The leadership of
the Deeper Christian Life Ministry has suspended the son of the General
Superintendent of the church and his wife, John and Love Kumuyi from carrying
out any activity in the church over their recent controversial wedding in
Jamaica.
John and Love
wedded in Jamaica on 15 June, 2013 and thousands of members of the church have
reacted sharply while condemning the wedding gown worn by the wife and other
aspects of the wedding that were at variance with the church's standard.
She was decked in
attires quite different from the acceptable standard set for Deeper Life
members by the church.
Love was arrayed
in flowing gown with a veil to match, while lots of people said her hair wasn't
natural and that she applied lipstick as part of the make-up.
Also in contention was the hiring of a Limousine
which conveyed the couple to their destination after the wedding. And a huge
cake, which was cut during the wedding contrary to the church's tradition.
Due to the myriad
of controversies generated by the wedding on social media, Facebook, especially
by members of Deeper Life, the church decided to place the couple on suspension
to give them time to pray and seek forgiveness from God for their action.
Recently, at
Deeper Life's monthly miracle and revival programme held at the Deeper Life
Conference Centre, DLCC, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, John and Love's suspension
from church work was announced to the over 50,000 Deeper Life faithful at the
event by Pastor Philip Oluwi, a key leader in the church.
Oluwi, certainly
acting on the instruction from the General Superintendent of the church, Pastor
William Kumuyi, to suspend the couple for the embarrassment they brought upon
the church during the wedding, emphasized that the standard of Deeper Life
regarding wedding and moderacy had not
changed.
“The church,
Deeper Life, remains committed to the biblical practice and standard of almost
40 years Christian dressing and still remains and does not compromise on
biblical Christian dressing.
“Hence, deviation
warrants the displeasure and frown of God and the leadership of the church.
John and Love are now under discipline,” Oluwi announced to the entire congregation,
an action that helped to calm the nerves of many Deeper Life faithful.
Also, the couple
has apologised to the church for the embarrassing way the wedding was
conducted. The letter was read by Oluwi and re-read severally to church members
by the Church's Secretary, Pastor Jerry Asemota.
The letter
addressed to the Church Secretary, with the heading: “Letter of Apology,”
expressed the deepest regret of the couple for bringing the church into
disrepute.
The letter reads:
“We unreservedly and wholeheartedly state that we did not intend and do not
intend that our act or omissions in any way undermine the great work that God
has done through the Deeper Christian Life Ministry through our father in the
Lord, the General Superintendent.
“We also use this
medium to profusely and sincerely apologise to the General Superintendent
(Kumuyi) of the church for the embarrassment and heartache our action has
caused him; more so as he had earlier declined to be at the event. We
acknowledge that we may have been distracted by cultural differences as we both
have lived outside Nigeria for nearly two decades.”
The letter added:
“This notwithstanding, we fully accept that having been nurtured, taught and
brought up with the sound teaching of the word of God, we should have been able
to draw the line which we failed to do. We have now realised the far reaching
effect of our actions and omissions and do plead with the church for
forgiveness and also appeal that any action that should be taken be directed at
John and Love, as we take this time to prayerfully reflect on our actions.
“We take full
responsibility for what has happened and this action should in no way be blamed
on the General Superintendent or the leaders of the church in Nigeria, United
States, Jamaica, or United Kingdom and beyond.”
However,
investigation revealed that John and Love's wedding was not conducted in a
Deeper Life Bible Church. It was also not conducted by pastors from the church
as Deeper Life Bible Church in Jamaica has not been licensed by the country's
government to join couples in wedlock, according to the laws of Jamaica.
The wedding was
taken to another church where the ministers in the unnamed church conducted the
wedding and joined them in holy matrimony.
Besides, Deeper
Life leaders that came from Nigeria were said to have disapproved of the
earlier gown Love was to wear for the wedding, while another was hurriedly
sewed the night before the wedding.
Church leaders
were said not to have seen the new dress until the couple was marching into the
church and by then, it was too late to take any action as the wedding was not
conducted in a Deeper Life church.
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