is "not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh" (Colossians 2:21-23).

The purity laws

Women are kept from the church during their monthly period and for forty days after childbirth, until sanctified; pork, blood, alcohol and tobacco are forbidden; the church says the laws of Moses are strictly kept.

The Nigeria Diocese's membership page says female members "cannot come into the Church during their monthly period," and may return after sanctification on the eighth day (citing Leviticus 12). After the birth of a child the mother may not return with the baby until the fortieth day, the "period of purification" (citing Luke 2:22). The code of conduct asks women to keep off the church grounds for seven days, and it adds a day if the flow lasts longer. A woman in her flow may not move near the temple or touch any holy thing. Bada ties these rules to Mark 5, where, he says, "The weight of the impurity was so much felt by Jesus Christ that he could not resist asking who touched him," and to the Jerusalem letter's word, as he puts it, to "steer clear of 'blood'" (he cites Acts 15:29).

The food and drink rules are part of the same code. Bada says it is forbidden to eat pork, crawling animals like snake and snail, fish that have no scale, and blood, and to take alcohol or smoke tobacco. Bada also forbids carrying a corpse into the temple, burying the dead close to it, and eating anything offered to idols. He says plainly that "all the laws given to Moses and the prophets are strictly adhered to."

Female members cannot come into the Church during their monthly period. They are free to return after sanctification on the eighth day (Lev. 12: 1-3).

In Celestial Church of Christ, all the laws given to Moses and the prophets are strictly adhered to.

It is forbidden in Celestial Church of Christ to eat Pork; Crawling animals like snake, snail, and species of fish that have no scale.

And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed of any, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately the issue of her blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who is it that touched me? And when all denied, Peter said, and they that were with him, Master, the multitudes press thee and crush thee. But Jesus said, Some one did touch me; for I perceived that power had gone forth from me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people for what cause she touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? This he said, making all meats clean.

Now therefore why make ye trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like manner as they.

forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving:

The Law of Moses was a covenant for Israel, and the church that puts it on Christians binds what the apostles refused to bind. When the Jerusalem apostles met, Peter asked, "why make ye trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" (Acts 15:10). Jesus said that "whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him," and the writer adds, "making all meats clean" (Mark 7:18-19), and Paul warns of those "commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:3). The woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus, and he told her "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole" (Luke 8:48); he asked who touched him because "power had gone forth from me" (Luke 8:46), not because she had defiled him. To shut a woman out of the assembly each month, for the reason that the old law named her unclean, sets a barrier where the Lord removed one. The church's stand against drunkenness, fornication, idols and secret societies stands with the apostles, and its members may keep any food rule they choose, but binding them on all is another matter.

Prophets, dreamers and revealed names

The church keeps a service for prophets and dreamers, and in the naming of a child the Spirit is said to descend on a prophet to give the name.

The church speaks of prophets as part of its ordinary life. It holds a Friday service for prophets, dreamers and those seeking the power of the Holy Spirit. In the naming ceremony on the eighth day, a prophet of the child's sex carries the child, incense and a basin with seven candles lead the way, seven elders stand round, and the church's lecture says the Spirit of God descends on the prophet to give the child a name, which is then read out. Water, salt and honey are put into the child's mouth. Bada compares this to the angel's naming of Jesus before he was conceived (Luke 2:21). The church's founding message promised "miraculous works of Holy divine healing," and the church counts the healing of the sick and the raising of the dead among the works of its founder. The sources read do not say how a prophecy is tested before it is acted on.

In the process of the service, the spirit of God will descend on the prophet carrying the child to give the child a name.

Provision for a prophet that will carry the child should also be made, female prophet to carry a female child and vice versa.

miraculous works of Holy divine healing will be carried out by you in the name of Jesus Christ

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone;

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

And it came to pass on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.

The Hebrew writer says the word of salvation "was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers" (Hebrews 2:3-4), and the church is built "upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20), a foundation laid once. Nothing in the New Testament gives a class of prophets to carry children and receive their names; when John was named, it was his parents and neighbors who spoke (Luke 1:59-63). John's warning is a plain one: "believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1). A church that holds a service for prophets and dreamers, and gives its form of worship by revelation, needs that test most. The sources read do not show that the church applies it to its own prophets. The wish to pray for the sick and to ask the Spirit's help is right. The setting of an office of prophet over the assembly is not.

The Christmas pilgrimage to Imeko

Every member is called to gather each Christmas at a place the founder fixed; for most it is Imeko, where he is buried, and the church's own sources differ on whether it is Imeko or Semè in Benin.

Bada says the world congregation "assembles annually on 24 December at an appointed place as directed by the Lord Himself" through the founder, and that every committed member looks forward to it. The anointing falls on 25 December. The church's history lists "Annual Pilgrimage to Imeko, Ogun State, Nigeria at Christmas Eve" among its holy rites. Wikipedia reports that every member is expected to attend, that thousands travel to Imeko from Nigeria, other parts of West Africa, London and the United States, and that the journey is costly. The church's Worldwide site speaks of a vision "to establish Imeko as a premier spiritual destination."

The place is not agreed. In February 2009 a spokesman for the church's diocese in Côte d'Ivoire told an Ivorian newspaper that the Constitution (his article 99) orders by the Holy Spirit that all members gather at Christmas by the sea at Porto-Novo in Benin, at Semè, and that its article 9 makes Imeko, where the founder's tomb is, a place of pilgrimage for everyone at any time. He was replying to Emmanuel Oshoffa, who had held that Imeko remained the holy land of the pilgrimage. The Constitution's own text could not be read in full, so these articles are given as the spokesman reported them.

The world Congregation of Celestial Church of Christ assembles annually on 24 December at an appointed place as directed by the Lord Himself through our Pastor and founder, Saint S.B.J. Oshoffa to celebrate.

Annual Pilgrimage to Imeko, Ogun State, Nigeria at Christmas Eve

Il est ordonné par le Saint Esprit que tous les membres de l’Eglise du christianisme céleste où qu’ils se trouvent doivent se rassembler à Noël au bord de la mer à Porto-Novo au Bénin.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet, The heaven is my throne, And the earth the footstool of my feet: What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord: Or what is the place of my rest?

but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.

not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.

Jesus told the woman at the well that "neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father," because the Father seeks those who "worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:21-24). Stephen says the Most High "dwelleth not in houses made with hands" (Acts 7:48). A place of pilgrimage with a founder's tomb sets a holy ground that the New Testament took away. The assembling of Christians is a duty, and the church's wish that its members gather in numbers is a good one: the Hebrew writer says "not forsaking our own assembling together" (Hebrews 10:25). But the New Testament church gathered on the first day of each week, wherever it lived, and put no yearly journey on its members. A place fixed by revelation or by a founder's wish, and not by Scripture, is a place a church can differ over, as the report of 2009 shows.

The altar, the candle and the washing of feet

A seven-branched candlestick, incense, sanctified water and oil, anointing into a priesthood, a candle in the place of the sacrificial lamb, and a washing of feet said to remove the curse on Adam's descendants.

The church sets its assembly in the pattern of the tabernacle. The altar has a seven-pronged candlestick, which the church holds to be the seven spirits of God, a lamp that burns continually, a table and a communion box. Incense is burned at the services, and sanctified water and oil are used. When a member is consecrated to the priesthood, Bada says, "candle is used to replace lamb, goat, sheep prescribed in the scriptures." The anointing, given at Christmas, is said to make a member a priest and a king. On Holy Thursday the church washes feet, and Bada says the rite removes "the eternal curse Gen. 3:15 on the descendants of Adam." Only men who are anointed go into the altar. The church's list of practices also names Holy Michael as "Head of Angels of God," and the first prayer at the sanctification of a child is listed as "Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Holy Michael." The sources read do not explain Holy Mary's Day, which the church lists among its holy rites.

candle is used to replace lamb, goat, sheep prescribed in the scriptures

by anointment, in Jesus Christ, a member of Celestial Church of Christ is made a priest unto the Lord and a king to reign over the earth

By the rite, it is believed that the eternal curse Gen. 3:15 on the descendants of Adam is removed

And every priest indeed standeth day by day ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins: but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you.

The Hebrew writer sets the old priests, who stood "day by day ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices," against Christ, who "had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:11-12). A candle in the place of the lamb, and a class of anointed men who serve at an altar, take up again what that offering ended. Every Christian is already part of "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9), with no second rank. The curse on Adam's line was borne by Christ: he "redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13), so no rite of washing can remove it. Jesus washed the disciples' feet to give them an example in lowly service, and said "I have given you an example" (John 13:15). The reverence the altar is meant to teach, and the church's long hours of prayer, are gifts to be thankful for, but they are carried in a form the apostles set aside.

Each of the seven positions is set beside the Scriptures, as the Lord set a plumb line beside Israel's wall (Amos 7:7-8). The church's own words are used wherever they were found. The booklet of the order of service could not be read, so the verdict on worship rests on the lecture, the code of conduct and the church's own list of practices. The positions weighed are those of the Nigeria Diocese's pages and Pastor Bada's 1987 lecture; the rival claimants to the office were not found to state their own. The disputes over who is Pastor are told in Part 2 and are not weighed here. This is not a verdict on an African church for being African. It is a verdict, by the same line, on every church.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.

The Celestial Church of Christ begins in the right place: it gives a Scripture for every practice, and it says its tenets are grounded in the Bible. But it sets beside the Bible a founder's revelations and an order of service held to be given by the Spirit, and it says the Lord himself visited in 1954 to approve its worship. The faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), so there is nothing left for a later revelation to add. Paul put the line where it still stands: "though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema" (Galatians 1:8). Scripture is "complete, furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17), and a church that binds more than Scripture says has put its own authority beside the Lord's.

The cost of this is the large place the old law holds. Bada says "all the laws given to Moses and the prophets are strictly adhered to," but the Hebrew writer says "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old" (Hebrews 8:13), and Paul tells the Colossians not to let any man judge them "in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day" (Colossians 2:16), the very things the church binds: its food laws, its new moon service, its feasts. The Nigeria Diocese's Articles of Faith also change the Apostles' Creed to say "I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Celestial Church of Christ," which writes the church itself into the creed.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.

And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately.

The church stands near the line in what it calls for: faith in Jesus Christ as "the only Lord and Savior," the immersion of believers, and a clean break from idols and secret societies. Where it departs is the delay and the purpose. Peter said, "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38), and Ananias, "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins" (Acts 22:16). The eunuch asked, "what doth hinder me to be baptized?" and was baptized on the road (Acts 8:36-38), and the jailer "was baptized, he and all his, immediately" (Acts 16:33). The Celestial Church of Christ holds a seeker for twelve months, and teaches that baptism admits to membership. No page read says it is for the forgiveness of sins.

The cleansing rites that come around baptism add to it. The church requires sanctification with water, sponge, soap and a candle before baptism, and teaches that the washing of feet takes away a curse. The New Testament gives all cleansing to the blood of Christ, reached in the baptism he commanded (Romans 6:3-4). The church is also right to receive any willing person, as Bada says there are "no preconditions for admitting any willing person," and to ask a break with the old life.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

The church keeps the Supper as a remembrance, cites Paul's account of its institution, and counts it among its holy rites, and that is the right ground. Its place in the week is the difficulty. The disciples at Troas were "gathered together to break bread" "upon the first day of the week" (Acts 20:7), and Paul writes that "as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26). A church that gives Holy Communion four times a year, and ties the chief of them to a Holy Thursday after the washing of feet, has made it a festival where the apostles made it the weekly center of the assembly.

The church admits to the table only those baptized in its fold. That is not weighed here; the New Testament too joins the baptized to the table, for those who were baptized "continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:41-42), and Paul asks each man to "prove himself" first (1 Corinthians 11:28). The sources read do not name the elements or say who gives them, and the quarterly rule is from a lecture of 1987; no later statement was found.

and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

The church has a clear order of responsibility, and it keeps the teaching of the assembly with men, as Paul does in 1 Timothy 2:12. But its structure is a ladder that ends in one man. The Pastor is "Head of the church in all matters," with a Shepherd, a District Supervisor, a Regional Head and a Head of Diocese beneath him, where Scripture says God gave Christ "to be head over all things to the church" (Ephesians 1:22-23). The apostles "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), a plurality in each congregation with no office above it, and Peter charges them to tend the flock, not "lording it over the charge allotted to you" (1 Peter 5:3). The church also makes a priesthood of anointed men, though all Christians are "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9).

The founder's titles, "Reverend, Pastor, Prophet, Founder," gather several offices in one man, and the church holds that the Pastor's office continues after him. The Lord's teaching on titles is that "one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8). A congregation governed by its own elders is the pattern the apostles left, and nothing in it needs a head on earth.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

who serve that which is a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned of God when he is about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the mount.

The church worships with earnestness and reverence, prays through the day and the night, kneels before God, sings, and takes up its offerings with thanks, and the reverence it asks for deserves honor. Its form is borrowed from the tabernacle: the seven-pronged candlestick, the altar lamp, the incense, the sanctified water and oil, and the white garment and bare feet. Those who served in the tabernacle served "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5), and Jesus said "the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). The New Testament pattern for the song is "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God" (Colossians 3:16). The code of conduct speaks of musical instruments in the church's life, where the New Testament names only singing.

The church holds that the Lord himself said in 1954 that all its worship is acceptable to the Father. The Lord’s word is that the Father seeks those who worship "in spirit and truth." Worship that is set by a revealed order, down to the number of candles and the seating plan, takes the place of that freedom. The church stands nearer the line than some on the wall because its assembly is built on prayer, a Bible lesson, a sermon, an offering and the singing of hymns, as the order it publishes for the naming of a child shows.

Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

The church believes the Holy Spirit is real and active, and it prays for the sick and for his power, which is right. What it claims beyond that is the difficulty. It holds that its name, its seating and its order of service were revealed by the Spirit, that its founder healed the sick and raised the dead, and that a service for prophets and dreamers belongs to its ordinary week. The gifts that confirmed the word came by the apostles: "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given" (Acts 8:18), and they bore witness "at the first" (Hebrews 2:3-4). The church is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20), a foundation that was laid once. A church that binds its worship by new revelations stands furthest from that line, and John’s word still applies: "prove the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1).

The founding story is told as the church tells it: a carpenter lost in a forest, a message in prayer, a ministry of healing among people who ran to fetish priests in their troubles. The church's wish to turn its people from those powers is the apostles' own. But the New Testament puts the sign after the word, to confirm it, and not beside it as a second source.

who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.

And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment; so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation.

After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands;

The church's creed holds the return of Christ, the judgment of the living and the dead, the resurrection of the body and everlasting life, and says its mission is to prepare believers for his coming. That is the New Testament hope: "this Jesus… shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11), and he "shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:28). The church departs when it says it is itself the fulfillment of John's vision in Revelation 7. The multitude John saw is "out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues" (Revelation 7:9), the redeemed of every land, and not one church in white garments. The Christian has already "come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22), so a holy city on earth, with a founder's tomb, is a place the apostles never named.

Wikipedia's report that the church holds Imeko to be the New Jerusalem was not confirmed from a page of the church, and is not weighed. What the church's own pages show is a holy city with a tomb and a pilgrimage, which is enough for the verdict above.

The Celestial Church of Christ goes to the Bible for the reason of every practice, confesses Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior, and holds the Apostles' Creed, with one clause changed: the Father, the Son born of the virgin, crucified, risen and ascended, the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. It baptizes believers by immersion, and it welcomes any willing person. It asks its converts to renounce idols, secret societies and fetishes, and it forbids fornication, adultery and drunkenness. It prays through the day and the night, keeps a weekly and even daily rhythm of prayer, kneels in the presence of God, and takes up its offerings with thanks. It keeps the Lord's death in a Supper that it takes from Paul's account. It leaves teaching in the assembly to men. It has grown from one man's call in Dahomey into a church across West Africa and the African communities abroad, and it lists schools, charities and relief work among its stated purposes.

Measured by the New Testament alone, the Celestial Church of Christ stands nearest the line in its confession of Christ, its creed and its immersion of believers, and furthest in what it has bound beside them: a founder's revelations, a priesthood and altar, and a head over every parish. Scripture is complete, and a revelation added to it binds no one. Baptism is for the forgiveness of sins, and it is not to be held back for a year. The Supper belongs to the first day of every week. Christ is the head of his church, and its elders lead each congregation with no hierarchy over them. Worship is in spirit and truth, in song from the heart. The gifts that confirmed the word came through the apostles, and the faith was once for all delivered.

These are not the faults of people who never opened the Bible. The church's own pages put a verse beside every rule, and its founding message was a call away from fetish priests and the powers of darkness to Christ. What remains is to hold to the book alone: to let "Every scripture inspired of God" (2 Timothy 3:16) stand without a second word beside it, to be "baptized… unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38) without delay, and to look for "this Jesus" who "shall so come in like manner" (Acts 1:11).

More illuminations · Harbinger's Lamp