“I Should Have Retired 14 Years Ago” — Adeboye Opens Up On RCCG Leadership

Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has explained why he has yet to step down from his leadership of the church.

Speaking during a sermon, the cleric, who turned 84 in 2026, said he was meant to retire 14 years ago.

Adeboye revealed that he planned to spend his retirement travelling around the world and writing a book. He said he hoped the book would serve as a guide for future preachers after his death.

Adeboye said:

“There was a time I started preparing for my retirement. ‎I’m supposed to have retired 14 years ago, and I had a great plan for my retirement. I was planning to travel throughout the world, and I believed the gift God had given me was to take a passage in the Bible and expand on it. I thought I would just sit down and begin from Genesis chapter one and keep on enlarging and writing it down so that by the time I die, wherever I’ve reached in the Bible will become a legacy, something that preachers can consult when they want to preach.”

However, he said he received what he described as a divine message telling him that it was not yet time to retire. He added that the guidance encouraged him to continue his journey.

“But then God said, ‘ You are not retiring yet. Well, I was wise enough to know that if I disobey, he has stopped talking to me before; I don’t want him to stop talking to me,” he added.