Canada Diocese Crisis: Inside Details As CCC Worldwide Pastor Stops Parish Sale, Appointments

The Pastor and Spiritual Head of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) Worldwide, Reverend Emmanuel Mobiyina Oshoffa, has ordered an immediate halt to all contentious actions within the Canada Diocese of the church, including the proposed sale of the Ayo Mother Parish building and the appointment of a new shepherd.

The directive, issued amid deepening disagreements among senior clerics in the diocese, instructed that all actions relating to the disputed issues be placed on hold pending further guidance from the church’s apex authority.

In a memo dated December 11, 2025, with reference number CCC/EMF/PO-RA/CAN-015/11-25, and addressed to the Head of the Canada Diocese, VSE Rufus Adeoba, Oshoffa said the intervention was necessitated by “recent disturbing developments” within the diocese.

The memo also barred all parties from issuing further press releases or media statements on the dispute and formally withdrew earlier letters issued from the Office of the Pastor and Spiritual Head in November 2025 concerning the same issues.

As part of efforts to restore peace, the Pastor summoned major stakeholders in the Canada Diocese to a critical meeting scheduled to hold in Nigeria on Friday, January 23, 2026. 

Those invited include VSE Rufus Adeoba, VSE Kunle Lawal, VSE Michael Bakare, VSE Henry Onah, VSE Shina Osunmakinwa, AVSE Bisi Awolope, VSE Joseph Ojegele, VSE Charles Njie and VSE Jide Salako.

He warned that any attempt to continue public exchanges in the media or to drag the leadership of the church into litigation over the Canada Diocese crisis would attract the “ire of the apex authority of the church.”

An addendum to the memo directed all invited stakeholders to attend the meeting with proof of their clergy registration numbers and copies of their Venerable Superior Evangelist (VSE) anointment certificates.

For clarity, the memo stated that the status quo in the Canada Diocese remains until further directives are issued after the January meeting.

It also affirmed that the East and West regions of the diocese remain intact, while CCC Ayo Mother Parish continues to function as the archdiocese under VSE Kunle Lawal.

The statement was signed by Kayode Ajala, Director of Media and Publicity and Secretary of the Pastor’s In-Council, Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide, and issued on behalf of the Pastor and Spiritual Head for what the church described as the peace and progress of the Canada Diocese.