In Part 1 of ‘Darkness in a Lighthouse’, The Fourth Estate examined the alleged failure of Lighthouse Chapel International (United Denominations Originating from the Lighthouse Group of Churches (UD-OLGC) in the payment of SSNIT for six of its pastors who have resigned and are now in court.
In Part 2 of the series, the pastors speak of exploitation by the church, which started in the form of a policy; undue pressure to raise funds, which turned them into beggars; and psychological effects of their ordeals, which drove one of them to attempt suicide three times and also cut his scrotum.
“Become Who You Can Become!”
In June 2008, the Presiding Bishop of the Light House Chapel International (LCI), Dag Heward-Mills, in a rare gesture, wrote personal letters to his pastors and missionaries serving the church at home and abroad. In that letter, which was sent via email, the founder and head of the church said the LCI was resource-constrained. He had, therefore, come up with a new policy to address this “great need.” He called this new policy, “Become Who You Can Become” (BWYCB).
“In the light of this, the best way forward for all of us is for all missionaries who have been at post, for at least two years, to be absolutely non-dependent,” a copy of the letter addressed to Bishop. Larry Odonkor, a former pastor of the church, reads in part.
A copy of the same letter, which was addressed to Rev. Edward Laryea and sighted by The Fourth Estate, summarised the church’s new policy in a seven-point numbered list. The letter said the new policy “means that from now when a mission has existed for two years, we will no longer continue to support it. This means that:
- No money will be sent to rent a house for the missionary.
- No money will be sent to pay the salary of the missionary.
- No money will be sent to rent church premises.
- No money will be sent to buy equipment for the church.
- No car will be bought and imported to your country or mission headquarters.
- No mission house will be bought.
- Tickets will not be bought for you to fly around.”
Bishop Dag Heward-Mills explained in the letter that the new policy would help the missionaries “mature just as I was forced to mature when I began the ministry.”
The first implication of the new policy, stated by Dag Heward-Mills in the letter, was that if a missionary was “not able to generate enough support, it means that he is, at this stage of his life, incapable of missionary work at that level and he will have to become a lay pastor and the mission would be turned into a lay mission. He will therefore have to find a job, do some business; or generate any other means of support—of course not borrowing from church members.”
The letter explained that there were 45 young graduates of Anagkazo Bible and Ministry Training Centre, the church’s theological school; and another 45 graduates from the university, who were ready for posting to any part of the world. Those on the field, therefore, needed to up their game or risk being replaced.
Six of the pastors, including two bishops, who have resigned from Lighthouse and sued the church, have told The Fourth Estate that there was a carrot and a stick in the policy.
The stick was that if a missionary, after being downgraded for his or her inability to raise resources to operate, was still “unable to be a lay pastor of a lay mission, the whole mission will have to be closed down and you will return to base.” That was the second implication of the new policy as contained in Dag Heward-Mills’ letter.
But there was also a carrot, the former LCI pastors told The Fourth Estate. They said they were promised that, once they were able to build the church, they would be stationed there permanently.
“It means no more transfer,” Bishop Larry Odonkor explained. This part of the policy of “build and own” excited some of the missionaries.
It is a policy that is not new in church administration and governance in Ghana; neither is it peculiar to the Lighthouse Chapel International. The Fourth Estate understands that in denominations such as the Assemblies of God Church, pastors are allowed to build a church and stay there until they retire while keeping a relationship with the headquarters, which oversees their work.
In the Lighthouse Chapel International’s version of this policy, the part about ownership was not stated in the letter, the missionaries said.
They said communication of that part was verbal, which was not strange because most of the important decisions, including transfers and recruitments, were communicated to them verbally except in instances the church wanted them to append their signatures to commitments that bound them. According to them, some documents were given to them to read and sign but they were not given copies.
Bishop Larry Odonkor explained that because of the father-and-son relationship they had with Bishop Heward-Mills, they did not feel any need to have the policy to build the churches and stay there permanently written. “Begone unbelief!” they would have said at the time. But today they say, “Trust but verify.”
Rev. Edward Laryea, one of the six pastors who have resigned said, “When the ‘Become Who You Can Become’ [policy] came, we were very happy because it means no transfer.”
Beyond their spiritual duty to the church and humanity, the pastors said they psyched themselves up, planned and built their lives and those of their families around the idea that they were going to live in the places they were serving for a long time. They, therefore, invested everything they had, including support from their spouses, families and friends, in building churches and their private investments in those localities.
Considering the fact that these areas they were sent as missionaries were new to them and, sometimes rural without wealthy donors, they had to depend on their families and friends to raise money to build and/or run the churches.
To appreciate the issue of pastors welfare and church administration, The Fourth Estate spoke to the immediate past chairman of The Church of Pentecost who now lectures at the Pentecost University, Apostle Professor Kwadwo Nimfour Opoku Onyinah. He was asked (generally and not specific to LCI) about whose responsibility it is to take care of pastors, the mother church or the mission field?
Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah said “once you have an institution, it should have a system in place that should be able to take care of the pastors,” he told The Fourth Estate.
While refraining to cast church governance issues in stone, he pointed out that members were free to meet the needs of their pastors out of love, “but it is the responsibility of the mother institution to take care of its members.”
He said once a church sent a missionary out, it should be prepared to help the missionary stabilise and so the sending agency should be able to support the missionary to establish the church.
Prof. Opoku Onyinah said if a church realised that it did not have enough resources to take care of its pastors, there was no wrong in communicating this to the pastors and asking them that “it will be your responsibility to take care of yourself. It all depends on the church’s policy.”
How “Build and Own” turned into “Build and Leave!”
Bishop Larry Odonkor, a husband and a father, was a pastor in Wa at the time the BWYCB policy kicked in. Wives were encouraged to join their husbands in full-time ministry, so his wife had joined him on the mission field. But they were now to depend on one source of income — monies they generated on the mission field.
Apart from the church, Bishop Odonkor had not worked anywhere after he graduated with a BSc. Biological Science degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in 2001, seven years before the policy to “become who he could become” took effect.
To earn extra income to support the family and also help fund church construction in Wa, his wife started a school and also ventured into the hospitality industry.
“On my wife’s side, I got a family friend to come and invest,” Bishop Odonkor said. “[They] bought land to build a hotel for my wife for us to be able to survive because no money was coming from anywhere.”
“All [my] children were home-schooled in Wa,” he said, adding that he could not afford to take his children through formal school at the time. His children started in the school his wife built, and other children joined later.
After the church project began to do well, Larry Odonkor said he was transferred to South Africa two years later. He said they lost all their investment in the school and the hotel business. “We handed over [the school] under duress to the next missionary.”
Larry Odonkor told The Fourth Estate that despite the broken promise not to transfer the missionaries who built churches, he still believed that the presiding bishop would make good his promise next time. So, once again, and despite no support from Accra, he gave his all to the next church in South Africa.
“I went to KwaZulu-Natal, the only province in South Africa where we didn’t have a church as of 2010. I walked into that place alone, did evangelism in the streets, knowing nobody and built a church two years into the mission.”
“It takes grace. It takes anointing. We paid a high price,” he said.
His wife started a school in South Africa, too.
“My wife’s father sent her money, [and] we put it in the school because the man gave us the impression that oh, what you are building [is yours]. No more transfers.”
He said his church in South Africa was designated Permanent Mission Church (PMC) to mean the missionary there was permanently in charge. But the Wa experience was repeated in KwaZulu-Natal.
He was transferred after seven years to Madagascar. And his wife lost her investment in setting up a school. His fears of exploitation in the name of the church were now confirmed, he said.
He lamented that pastors were often left alone to build churches without the support from the headquarters of the church. “When it works, to cripple you and to make you permanently dependent” they were transferred and had to start all over again.
Adjusting to life in Madagascar was a struggle, but as he and his wife began to adjust and settle down, a call came from Accra.
“He moved us to Akim Oda [in Ghana].”
To go to his new station in Akim Oda, Bishop Odonkor said he had to beg friends to help him transport his things to the place because the church said it did not have any money to transport him to his new station.
Akim Oda was where he finally decided to part ways with the church.
****
In 2008, Rev. Edward Laryea was in Kade, a farming community in the peri-urban side of the Kwaebibirem municipality of the Eastern Region, when the “Become Who You Can Become” policy started.
“We built the church from zero,” he said. “…We tiled the church by the grace of God. My wife used her salary to buy the tiles from Kantamanto…. We had to generate our [own] money [to build the church]. I worked as a labourer because I couldn’t hire labourers.
“The church grew, and we had about eight branches. We had branches like Adonkrono, Akim Kusi, Nkwantanam, Abodom…”
Rev. Edward Laryea said when the toil was over and the church was built, he was asked to move from Kade.
He was transferred to Takoradi in the Western Region in 2014. He said it was a strategy to weaken and keep the pastors subservient to the dictates of the mother church.
The ministers of the gospel who resigned from LCI said while they laboured on the field to build churches without support from the mother church, the headquarters still asked them to send a portion of their offerings to the head office in Accra.
Rev. Edward Laryea, who was on a GHS60 salary, explained, “Bishop Dag Heward Mills told us to send him 20% of the [church’s] income, 10% for Healing Jesus l[crusade] and 10%, he calls it Family Contribution.
“So, while I couldn’t pay myself…I had to pay him his own…He knew that I was in a village but he didn’t care,” he recalled.
Bishop Larry Odonkor corroborated this claim of having to give to the mother church which gave nothing to the branch. “…When money starts coming in, then you start receiving instructions: ‘Send money here. Continuing World Missions, send 12.5%. Do this, do that.”
Speaking generally on exploitation in churches, Apostle. Prof. Opoku Onyinah said pastors who feel exploited should feel free to leave the church. “If you are unfairly treated and you think you cannot cater for yourself, then you have to resign the ministry and go back to any profession that you have.”
Prof. Opoku Onyinah said that is why it is recommended that people should do secular jobs and professions before entering into full-time ministry.
He said some people had taken the ministry to mean a “cheaper way of working”, adding that God also called people who were seriously working. He mentioned examples in the Bible such as Elisha and Peter. “God still wants people to work,” he said.
“This is to discourage some young people who step into ministry too quickly. No. You would have to continue to work as a man, as an individual until you are fully convinced that the Lord has called you to full-time ministry. Once God calls you, he will supply all your needs. Not wants but needs.”
But for most of these pastors who were student leaders in the campus wing of the church,they were sent straight into full-time ministry after graduating.
“I attempted suicide thrice and cut my scrotum.”
Another former LCI minister, Rev. Seth Duncan, said the BWYCB policy was a motivation that spurred him to put all his eggs in the proverbial one basket. Like Larry Odonkor’s wife, he also started a school. When the school started to operate, he used part of the proceeds from the school to put up a church building.
“That was what I did because I was told that it was a permanent mission, and I should become who I could become. I programmed my mind that this is mine; that when I build it, I will have it,” he recounted his motivation for putting all his resources and those from friends and family into buildings on the mission field.
“So even when [my] siblings outside and others sent me money, the next thing that I thought of was the church.”
His wife, however, faulted the frenzied approach to church financing to the detriment of the family’s needs, and this contributed to a sustained strain in the marriage.
“She said, ‘when you get money, everything is about church, church, church and you just leave the home empty.’ And I said, ‘Oh let’s finish building the church.’ She was not happy about it,” Seth Duncan told The Fourth Estate.
The hardship and misunderstanding were breaking his home. His marriage was being ruined, but he was too focused on building the church to know that the home also needed building, that pushing all of the family’s resources into the church caused hardship that was becoming unbearable.
“I built three churches out of this,” he recounted his fleeting moment of triumph and accomplishment. “For the main church [in Paga], I had to go to a riverside 12km from Paga to mine stones to come and do marbles on the church building.”
He also boasted about the record of laying the foundation for six church buildings in six months and completing the construction of three in just one year.
“I added my two plots of land, [which] I bought [close to the church]. I added it to the church’s land.”
Rev. Seth Duncan said his efforts to build these churches came with great sacrifice and nearly cost his life. One night, while returning on his motorbike from a mission field where he had gone to start a new branch, he nearly drowned in a river.
The former seaman said but for the grace of God and his swimming skills, he would certainly have died.
After all his toils in putting up churches in the Upper East Region, Seth Duncan said he was not allowed to manage any of the three churches he had built. He was transferred.
To make matters worse, Rev. Duncan said he was met with hostile responses anytime he tried to express his grievances to the management of the church.
After nearly a decade in the ministry, Seth Duncan said his marriage broke down, and he and his wife had to go their separate ways.
He said he became depressed and grew suicidal.
He had given up a career as a soldier in the Ghana Navy and enlisted as a soldier of the cross in the Lighthouse church. But he was losing both the battle and the war. He was losing anything that mattered to him.
He lost his marriage. He lost his investment in churches and the school he had built. For these reasons and the attendant depression that set in, Seth Duncan said he felt losing his life could not be any worse.
“I attempted suicide three times. [In] my home at Paga, I hang myself on the ceiling fan and the fan dropped on me. Then I decided to leave Paga because I didn’t want to die in the presence of my family,” he recalled his first attempt in his interview with The Fourth Estate in February this year.
“So, I came to Accra, went to Kokrobite beach,” he continued. “Frankly speaking, between God and man, I drunk a bottle of alcohol, dived into the sea, hoping that the sea would take me away and everything would be over.”
It was in 2004, during the church’s homecoming convention that Seth Duncan said he had decided to end his service with the Ghana Navy and go into full-time service of God. At the convention, Dag Heward-Mills had called on those who felt inspired to go into full-time ministry to step forward. According to Rev. Duncan, a pastor at that event told him that “this is the best profession” and that “I should choose God or chance.”
But about 10 years later, the man who was asked to choose God over chance was about to give death a chance. This time, he thought drinking alcohol heavily and jumping into the sea was the best way to save him from life, a life that appeared more painful than death.
“The following morning, I found myself at the shore.” His second suicide attempt failed, but he would try again.
“Then I came to Kaneshie overhead [in Accra], trying to jump over so that at least a car could just smash me off. It didn’t work out.” He said he went to Kaneshie mainly to end his life. But, somehow, he found himself in a Kaneshie-Madina-bound commuter vehicle.
Rev. Duncan experienced nightmares and grew restless. He said he needed medications (https://backinmotionsspt.com/ambien/) to be able to sleep at night. After death rejected him twice in Accra, he went back to Paga.
“I ended up trying to castrate myself by cutting my scrotum and I found myself bleeding. Then I realised that it is not easy to die.” He said he was treated at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital after that “accident”, after which he decided to quit the church and gather the pieces left of his life together.
His attempt to reboot his life by going to law school, after resigning from Lighthouse, failed because he struggled to concentrate.
Seth Duncan, since leaving Lighthouse and without any meaningful employment, has been struggling to put his life back together. Unlike some of his colleagues who have found themselves back into the ministry in different churches or started their own churches, he does not think he is in the right frame of mind to continue in the ministry.
“Missionaries of Lighthouse are beggars”
Apart from the “Become Who You Can Become” policy which failed and shattered some dreams and lives, the former pastors of Lighthouse revealed certain church practices exposed them to abuse and exploitation. They said, to meet the numerous demands on them, they were often begging and almost harassing church members to give money.
Bishop Emmanuel Oko Mensah, who became a bishop in 2017, said his birthday became a headache because it came with a debt. On any of the over 100 bishops’ birthdays, they were asked to give $1,000, Bishop Oko Mensah said.
Bishop Larry Odonkor confirmed that on his own birthday he also gave $1,000 to the founder. They said they were told this money was to support Healing Jesus TV, a channel run by the Presiding Bishop, Dag Heward-Mills’ Healing Jesus Crusade.
He further revealed that apart from paying monies on their own birthdays, they also had to donate monies on the founder’s birthday.
He revealed that lay ministers paid GHc1,000 or the equivalent of this if they were outside Ghana. According to Larry Odonkor, the church ran what was called “honour the prophet” campaign to mobilise members to give an offering to the Presiding Bishop, Dag Heward-Mills, on his birthday.
The Presiding Bishop’s next birthday is 17 days away—May 14.
In most churches in Ghana, honouring church leaders is a norm and considered scriptural. But Bishop Oko Mensah said in Lighthouse, failure to honour the bishop [Dag Heward-Mills] was tantamount to disloyalty.
He said “you would be called Absalom”, the son of David in the Bible who rebelled against his father and suffered an ignominious death.
Another practice they felt was exploitative was how the church organised “Appreciation Day” for the clergy.
In many Ghanaian churches, some form of appreciation is given to pastors, elders, shepherds, or lay ministers for their sacrifices. On the culture of appreciation for pastors, the theologian, Apostle. Prof. Opoku Onyinah said the most important thing is that everything must be done willingly. “If it is something that is being imposed and people are doing it unwilling then it becomes evil,” the theology professor said.
In Lighthouse Chapel International, “Appreciation Day” is called Galatians 6:6, a verse in the Bible in which church patriarch Apostle Paul says, “Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word must share in all good things with his instructor.”
Bishop Oko Mensah explained that in the Lighthouse Chapel International, Galatians 6:6 was held every first Sunday of October. The local churches would raise an offering and give it to their pastor. But four years ago, this offering was canceled. Or rather, it was revised.
The offering was to continue, but it was now to go to the Presiding Bishop and founder of the church, Dag Heward-Mills.
“Bishop Dag Heward-Mills came and announced that he is the actual teacher of the whole church. ‘I am the one teaching the whole church…whatever you are preaching, whatever you are teaching is from me,’” Oko Mensah recounted the justification in the changes that were made to the appreciation day.
Oko Mensah said Dag Heward-Mills, in a sense, was right to say he was the actual teacher of the entire church.
“One thing with Lighthouse is that you have to teach whatever he has written, whatever he has preached. The messages are checked,” he said.
“Every pastor has to preach from a book or a message and all these things are vetted and checked. You can get into trouble preaching something that cannot be found in [his] book. When you are preaching you should hold the book and photographs should be taken,” he explained.
Bishop Oko Mensah said the presiding bishop further directed that, because he was the pastors’ pastor and the teachers’ teacher, “Galatians 6:6 offering should be directed to him from the whole world… It comes to him.”
Lighthouse Chapel International operates over 6,070 churches in at least 92 countries. The church employs over 2,300 pastors and 111 bishops.
Bishop Oko Mensah said ahead of the Galatians 6:6 appreciation offering, the pastors are instructed to “get your rich businessmen, rich people, people gainfully employed with the UN, doctors, to give like GHc3,000, GHc5,000, $2,000.”
All the monies, Oko Mensah said, went to Dag Heward Mills. He said due to the neglect of pastors in the name of “Become Who You Can Become” and the undue pressure on them to raise money, many missionaries of Lighthouse were literally beggars.
“Missionaries of Lighthouse are some of the worst la la sula la [beggars] on the planet,” he said. “They [missionaries] communicate a lot with people and beg them…and this is a very rich organization.”
Another former bishop, Larry Odonkor, corroborated this claim. “I am sad to tell you that, throughout my stay in this organisation, I always had to solicit help from others.”
They were to find a way to raise the flag of Christ, a bundle of cash and so everyone around them – family and friends became a cashcow.
Rev. Seth Duncan said his highest salary after 10 years in the ministry was GHc450. Bishop Larry Odonkor who was in South Africa was paid $1,000 after more than 15 years in ministry.
Rev. Edward Laryea’s salary after 12 years in the mission field was GHS 800, as of 2014. He lamented the hardship he had to put his family through in the course of the ministry.
There was a psychological strain to comply with what he saw as undue pressure on him. There were consequences for refusing to abide by instructions from one’s superiors in the ministry, Edward Laryea said.
“If I refused it, it means I am disloyal, I am a devil, and I am a Lucifer. I am Ahithophel. I am Orangutan.”
Asked if he was just calling himself those names, Rev Edward Laryea shot back, “That is what Lighthouse Chapel International would call me… You will be branded.
“Look, what you don’t know is that if you are in that system, you will do everything to avoid being branded like that because it comes with consequences. All your friends will separate themselves from you.”
There are several sermons preached by Dag Heward-Mills that emphasise loyalty. The subject of loyalty is the staple that binds his sermons. It is vigorously taught to his students in Anagkazo, and church members are painstakingly taught to imbibe this doctrine of loyalty. The former pastors of the church say this loyalty is sought for leadership of the church and not towards God.
The Fourth Estate brought these allegations to the attention of the church and requested a response. That request letter was dated March 17, 2021, and submitted to the church on that same date. The church has not responded, but our sources close to the management of the church said a reply to the request was unlikely.
The Fourth Estate has, however, seen a missionary consent form that pastors sign when they are called into full-time ministry in the Lighthouse. The consent form says a missionary pledges to live “a life of poverty.”
Apostle Opoku Onyinah was asked if pastoral ministry means a life of poverty. The former chairman of The Church of Pentecost said ‘No. You should live a life of contentment. You should be able to accept whatever God gives you.
“Paul said that I have learnt to be content in whatever situation I am in. That is the minister. You should not glamour for things. You should not grab things. You should know that God orders your steps.”
Bishop Larry Odonkor said he signed this form when he was to go to South Africa. And he acknowledged that pastoral ministry can be a path of lack and hardship.
But he insisted, “I didn’t sign a form to be cheated.”
READ PART ONE @ : Darkness in a lighthouse: Pastors recount abuse and trauma (Pt.1)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story shall not be republished or broadcast, in part or in full, in any form or shape without the express permission of the Editor-in-Chief.
Watch out for the final part of this story…
You can reach the writer of this story, Edwin Appiah, via email at [email protected]. You can follow him on @edwinologyLB
Hmmm. I have don’t really have much to say… All I will say is God bless you and keep you.
What a story!
Bishop Oko is a personal friend. I knew him through prayer clinic back then at the Quodesh. Since he was transferred from Prayer Clinic, Prayer Clinic never became the same again. I was saddended when he told me he’s left Lighthouse. Reading the part 1 and 2 of these stories, a lot beginning to make sense to me.
I’m very sad these great men of GOD had to go through all these.
I look forward to the final part.
Reach out to him, listen to him without judgment and ask if there’s any you can help he may be in need of a good friend
Prayer clinic with Bishop Oko changed my life for the better. I too was really unhappy and a quite disappointed when I learnt he was transferred. It has never been the same so I stopped. I wish them all the best.
I’m really touched reading this article. God bless the author for bringing out some of these happenings in the supposed House of God
Hmm, Avery touching one. I got so emotional and teary. This is sad
Wow! So all these were going on inside the outwardly shiny Light House? If everything said here is true, then the church’s inhumane treatment is in sharp contrast to the biblical scripture.
Church administration is spiritual. In the book of Acts , certain men were selected to be in charge of distribution of food. I guess, it went beyond that to include issues of welfare. There should be a good balance in our attention on souls and care for the shepherd. Is sad for pastors to go through this. I suggest the Church should do a good introspection and relook at its admin policies. They can also discuss with these agreived Pastors to reconcile with them. This is an eye opener for all Churches and Pastors to look into the issues like this for better.
To the Pastors, Please, it’s not late to pick up the pieces. You can do better in your latter days. I wish you well.
God have mercy on your church. God have mercy on men. In days when our faith is tried, strengthen us Lord. May God help everyone so that another one does not destroy you of a sort. Mercy Lord! I’m almost crying !
Judgment will indeed starts from the house of GOD. Nti nyame som paa na y3ri som yi a
Nope!This is conman and burglars robbing vulnerable malleable minds
Thank God I left that church very early, the pressures were mounting too much, I was a prayer warrior and my turning point was when we had to “Anagkazo” to fill the church up to the minimum allowed attendance. It’s kind of a pyramid scheme, with strict instructions coming from top down!
Mind explaining further?
Hmmm
Well written but I will love to see some form of response from the church. The church cannot stay silence on this and it should not be allowed to.
Disturbing!!! as a former member of the church for over 10years, I always had issues with a lot of these issues being raised. Galatians 6:6, the b-day of Dag, being forced to buy his books because that’s where the preaching will be from. Just to mention a few. It’s very disappointing that these men had to go through harsher circumstances in the name of ministry. Hope this will call for some form of reform in the church. If things don’t change then I guess those who have ears should advice themselves.
Hmmm
As someone who has been a member of this church for before, I’m not surprised at all. I pray these bishops find the peace and support they seek.
Greed! What’s gone wrong in Christendom today is denominational founders building dynasties for their children and themselves at the peril of the co-labourers who toil directly in the field to raise the pillars of much. Instead raising people and preparing them for the 2nd coming of Christ, these modern charismatic preachers are more interested in gathering people who can donate to them at every instance. Birthday offering. Appreciation offering! Etc on top of salary? And the groundsmen are denied any of those. When Peter is made the foundation of the church and not his confession, Jesus the Messiah, it shall surely not stand the test of time. Whybmustbyour pastors preach from your books and not from the scripture as inspired in them directly of the Holy Spirit? Just to promote your books and raise more money. Money money money money money. Sad and unfortunate! I have always respected the anointing upon the life of Bishop Dag but I’m in no way going to applaud him for this. Similar things are happening in Perez Chapel. Sad
Hmmmm.asem wei
I feel sad reading this and knowing the hardships the Bishops and Pastors went through. No wonder they kept coming to ask and ask for offerings. You’ll wonder why after giving generously in one session, the next session you’d be asked again and again to give, as if they werent satisfied. All the same God knows best. May He have mercy on us all.
Hmmmmm, this is revealing! Don’t know what to even say…..
hahaha.. I always knew these pastors were all scammers. the truth is slowly coming out
Very revealing. I love the story. It’s a truth that The Fourth Estate didn’t exaggerate or sensationalize this story. And I’m waiting for people who will say all these written here are not true. Well, I will not be surprised to see or hear that because we have people who are gullible and worshippers of men and women of God they see as idols. Please, send the part one and the subsequent parts to my email. Thanks.
And this is a church where members of the church are required to pay monies to use the church premises for their weddings. Its sad
You don’t say!
Thank you. I experienced it myself and it definitely started my departure. I remember my last day when preaching was was stopped so members will buy Dag’s book from which the pastor was preaching from. After I left service that day I never went back again!!!
A friend paid and I was surprised
Interesting
Bueii members pay for church premise?
You don’t say! What!!!
What? Pay to use the premises as a church member? This is extortion!!
The whole world especially Africans who followed his skin color without questioning just watched Dag build a CULT under their eyes with precious people’s lives. This is a form of old style colonialism. Glad the eyes of Africans are now opened! How sad indeed! The cracks have started showing and soon it would crumble like a pack of cards! Quick success has dire consequences. Those pastors using his books should know it is poisonous by now. Let God be true.
It is well
Am I surprised? Hell no: I’ve always known that these churches are scamming people. It gladdens my heart to see so many young people being indifferent to religion, the biggest scam in Ghana and Africa.
This is what is happenning in most of the well known charismatic churches, Lighthouse, Action Chapel, ICGC etc. The scales are falling and God is about to start a new revolution/revival in Christiandom in Ghana. It must happen!! The place of Christ must be restored in the life of His followers.
Mercy!! Father,heal the church ?
Total lack of integrity manifested into inordinate greed. The Bible was written as a free gift but these Charismatic Churches have used it to write all manner of books for sale without a penny as copyright dues, exploiting their vulnerable followers. It’s a pity that salvation is being offered for sale.
Bernie Madoff, the con king couldn’t even dream of such scheme.
Wow. This is very sad.
So much deceit in the church.
Dag must quickly resolve this. It’s not too late to do the right thing.
this is not Dag must resolve this thing time… this is when is he going to pay for his greed time … this thing happen for so long to be considered a mistake
Fuck shit merhhnnnn
Kindly check the date of your reply and compare it with the date a letter was sent to LCI, and yet a reply is “unlikely”. He’s not fixing anything. Replying will mean it’s true. Which will either require him to defend himself and LCI against the former pastors or deny the claims.
Either ways, it stands to be true.
The evil lives in the church. Wicked people, selfish and heartless criminals, covering their stupidity with the name of God.
They call themselves the number one tithe paying church in Ghana, yet those monies cannot support the church’s projects.
I was an associate pastor in one of their branches in Navrongo, but later had to leave bcos of certain instructions which were not favourable to me. I pray this piece should go a long way to strengthen them rather than bring the institution down.
Hmmm God save us all
odit
The church should respond to these allegations and clear their name in the public’s eye. Devoted men of God cannot be treated like this. The church can’t sweep this under the carpet. Human systems will not stand the test of time.
Hmmmm as for the Bishop birthday it’s a must even when I was student we were told to pay such amount and as they usually say if you don’t pay you’re called an Absalom and a whole lot.
So one day I asked the elders why we student should pay such money and we are not working mpo. Then he said it’s a way of honouring him.
Lighthouse de33 I whole lot of issues oo leveled against them if we should say it here eehh they will come defend Bishop
Keep mute… What whole lot of issues… Say them if u have any
How on earth ? would one be compelled to pledge to live a life of poverty
I have been a member of this church in the past. Every allegation is almost palpable to the highest degree . Even as a teenager I questioned ‘the personality worship syndrome ‘ in the church. I’m proud of these men , it took long but they freed themselves and spoke up .
When I read Part 1, I asked a friend who shared the article with me that “if their SSNITs are unpaid, and so what? They should go to court, which they have done.” I also wanted to respectfully question Manasseh Azure Awuni, if that is the depth of the issues. But, the Part 2 issues look more serious. From an accountability researchers’ perspective, there is a lot to say from the little information although much information needs to be made public from the side of the church. The sad part is how finances are said to be moved from wives through the men to the church. In business, that is done with complex business structures like groups of companies. My greatest worry is about why the Bishops were doing things outside their will, and why they should wait for these years. Were they not the ones testifying and getting more young people following them in the money begging scheme as they are now describing? Next time, let us establish this, “God should be the one calling the people into Ministry”, whenever men call men, agency theory and all the theories of greed in management and accountability will be invoked. In such cases, everything should be treated like a private business, nothing like NGO or church, everything is business.
The problem is simple than complex. You’re indoctrinated to a particular system that cripples your ability to free yourself from; sort of a slavery thing but rather mental. They are fed with loyalty from the onset and are made to believe it is biblically right, as the bishop said.
The Bible as it is, can be used for a whole lot of things including mental slavery. When Africa was colonized by there’s foreigners, most used the Bible to accomplish their schemes, same applies to this.
Christ came to set free, and by His Spirit bring liberty. His Spirit guides us on the pathway that is right, of righteousness and truth. He brings peace. Any other thing introduced by man outside the Word, or by twisting the interpretation of the Word, and later imposed on followers is evil.
Christ need to be prime focus and nothing else.
Whether they want to loyal to LCI and the bishop, Christ must reign supreme in all things.
I was sent this article by a friend, we both attended lighthouse. 20yrs for me and 10 yrs for him in this cold London.
Apart from their account on their mission field of which I have no experience of every other statement in there is correct.
When you are there you become blinded to all this and rather sees it as right , or even best policies and practice.
Offerings of $10000 is called easily without shame
Thank God we left .
Hmmmmm
What a pity , Pastors who stood up to help the church grow are now denied of there bread . May father Lord have mercy.
#afua, you are right
I paid £250 to use the church building for my wedding in 2008
If we are to list what goes on in that church we swill be branded orangutans in this world.
Young boys and girls with bright future are damaged for life whiles their kids are trained to be lawyers,doctors,engineers
Hod is still awake
What!!!
Awww Nana Yaw! £250 in 2008? Some of you guys have really really seen things.
The Bible says in Exodus 20:12 , honor your father and your mother so that you may live long …The Bible didn’t add whether they are right or wrong . When ham dishonored his father Noah and laughed at his fathers nakedness , it didn’t end well with him at all. If we claim to be Christians and believe in the Bible , we will not be posting all these things about our fathers and men of God . Dishonoring of fathers leads to a curse . Go and read your Bible and see what happened to Ham after he dishonored his father . We are still living under the curse of ham.
You can’t dishonor the father that brought you into existence ,made you a pastor , ordained you, and expect it to be well with you in life . Can you dishonor your biological father who gave birth to you even if he goes wrong and expect that it will be well with you ?
If the Bible is true and we believe in it , then we will be afraid of the things we are posting . God is the one who judges , vengeance is the Lord’s he will repay, we don’t have the right to do what God will do ..
Let’s mature and read our bibles well and stop playing with fathers , there are many examples in the Bible to advice us that what we are doing will only end up in a curse.
Meditate on Exodus 20:12 very well.
you are lost my friend
Very lost
My brother/sister, Paul who joined the ministry later than Peter, who was not even one of Jesus’ disciples while he walked the face of the earth, properly rebuked Peter when he was wrong and acting hypocritically (Galatians 2:11-21). This was Peter the rock on which the church will be built (Matthew 16:18).
Paul admonishes that we judge those in the church first before those outside the church (1 Corinthians 5:12).
Finaly, God bless you Fourth Estate and our whistle-blowing pastors for this eye opening piece.
You are just not fair to justify wicked with the holy bible I sincerely wish the stress they went through on you then you’ll know how it feels to be used.
The scripture says honour your “mother and father”.
When did a pastor become mother and father?
We can appreciate pastors for what they do but to substitute them for our parents is the height to ingratitude to the womb that carries you.
You may think you’re defending this to do God a favor but you’re lost. You’re quoting scriptures out of context but it’s not your fault, that’s how you’ve been deceived all throughout the years you’ve been at Lighthouse.
Are you aware the Bible admonishes Christians to speak up for and protect the weak and poor in Proverbs 31?
The rubbish you’re spewing is akin to asking a slave who has been abused and defiled for years to be content and honor their masters because they fed and clothed them. Do you realize how ridiculous it sounds?
I was in the church too, from 2001 to 2019 and I’d believe every one of these allegations. Any sincere member knows this to be true. But the stooges will rise to defend abuse and evil in the name of “loyalty”. Other people’s children are taught about “losing, sacrificing and dying” for the sake of the ministry but not their own children. They would only come into ministry after they have become lawyers and doctors. And even with that, they would never be sent to the same places other people’s children are sent to.
Many have turned their backs to the families, and ignored the admonitions of their parents not to follow Dag and his ministry but that one is not called “dishonoring parents”. It’s like bishop becomes the one true parent even though he never bought diapers, cleaned your sh** or paid fees. Some people have never given any significant present to their parents but come May 14, they’d send dollars to bishop.
While I am unhappy with many happenings in the church, I must also admit that the church has brought a lot of people to the knowledge of Christ. Many people I know, including myself learnt to become a strong Christian through some of the pastors in the church. But what good is it to lead men to Christ first and deflect to serve and honor a mere man? God never demanded loyalty from Christians to pastors.
The culture of silence at lighthouse is not of God. The culture of cursing deflectors is not of God either. The emphasis on money at the expense of members is also not of God. Throughout all of this, only one person has benefited, Dag Howard-Mills and his family. And he is the only person who can change these things. Everyone who has ever been a member of lighthouse would tell you that if bishop wants something, it will be done. If he wants the abuse to end, it will end. The buck stops with him.
Out of thousands of pastors, only 6 of them come out with such outrageous stories and suddenly the world agrees with them? Wow! There’s something they’re not telling.
Or the others lack the courage to come out? Have you thought about that?
I feel ashamed as a Christian atimes.
If there is God,he should teach us the right way.
The Bible, people who say “pastor said, pastor said” need to read the Bible for themselves. If you say something that does not agree with scripture I throw it out. The Bible is the marking scheme not what your pastor says
This is a set up !! Why will the blogger read and choose comments to approve or put up !! It’s obvious you are approving only negative comments.
Exodus 20:12.
New International Version
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Whoever you are you should be afraid of this verse if you claim to believe in God .
Well at least you read my comments
If I were you I will advice myself and not join
Myself to people who are dishonoring the father who caused them to exist in ministry . If you love your life and believe in the Bible then approve the genuine comments or take down this article .The word of God cannot be broken . It will happen practically , if it says it shall not
Be well with those who do not honor their fathers them so shall it be .
Jonathan was loyal to his father despite knowing very well his strife towards David was not justified. The end result Jonathan died as his father.
Paul said imitate me as I imitate Christ. Jesus is the standard not my spiritual father. As long as my spiritual father is following Jesus and keeps pointing me to him that’s it. But don’t offer blind loyalty all because he is your father.
It’s Jesus who died for you not your pastor.
God be our helper
Bishop dag is amazing , fantastic and visionary teacher, prophet, pastor every one on earth can get…we love you bishop, what ever the situation is, it shall end and He will conquer …
Hmmm, this is very sad and disheartening. I feel personally that if these allegations from these pastors are false, then, LCI should respond to it and tell their side.
The silence from them and refusal to respond to letters simply could be mean what these pastors are saying is true?
This story just make me sad. While reading, was having 2nd thoughts as to the authenticity of the story but the comment session is proving the validity of the story.
I’m just very sad and dishearten by the insights. I would like the church to respond to these claims and if it’s true, I hope this changes as soon as possible.
I don’t beleive this is what God intended for the church!!!
I am so saddened by this story. Very heartbreaking if indeed this is true, which I believe would be, this is evil.
May God keep you and revive you again. You didn’t die because God has a better plan for you, and maybe to testify against these cruel happenings.
10% of the church offertory to his family, birthday offertory, compulsory purchase of your books but the field men are denied if their bread? Self-centered individual. His own God of worship shall deal with him. Wickedness.
In fact, the Lighthouse Chapel needs to be reformed. A big congratulations to the author of this well written and detailed article, Mr. Edwin for giving us all the information. God bless you!
The mercy of God endures forever.
Let’s be mindful, “if it not Christ, about Christ, for Christ, in Christ’s name”, leave whilst you can.
Men will claim to be workers of the vineyard but rather exploit from it. I’m not saying LCI is an institution for exploiting the goodwill of people, although it’s possible that it might’ve lost its way.
Let’s just be careful. Test the waters and weigh the spirits. Pray and ask the Lord for direction and guidance.
Let us be led.
Be blessed.
God have mercy! How I wish this was false but it’s happening in different dimensions in almost every church you’ll find in Ghana. It’s sad! I wonder why we must sit down for churches and church leadership to say stuff to instill fear in us whiles milking us dry before we wise up! For how long is this going to happen? Is someone in control of our brains? Are we not watching the likes of China, Japan, Korea, USA, Europe, etc; are they doing this much religion and churching??? Ain’t they more developed??? Even the Bible I’ll recommend we read it with our brains and hearts together and not hearts alone.
Thank goodness I realised this church wasn’t meant for me….I quit some years back and since then I had gone yo a different church twice. How on earth could a whole Bishop and founder of Lighthouse ask members during one of the good friday services to wait for those with 1,000 cedis plus to go first and receive bigger blessings at offering time whiles he ordered those with 5gh and 10 gh to wait.
This accounts, especially the part 2 brought tears to my eyes when I was reading. Infact, I don’t see how fairness in this treatment that was meted out to this pastors. I’m heartbroken and sad that this are the issues is facing today. I can’t even understand why pastor have to preach from a book or the Head Pastor’s past messages. I’m so so sad and utterly shocked. Anyways, God is the one who will judge all this issues fairly not human.
Am only happy they still hold their faith as Christians and I know God will see them through.
Hmmmmm..very pathetic
I’m shook!!!!
I used to attend this church for 6 years. I was sexually harassed by pastors here. Everything they said is true. This church is no longer a church but a cash cow for greedy men that label what they are doing “God”. Hod is not pleased and I believe He is exposing all the churches that are using His name for exploitation. Earlier last year even the famous American pastors the Lindsey’s were exposed for the same thing. This is sad & disheartening.
Information wu wiase ooo.
Hmmm
Lighthouse fo), no wonder their members are changing churches.
That church die3 hmmmmm. Wahala for u if ur legally married wife attends that church alone.. Ns3m piii.
Hmmmmm
This isnt found only in lighthouse alone oo…
It’s right there in all the charismatic ..PENTECOSTAL and orthodox churches….
Many pastors ..ministers..prophets..and church workers have become bitter to themselves and thier families….cos of all these things….and the sad thing is..most cant speak up…to leave the church..
Heart breaking and disappointing story. Why deceive your pastors into toiling for the church only for you to snatch everything from them? Christianity is suffering ridicule at the hands of these men who only called themselves into ministry with the aim of enriching themselves. I pray the pastors sue the church for whatever they invested. Especially the man who kept on building schools wherever he went. It’s his property and not the church’s. This is a huge disgrace on Dag . Disappointed
In the two episodes so far, somethings are still shady. Peculiarly, are the monthly tithes and offerings. Despite their meagre salries and strive, I want to know, do all their tithes and offertories go to the church’s headquarters?
They are crying foul but churches like Methodist, Pentecost, Presby and many more do transfers of Pastors and Bishops and they don’t claim the properties they installed are all for them. They got them because they were with the Church.
Did you really read the story well before making this comment. There was a verbal agreement that the transfers were permanent and whatever they built was for them. They also stated clearly that a percentage of the offering was sent not all. Why won’t you take your time to read the story well and come and display this blatant ignorance all in the name of Methodist this, that etc. Aren’t you even sad for all what these men have gone through over all this years. SMH.
Did you read to understand? These people were told to build from scratch and own it. For the other churches you mentioned, the Pastors are transferred to already established churches. And besides these churches receive grants from their headquarters to build the churches.
I tried my best to reserve my comment, but I just had to say my mind. Lighthouse is not THE church but a part of it. There is only one church and that’s the body of Christ. Every denomination is a part of that body and not the collective whole. ICGC, ACTION CHAPEL, KICC, LAKEWOOD, MAKERS HOUSE are all parts of the body of Christ which is the church. So people who are generalizing things to make lighthouse appear to be the church are getting it wrong. I prefer we use the word denomination because that’s what it is. And they clearly identify themselves as such.
Inconsistencies in this story, Bloggers getting the traffick needed for money.
The posture of the article and turning of the Former Pentecost pastors responses prove it.
In Lighthouse, everyone knows the galatians 6:6 contributions and tithes go to the Healing Jesus Crusade accounts. So why say to the Bishop. Every pastor and leader knows this.
I have actually helped building some of the said churches and the dates don’t match the timelines
Very one-sided story,
The other side is not recounted, sections selected and posted
Do you know Leaders in the church are assisted with things like cars and others not to mention?
To make it look like the Bishop is pocketing money is not true. Do you know the number of blind, homeless and cripple people who receive momo payments every month from the church.
Never head of *thefourstategh.com* till today. Is this your sole purpose? I see this as a scheme.
Separate resignations with different timelines, why bring all together into this?
THE CHURCH OF GOD WILL NOT FALL. IT WILL STAND, continue winning more souls to the glory of God.
God bless you brother. This is the only comments which make sense. Why now, all these suppose formal Pastors never complained when they were not due for cars but were given and has since not returned those cars when they left. Oko Mensah was given a brand new car when he was not due,why didn’t he mention that. God have mercy on all of us
Abeg shut up
Defending pastors like a spell has been cast on you
Pray for deliverance
I hope your “bishop” gets punished severely
Is a human institution and will definitly have flaws..! Most people become pastors in Ghana because of unemployment,and as such the easiest way to get employed is to be a pastor,but upon getting there they realise is a different ball game. Most of them infact are not educated,some start going to school during the pastorial ship and after some time they realize they have been cheated..!!! That is why i am a Baptist…!!! the autonomy of the church holds,and you deal with your own problems..!appoint your own pastors,make your own money and spend your own money.
Why are you guys running to Apostle Opoku Onyina when the Bible is there? The Bible’s opinion is what matters. May God have mercy on us ?.