Exclusive: Former Pastor Who Dumped Christianity Opens up about How Much Church Paid Him Every Month
- After close to two decades as a Christian, a former pastor renounced Christianity in its entirety and now identifies as an apostle of knowledge to the nations
- In an interview with Legit.ng, the former pastor recounted his exploits as an Abuja-based pastor, how trouble started in his former church, and what he soon realised about Christianity
- The 38-year-old opened up about the power tussle at his former church, how he resigned and how much he earned monthly as a then cleric
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Ex-pastor Genesis Eririoma grabbed headlines months ago after elaborating on why he left Christianity after years of pastoral work and service.
Genesis, a youth pastor at United Believers Mission in 2007, started his personal outreach named Balm in Gilead Healing And Evangelistic Ministries (BIGHEM) in 2012 and became a full-time pastor years later, but at the moment is an atheist who believes Christianity is a fraud.
Source: Original
In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, the former clergyman opened up about his achievements and untold stories of his erstwhile church and how much he received monthly.
Ex-pastor recounts pastoral journey and travails
Genesis, known in the past as Pastor Genesis Omoghene, hails from Oleh, Isoko South LGA in Delta State and is happily married to a pastor's daughter, who is now irreligious, according to him.
When quizzed about his pastoral journey, Genesis told Legit.ng that he was already deconstructing from Christianity when he joined the Life of Faith Church, Abuja, in 2022, adding that the pastoral opening was the only job he found in Abuja.
"I came to Abuja in 2022 via a job I got after I was hunted by unknown assailants through incessant armed robberies. After I left the job, I searched online for weeks to get a job. The only job I found was a pastoral opening at the Life of Faith Church.
"I applied and I was scheduled for an interview with the G.O. BIshop Anjorin in Bauchi. I travelled to Bauchi and met the Bishop who offered me the pastoral Job after my successful interview. I took over from Pastor Peter on my birthday on October 2nd, 2022 introduced to the church by the Bishop himself..."
Genesis, a YouTuber and the author of Commonsense Understanding of the Bible, recounted his achievements as a pastor at the Abuja-based worship centre.
"I laboured faithfully to help the church grow. I recorded several successes within my short spell, fixing the church's sound equipment, commencing the roofing of the pastor's office that was leaking (a container structure), amongst others.
"I helped a number of members get established financially through prophecy and counsel... Conducted deliverances and healings, notably that of Samuel. Before I joined the church, I was already an apostle in Christianity with my personal outreach ministry, Balm in Gilead Healing And Evangelistic Ministries (BIGHEM) with the Wisdom Foundations Outreach.
"When I left for Abuja, I had hoped to continue with my personal ministry, but I needed a job at that time urgently... I hoped to serve the Life of Faith Church for about 2 years before leaving..."
On how trouble started for him at the church, Genesis said:
"Trouble started when the Bishop saw my email was bearing the title apostle because we used to exchange correspondence through emails.
"He would send the messages for the midweek and Sunday services, which doesn't give the pastor room to teach according to his understanding, which really gave me a tough time, but I managed to adjust.
"Severally, he tested my capacity and allowed me to prepare a teaching outline for a one-month program which he praises so much...I knew I was way ahead of him in understanding, but I respected his age and never disrespected him. When he saw the apostle before my name, he was threatened.
"He queried me when we went to Bauchi to attend a program, and I explained to him I wasn't bearing it while working under him as a pastor..."
He claimed that another issue that created a misunderstanding between him and his former church employer was the challenge of finance and the membership target.
"Another thing that brought issues was the financial and membership targets. He didn't have a clear strategy for realising the target of a monthly income of 200,000 monthly income and membership of 500 per year.
"As an outreach person, I suggested outdoor crusades because that was my strength instead of just the traditional house fellowship system which he tried to replicate citing Yonggi Cho but he refused. He gave me Yonggi Cho's book to study so I can replicate it but I knew it wouldn't work..."
Source: Original
How much ex-pastor earned as salary
Genesis described the salary he was paid then by the church as meagre, adding that the church still takes tithes from the salaries. In his words:
"The church collects tithes even from pastors from the meagre salary they pay pastors. When they refused, the church administrator threatened to withdraw it directly from my salary, but later rescinded the decision and ordered me to pay it myself, or else I would face disciplinary action.
"They didn't even consider my welfare, but I remained unfazed and continued my work. I helped a new set of leaders and a youth pastor emerge through their Bible School Training Program, which they forced me to attend also and I did, and graduated with them.."
Legit.ng asked Genesis how much the churchpaid him monthly and he disclosed that he earned N60k, but that a tithe of N6k is deducted from it, leaving him with N54k.
"The salary was just N60,000, and the tithe was 10%, which is N6,000, which means I was left with just N54,000 monthly."
He added that the church failed to pay him all the allowances he was promised before taking the pastoral job.
"All the allowances they promised in my engagement letter, they didn't pay any but I worked wholeheartedly. I used my personal speaker and other resources to support the work but they were unappreciative only driven by the desire for instant success in finances and membership without providing the enabling environment..."
Legit.ng asked Genesis if he would reconsider his pastoral stance should he get an offer of N500k to pastor a church, and he replied:
"No, I never even pastored because of money...In fact, I had the opportunity of starting my own ministry with offers of sponsorship, but I declined because my conscience wouldn't let me, having known so much about Christianity."
Ex-pastor apologises to those he made Christians
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a former pastor had apologised to those who surrendered their lives to Christ and became Christians after listening to his sermons.
The 38-year-old, formerly a pastor for years before leaving Christianity, penned the apology on his Facebook wall on Monday, April 28. In a chat with Legit.ng, the former Christian shared why he apologised publicly.
"If you ever became a Christian because of my teachings and preachings when I was a Pastor, I am sorry. I did it in ignorance," his Facebook post read.
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Source: Legit.ng
