President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi, who is today June 6 clocking 83 years old.
In 1973, while being a Lecturer of Mathematics at the University of Lagos, Kumuyi began a Bible study group with 15 students who had come to him for scriptural training, and this became the foundation of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry.
Today, the church auditorium at the international headquarters in Gbagada, Lagos, can sit up to 30,000 worshippers, and has been described by experts as the fourth largest in the world.
The President’s felicitations came in a statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Saluting the Christian Man of God, the President commended Kumuyi for his dedication and service not only to God but to humanity, especially the underprivileged and the downtrodden.
The statement said: “President Tinubu rejoices with the Founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry on this special occasion and celebrates his many years of defining impact as a leader, author, and teacher within and beyond the frontiers of Nigeria.
“President Tinubu notes the Spiritual Leader’s zeal in exercising his divine mantle for the promotion of peace, good neighbourliness, and pristine values as demonstrated by the Lord Jesus Christ.
“The President prayed for many more years in good health for the Lord’s servant and his family.”
When he began his Bible study sessions, Kumuyi was expelled in 1975 from the Apostolic Faith Church for preaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
He continued his independent ministry, which in 1982 became the Deeper Life Bible Church.
As at 2005, the Christian ministry is said to have over 800,000 affiliates.
At a point in his young life, he had embraced Atheism, due to the teachings of his teacher.
He was born 6th June 1941 in Erin-Ijesa, present day Osun State, Nigeria.
He has been twice married to the Late Abiodun Kumuyi (from 1980, until she died in 2009) and current wife, Esther Folashade Kumuyi (since 2010).
He has two children with Abiodun (Jeremiah and John).
He is known for his teachings on holiness.
He completed his secondary school education in 1961 at Mayflower School, founded by Tai Solarin in Ikenne, present day Ogun State.
He went to the University of Ibadan and in 1967 graduated with a first-class honours degree in mathematics where he graduated as overall best graduating student in that year.
He subsequently took a post-graduate course in Education at the University of Lagos.
He became a born-again Christian on Sunday, April 5, 1964 at the age of 23.
In 2013, Foreign Policy magazine listed Kumuyi among the “500 most powerful people on the planet”.
