Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world. Apart from having so many churches, Nigeria also has Pentecostal churches with some of the largest congregations in the world and if you have visited the auditoriums of some of these churches, you really may get confused about which of them has the biggest auditorium.

Today, we’ll be looking at some of the most popular churches in Nigeria, with the largest auditoriums.

Before we go on, let’s just point out that the biggest cathedral in the world is St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. It stretches over 186 metres in length and has an internal area of 15,160 square metres. The cathedral has a magnificent central dome that rises to 136 metres in height. It is undoubtedly the most important cathedral in Roman Catholicism.

Now that we’ve established that, let’s move on to the largest churches in Nigeria. This list is in no particular order, and we have used parameters like population of members, influence, number of branches in Nigeria and overseas, popularity, reputation and wealth of the founders or general overseers, amongst others, to make this conclusion.

1. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)

Who doesn’t know RCCG? I’m sure that you have met a ‘Redeemed’ member in your life – if you aren’t one yourself. RCCG is Nigeria’s biggest church when it comes to the number of branches. One of the church’s goals is to have many branches. It literally has branches on almost every street in Nigeria.

Another goal is to ensure that in every family in the world, there will be at least one redeemed member. So far, that plan is coming to pass, especially here in Nigeria. Here are some fun facts about RCCG you may not know:

RCCG was founded in 1952 by Pa Josiah Akindayomi.

Before his death, Pa Josiah ordained Bro. Enoch Adeboye, and later transferred the mantle of leadership to Pastor Adeboye.

RCCG had branches in over 196 nations in the world as at 2017.

RCCG has over 5 million members globally

The RCCG headquarters is in Lagos, Nigeria, with a camp in Ogun State that can accommodate a million worshipers in a single service.

2. Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners Chapel)

After RCCG, Winners Chapel is perhaps the next most popular church in Nigeria. Founded in 1981 by Bishop David Oyedepo, the church has a mammoth of worshippers that identify as their members.

Let’s look at some facts about Winners Chapel:

It’s founder, Bishop Oyedepo is the richest pastor in the world, having private jets to his name.

In 2008, Winners Chapel auditorium got into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest church auditorium in the world.

The church is present in 68 nations of the world with branches scattered all over Nigeria.

The Winners Chapel headquarters is in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. It has a capacity of 50,400 and sits on 10,500 hectares of land.

3. Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC)

DLBC was founded by Pastor William Kumuyi in 1973. The DLBC is one of the biggest in Nigeria despite its very conservative doctrines. Here are some facts that you should know about DLBC:

The Church started from a gathering of 15 students and has grown to over 65,000 members (as recorded in a single service in 2016).

Pastor William Kumuyi, the founder, used to be a lecturer of mathematics at the University of Lagos. He stopped being a lecturer after he answered the call to ministry.

4. The Apostolic Church Nigeria (TACN)

In terms of branches and number of worshippers, the Apostolic Church is no doubt one of the largest churches in Nigeria. Don’t confuse the Apostolic Church with Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), or any other church that has ‘Apostolic’ in its name. The Apostolic Church is an offshoot of the Apostolic Church, UK.

Here are some fun facts to know about TAC (apart from the fact that many people confuse it with CAC):

TAC did not come out of CAC. TAC is actually older than CAC. TAC is one of the oldest and biggest churches in Nigeria.

TAC sprung out from TAC in the UK. In 1931, three missionaries from the UK brought the church to Nigeria.

TAC has over 4.5 million members.

TAC has a National Temple in Olorunda Ketu, Lagos, Nigeria. The Temple can accommodate up to 100,000 persons in a single service.

TAC has branches all over Nigeria.

5. Christ Embassy (Believers Loveworld)

Christ Embassy was founded in 1987 by Pastor Chris Oyahkilome. Starting as a little prayer group at the Ambrose Alli University, where he was studying architecture, the church has grown to become one of Nigeria’s biggest and most popular churches today, with members from all over the world.

Here are some fun facts about Christ Embassy:

Pastor Chris, the founder, is a teacher who breaks down the word of God.

Pastor Chris reaches out to people daily through his LoveWorld Global Network.

Pastor Chris is also one of the richest pastors in the world.

The church has its headquarters in Lagos which accommodates over 40,000 worshippers at once.

Christ Embassy has numerous branches across Nigeria, South Africa, USA, Canada, and other countries in the world.

6. Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM)

MFM is popularly known for their emphasis on prayer. The church was founded by Dr. Daniel Olukoya in his living room as a prayer meeting in 1987. Since then, MFM has risen in leaps and bounds, and has become a force to reckon with in the religious terrain of Nigeria.

Here are some things to know about MFM:

MFM has its headquarters in a massive expanse of land in Lagos.

In MFM, ‘fire’ prayers are the order of the day; and the church has praying branches all over the country.

7. The Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN)

Some things to know about SCOAN are:

It was founded by T. B. Joshua in 1987.

It is known largely as a healing centre and a religious tourism hub as well

It has several housing apartments where people from all walks of life come to stay for months in search of healing.

The Headquarters of SCOAN records an attendance of 15,000 persons in every meeting.

SCOAN’s founder, T. B. Joshua, died on the 5th of June 2021.

One interesting fact to note is that SCOAN used to receive more visitors in a week than the Buckingham Palace and London Towers combined.

8. The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries

This church was founded by Lazarus Mouka in 2002. Although it is quite young, compared to the other churches on our list, the Lord’s Chosen has become famous and its membership has increased over the years.

The church headquarters is a 30,000 capacity edifice located in Lagos, Nigeria and the church has branches all over Nigeria. One fun fact about this church is that you can identify its members, whenever there is a special program in the church, by the neon green bibs they wear which advertises each program.

9. Dunamis International Gospel Centre

This church was founded by Dr. Paul Enenche in November, 1996. He was a young medical doctor at the time, and he left his profession to take to full-time ministry.

Here are certain facts to note about Dunamis International Gospel Centre:

It is a megachurch with multiple branches all over Nigeria and abroad.

The Church has over 100,000 members.

The Headquarters of the Church is located at The Lord’s Garden, Airport Road, Abuja, Nigeria.

The church has the second largest church auditorium in the world, a 100,000 seater capacity building. It beats the Winners Chapel building in Ota which is 50,400 seater.

The 100,000 capacity building is called Glory Dome,and it was built in less than four years.

10. Omega Fire Ministries

This church is headed by the controversial Apostle Johnson Suleiman. It was founded in 2004 in Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria.

It is a pretty young church compared to others on our list, but this doesn’t make it any less popular than the others, however, especially because of the controversies that have been associated with its founder in recent years.

Omega Fire Ministries has branches all over Nigeria and in many countries around the world.

11. Salvation Ministries.

Salvation Ministries was established 13th April 1997 by Pastor David Ibiyeomie.The headquarters of this church is called the Hand of God Auditorium and it has the capacity to take about 120,000 people in one meeting.

The Hand of God hall is located in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria.

Pastor David Ibiyeomie is extremely popular among Nigerians. He is also one of the richest pastors in Nigeria. His church has over thirty branches across the globe.

12. Champions Royal Assembly (City of Wonders)

Here are some facts that you need to know about this church:

It was founded by Joshua Iginla, a former muslim, in December 2006

The headquarters of this church is a 80,000 capacity auditorium located in Kubwa, Abuja.

It took 13 months to build the church auditorium, from start to finish.

Joshua Iginla divorced his first wife, and got married to another woman. This was after both he and the first wife confessed to having extra-marital affairs that resulted in children.

There is More – This is Not the End

We hope you learned something from our list. There are other notable churches in Nigeria with magnificent auditoriums. So this list is not exhaustive.

But do you have a favourite church on our list?