Sword of the Spirit Ministries

The Sword of the Spirit Ministries aka Christ Life Church[1] is a Nigerian Evangelical Charismatic Pentecostal[2] Christian denomination and a megachurch. The Ministry is presided over by Bishop Francis Wale Oke,[3][4][5][6] who founded the church in 1983.[7] It has approximately 25,000 members.[8]

Sword of the Spirit Ministries
HeadquartersThe Garden of Victory Old Ife Road, P.M.B. 60, Agodi, Ibadan. Nigeria.
FounderFrancis Wale Oke
Origin1983
Official websitesotsm.org

The headquarters is located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The organization has since become an international network of churches.[9][10][11] The church's teachings are in the tradition of prosperity theology.[12]

History

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The church began in 1983 when Francis Wale Oke brought together a team of seven fellow believers including his wife Victoria to meet every week for a prayer group.[13][14][15]

In 1990, Sword of the Spirit Ministries led an anti-Islamic[16] preaching crusade in Sokoto.[17] Historian Toyin Falola mentions Sword of the Spirit Ministries as being specialized at that time in publishing anti-Islamic tracts.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Home". Sword of the Spirit Ministries. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  2. ^ Olufunke Adeboye (2007). "'Arrowhead' of Nigerian Pentecostalism: The Redeemed Christian Church of God, 1952-2005". Pneuma. 29: 23–56.
  3. ^ "Bishop Francis Wale Oke". Sword of the Spirit Ministries. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  4. ^ "About the Sword of the Spirit Ministries International". www.wocome.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  5. ^ "Sword of The Spirit Ministries (Int l Headquarters), The". Directory & MarketPlace. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  6. ^ "Sword of the Spirit Ministries". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  7. ^ Mbamalu, A. (2015). "Prosperity a part of the atonement: An interpretation of 2 Corinthians 8:9". Verbum et Ecclesia. 36 (1). doi:10.4102/ve.v36i1.1418.
  8. ^ Innocent Chiluwa (2012). "Online Religion in Nigeria: The Internet Church and Cyber Miracles". Journal of Asian and African Studies. 47 (6): 734–749. doi:10.1177/0021909611430935. S2CID 146471546.
  9. ^ Admin (2022-09-13). "SWORD OF THE SPIRIT MINISTRIES PROFILE - UPDATED INFROMATION ABOUT THE CHRIST LIFE CHURCH". Nigeria Christian Events. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  10. ^ "Meet Our Pastor | Sword of the Spirit Ministries". www.swordofthespiritministries.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  11. ^ Omorogbe, Paul (2022-09-11). "Nigeria needs restructuring to avert retrogression —Bishop Wale Oke". Tribune Online. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  12. ^ Rosalind I.J. Hackett (1995). "The Gospel of Prosperity in West Africa". Religion and the Transformation of Capitalism. Routledge.
  13. ^ "Oke, others to minister at Holy Ghost Convention, in Ibadan". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2022-08-21. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  14. ^ "Sword of the Spirit Ministries". www.swordofthespiritministries.org. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  15. ^ "About Us – House of Wonders". Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  16. ^ Rosalind I.J. Hackett (2003). "Managing or Manipulating Religious Conflict in the Nigerian Media". Mediating Religion: Studies in Media, Religion, and Culture: 47–63.
  17. ^ Brouwer, Steve (1996). Exporting the American gospel: global Christian fundamentalism. Internet Archive. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-91711-7. In October 1990, Sword of the Spirit Ministries of Ibadan, with preachers from London's Kensington Temple and Elm Pentecostal Churches of Scotland, launched their Operation GAIN with a five-day crusade in Sokoto, the historic seat of Nigeria's caliphate. … The operation was "directed at destroying the enemy's strongholds and deceits in Sokoto"; the preaching "unveiled the enemy's oppressive weapon of deceit in the lives of the people"; and by the end "well over 4, 500 adults had been delivered from the devil's clutch".
  18. ^ Falola, Toyin (2000). Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies. University of Rochester Press. ISBN 9781580460187. For instance, The Sword of the Spirit Ministries, based at Ibadan, has printed over a dozen pamphlets in the last one year, mainly written by their leader, Francis Wale Oke, in addition to a bi-monthly magazine.