Deeper Christian Life Ministry (also known as Deeper Life Bible Church) is a non-denominational Christian Church with its international headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. It is overseen by Pastor William Folorunsho Kumuyi.
The church started as the Deeper Christian Life Ministry. William Folorunsho Kumuyi, was a former Anglican who joined the Apostolic Faith Church after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In 1975, he was expelled from that church for preaching without being credentialed. He continued his independent ministry, which in 1982 became the Deeper Life Bible Church. By the early 1980s that small group had grown to several thousand, at which time Deeper Life Bible Church was formally established.
The story of Deeper Life Bible Church started while Kumuyi was serving as a Mathematics Lecturer at the University of Lagos in 1973; W.F Kumuyi started a Bible study group every Monday evening in his apartment with 15 university students who had come to him requesting training in the Scriptures. The bible study group grew that his apartment became too small and it became necessary to move, in 1976 the bible study group moved outside the University campus.
Because the group was a non-denominational one, people were happy to come from various churches to hear the word of God. Soon the study group grew to over 1500 members and by 1988 the congregation has grown to about 50000 members.
The church has spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa and then to the United Kingdom, from where branches were developed in western Europe, Russia, India, and North America, the Deeper Life Church not only has an attendance of 120,000 every Sunday now but has planted over 500 churches in Lagos, 5,000 in the rest of Nigeria (with an independent estimate of more than 800,000 members in Nigeria alone), and 3,000 in Africa and the world with missionaries to 40 countries of Africa.
The church teaches a doctrine of holiness and living a practical Christian life. The most important teaching of the church pertains to its members living holy lives.
It is a Holiness-Pentecostal church with an emphasis on holy living.
Deeper Christian Life Ministry maintains a set of testimonials from people who claim supernatural healings have occurred as a result of prayers being offered by Pastor Kumuyi. These claims include the reversal of paralysis, spontaneous growth of limbs and spontaneous disappearance of mental diseases.
In an article titled ‘Those Amazing Post-Denominational Churches’, C. Peter Wagner wrote: “By far, the most rapidly growing segment of Christianity on all six continents is a type of church that does not fit traditional categories or classifications. Missiologists have recognized its presence for some time, but it is such a recent phenomenon that they have not yet agreed on a name for it. Perhaps one title that would fit is the term ‘post-denominational.”
“Go to almost any metropolitan area and ask to visit the largest Christian Church, Chances are it will be one of these new post-denominational churches’. In Lagos, Nigeria, it would be the Deeper Life Bible Church. On a recent Sunday it was said to have an attendance of 74,000 adults worshipping together, with 40,000 children meeting in a separate building across the street.”
On August 7, 2012, a Deeper Life church in Okene was attacked by three unidentified gunmen, who opened fire on a Bible study group with Kalashnikov assault rifles, killing 19.
In April 2013, Pastor Kumuyi was named as one of the “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy Magazine (FP).
The Deeper Life Bible Church has branches in its home Nigeria and other countries, and is also known internationally for its strict adherence to the teachings of Christ, his apostles, and obedience to the word of God. The church lists 22 tenets of their beliefs: the holy Bible, the Godhead, Virgin birth of Christ, total depravity, Repentance, Restitution, Justification, Water baptism, Lord’s supper, Sanctification, Holy Ghost baptism, Redemption, Personal evangelism, Marriage, Rapture, Resurrection of the Dead, Great Tribulation, Second coming of Christ, Christ’s millennial reign, Great White Throne Judgment, New Heaven and the New Earth, and Hell fire.
Pastor Kumuyi almost always during all his preachings exhort members and newcomers alike to be born again so as to be qualified for the kingdom of heaven and you will see a lot of people answering to the call.