Pastor, Prince, and Principal 

Morakinyo Olumodimu pays tribute to Pastor Bayo Adeyokunnu who recently clocked 70

October offered some of us the rare opportunity to celebrate someone who epitomizes leadership–a father whose life reflects a heart of service and commitment to faith, family, followers, and indeed to the Christian world as well as the global diasporic Yoruba communities. He is no other than Pastor Adebayo Adebanji Adeyokunnu, the Senior Pastor, Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Victory Temple in Bowie, Maryland, United States. A worthy Prince of the Bilaro Ruling House in Ilesa, Osun State, Pastor Bayo has for decades been a role model for many of us hence his 70th birthday was a time of celebration. Found by grace and built by mercy, his life and ministry are also a testament to divine operations and preparations.

Meanwhile, the platinum year is a unique milestone symbolizing wisdom, endurance, strength, adventures, and accomplishments woven together in the tapestry of time. Today, we celebrate not just another year added to Pastor Bayo but a life rich with profound experiences, growth, and impact. Within this capsule, which contains the days and months amounting to 70 years, Pastor Bayo has traversed them as a journalist, entrepreneur, writer, pastor, builder, and statesman.

It is remarkable that leadership beckoned on Pastor Bayo very early at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) when he served as one of the prime movers of the Christian Student Fellowship on campus, and that grace of Christ kept him on to a life dedicated to ministry with Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship and the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). A call to higher service in the Vineyard took him through various leadership stages within the RCCG, starting in Nigeria. He pastored congregations in Lagos, cultivating his gift for shepherding God’s people while preparing for his global impact. In 1996, Pastor Bayo pioneered the RCCG Victory Temple in Bowie, Maryland. Under his leadership, Victory Temple expanded to serve over 2,000 worshippers, becoming a beacon of hope and faith for the Nigerian diaspora and beyond.

By the grace of God and dint of hard work, Pastor Bayo rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Continental Overseer of RCCG in the Americas. He has planted over 50 churches in eleven states of the USA, including Maryland and West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Washinton State, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Washington DC. His missionizing and evangelistic efforts have led to the birth of dozens of churches in Uttar Pradesh State in South India.

For the Prince of Ijesaland, the journey and calling as a pastor, church planter, and entrepreneur has been shaped by a deep and consistent relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ through prayer and didactic study of the Bible. On a personal note, Pastor Bayo has made tremendous impact on my life, as he has on several people with whom he has come in contact. Before I came under his leadership, I had a prayer life, but being mentored by him released upon me the spirit of prayer. His grace for the secret place is one impartation that I am eternally grateful for. Besides, from him, I have learned the value of loyalty to the leadership; loving your leader enough to pray for them every single day and loving your leader, even with his imperfections.

Before answering the call to full-time ministry, Pastor Bayo was a successful businessman and entrepreneur, running a travel agency in Ikoyi, Lagos, and consulting for government and private companies. His background in business informs his approach to ministry, ensuring that the churches he oversees operate with prudence, accountability, and strategic foresight. His grace and passion have inspired many younger leaders and ministers to do more for God. You cannot hang around Pastor Bayo and remain small; he would drive you to excellence by “fire by force.”

However, the finger of God is not yet done with Pastor Bayo Adeyokunnu at 70. We believe that 70 is just the beginning of a new chapter in his life–a new phase with a new assignment. A born shepherd, marking age 70 cannot be the end of his active contribution to human systems. It is the beginning of a new form of leadership in another realm in which he takes the living word of God beyond the walls of a church. Didn’t God say in Isaiah, “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept? I will also make you a light for the gentiles, that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”

For Pastor Pastor Adebayo Adebanji Adeyokunnu, joining the elite Septuagenarian Club is not a retirement from ministry. It is the beginning of a higher calling that will manifest in due season.

  • Olumodimu is Senior Pastor at RCCG, The Upward Church, Clarksville, Maryland, United States

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