Leke Beecroft
In 1999, Engineer Ike Chukwuneke, a Structural Engineer won the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Engineer of the Year award for the design of Faith Tabernacle.
In a meeting with major construction firms before the project began, these foreign construction companies had claimed that not only was it unworkable to design a large church auditorium of such a magnitude without visible pillars, they added that it would take 3 years. The Living Faith Church was left with going ahead with prophetic conviction and used pastors and other church members to build the Faith Tabernacle without any visible pillar in exactly 12 months causing the companies to come and take pictures of the project while British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent, Jeremy Guy Vine came to conduct an interview with Bishop Oyedepo in 1999 and while he asserted that he could not confirm veracity of the information that it was the largest church auditorium, he admitted that ‘Faith Tabernacle was rather large’. By 2008, the Guiness Book of World Records confirmed the architectural feat of the world’s largest church auditorium with 50,000 capacity (actually 51,400).
History repeats itself.
Architect Gbenga Alalade is the Architect Who designed Living Faith Church’s Multi-billion Naira Legacy Project: The 100,000 capacity Ark (which is actually 109,345 capacity).
At the ground breaking of the multi billion naira Ark project on Thursday 25th March 2021, Bishop Oyedepo called different groups of workers including the local construction company Laralek (earlier discussed on this platform) to the altar to be blessed.
Notable among them was Architect Gbenga Alalade Johnson who was the brain behind the design of the Ark. Architect Gbenga is a thoroughbred product of Living Faith Church’s Flagship Higher Institution, the renowned Covenant University. It is interesting to note that in the past, Winners’ Chapel had always seemingly placed utility over aesthetics in her building projects. The Ark stands out as one of the most beautiful designs ever embarked upon by the Church and a balance between aesthetics and utility.
Here is Architect Gbenga Alalade Johnson’s Profile.
BSc Architecture, Covenant University:2002 – 2006
MSc Architecture, Covenant University:2006 -2008
PhD Architecture, Covenant University:2010 – 2016
Architect Alalade has concluded other numerous projects for the Church. He is consequently a proof of the Church’s strong faith in her own indigenous talents.
As the Founding Bishop would say ‘It does not have to be white to be right’ and as he quotes from Acts 10:34-35;
…”God is no respecter of persons:
But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him”.
IT CAN HAPPEN ANYWHERE!