THE FAITH TABANACLEThe faith tabernacle, generally acknowledged as the doyen of the ALADURA MOVEMENT, which would ultimately provide the launching pad for the major revival movement resulting in the birth of two major Nigerian churches today, actually in 1918, in Ijebu-ode, in the southwestern part of Nigeria. The society was known originally as the Diamond society of Nigeria. It started as a prayer movement beginning in Savior's Anglican Church, during the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918. Led by J. B.Eshinshiade, also known as Shadare, the group was began to meet after Sunday service and later, in response to the requests from the congregations and also met on Monday evenings. In the heat of this epidemic, a young lady of nineteen, named Sophia Odunlami, a native of Isoyin fell sick. But while in this state she heard the a voice proclaiming " I shall send peace on this house and to the whole world, the world war is ended…" the same voice instructed her that a rainfall was coming and as many that believe God should use the water, they would be healed.Her message eventually got to ijebu-Ode and to the prayer group at St. Savior's church and they sent for her. By that time, the government had shut all public buildings including churches, in order to stop the spread of this epidemic. Sophia was persuaded to join because many who used the said rainfall praised its effectiveness. The local pastor, Rev, Gansallo, of the said church had left for his village after the closure of the churches and thus members of the prayer group felt betrayed. This betrayal caused this group to begin to question certain aspects of Anglican faith, which they had formerly taken for granted. A year before the epidemic, a young man David O. Odubanjo, based in Lagos but from the same area, had come in contact with a publication, "the sword of the sprit", produced by a group in America known as the "Faith tabernacle" under a pastor named J. clerk. Odubanjo derived no little benefit from this publication, which testifies to the "power of prayer alone to heal and to provide for worldly needs, and condemned the use of medicine whatsoever". Odunbanjo, having now connected pastor Clerk by mail, was happy to share his experience with the prayer group in Ijebu-Ode. The diamond society also had a set of rules that members were oblige to follow. Some of their prohibitions include, "dancing and drumming, owning dept, drinking of alcohol, smoking of cigarettes, play of cards, gambling of money, taken interest on money, not keeping the Sabbath, no too much of ornaments, and chewing of kola nuts". A tension was eventually to mount between the group and the Anglican Church over the group's activities. Disagreements and irreconcilable differences especially on the use of medicine and infant baptism were to finally led to the separation of this group from the church. The diamond Society was to have its first meeting on January 22, 1922. Meanwhile, Odubanjo had started another chapter in Lagos named Faith Tabernacle, after the American group. Before long, other chapters sprang up across Nigeria in Jos, Zaria,Kaduna, Oyan, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ilesa, Ife, Benin, Makurdi Iyagba and Kano, all by midle- level career officers in the services of colonial authority, who seemed to form the buik of its membership at these early days. Not onlythat, the movement had extended beyond nigeria to Ghana, Sierra leone and upper volta. By 1930,it had as many as eight hundred members. The group now been finally seperated grom Anglican church, conducted its own activities according to its peculiar beliefs. For its teaching and gospel materials it relied solely on the American parent group and its pastor Clarck who also was regarded as their pastor, faced heavy persecution from Anglican Church and the colonial authority. With no vissible or ready source of finance and axternal support, members of the group had to endure lotd of hardships in those days. Often time members, especially the leaders faced punitive transfer in their place of work in order to frutrate the group's activities. Their odds notwithstanding, they forged on in spite of some difficulties within the group. Their commitment to scriptural holiness and santification was total and this manifested in the conduct of members. Outsiders noticed that the group had greatly influenced the lives of its adherents for the better. The simplicity of its members and their otherworldly outlook made a strong appeal to the masses of people. This then is the story of the faith Tabernacle, the movement that would provide the platform for the revival of 1930 |
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