May His Will Be Done: A History of the Deeper Life Bible Church, 1973-2006

Church formation and domestication in Nigeria has undergone several changes from the orthodox to the Pentecostal, especially with varying interests of giving Christian life a new meaning. In historical context, this accounts for the multiplicity of churches as it is being witnessed in Nigeria. One of such responses does not exclude indigenous response to the forces of socio-economic change. This is evident in the flamboyant life style of many of the quasi-autonomous church leaders whose watchword is on blessings and prosperity and not salvation. Yet the Pastor Williams Folorunsho Kumuyi led Deeper Life Church, stands remarkable in his discipline and conservatism of the Christian ethics. As a lecturer of mathematics at the University of Lagos in 1973, he started a Bible study group in his quarters at the University of Lagos known as Flat 2. The Bible Study Group members persuaded Kumuyi to form a church, which he did on Sunday 7 November 1982. This study will make a historical excursion into the history of the Deeper Life Bible Church from 1973. This paper takes into cognizance the concept of gender in the formation of images and doctrines in relation to the promotion of Masculinities through social constructs of the leadership of the Deeper Life at the expense of their female counterparts. This development in the quest to emulate the historical Jesus of Nazareth only succeeds to represent men‟s idea of Christianity in a monolithic manner that reflects only masculinities.