“It took God 7 days to create the world; it won’t take him more than 1 year to build an ordinary structure…”
Those were the words Bishop David Oyedepo, an architect and Founding Pastor of The Living Faith Church, said when it began to look like the construction of Faith Tabernacle was going to take more than the intended 1 year to complete.
In 1998, Bishop David Oyedepo announced to the church the intention to move to a more permanent and bigger location and the commencement of what is to become their new church auditorium. At the time of construction, the church leadership reached out to several reputable contractors in the country to discuss the project and determine which would work best. However, all the contractors insisted on the impossibility and unrealistic nature of completing such a structure in a year. Despite many setbacks during construction and the contractors’ belief that it was impossible, on the 18th of September 1999, Faith Tabernacle was dedicated and opened for use. Completed in exactly 12 months.
The Design Deemed Impossible
Faith Tabernacle was to be an auditorium with a seating capacity of 50,000 and over 5,000 parking spaces. The design style is modern Ecclesiastical. The design resembles the letter “Y”, with the altar (a hexagon) at its center and the three arms representing Love, Faith, and Hope.
Because of the design, the church wanted an auditorium with no columns visible in the halls. The altar being central means it will only be visible to everyone with a column-free interior. This part of the design was one of the reasons the contractors contacted didn’t think such a structure could be completed in a year. The construction cost about ₦900,000, which was about $11 million at the time.
Structural Breakthrough
The auditorium has 3 arms and 6 entrances, with each arm being about 45m wide and 110m long. The height from the finished floor to the roof cone is about 42m. This triad structure helps distribute the load properly. The structural system employed is fully reinforced concrete walls, with the staircases acting as the core support of the building. There are also massive concrete columns along the exterior walls and cantilevered beams supporting the galleries.
The roof features long steel trusses covered with long-span aluminium roofing sheets. The building also incorporates roof vents to improve the ventilation and acoustics.
Inside Faith Tabernacle
The interior of Faith Tabernacle is nothing short of beautiful. It features high ceilings finished with PVC, which helps with insulation and acoustics. The concrete walls are finished with clean paint, while the exterior walls are finished with light coloured, textured ceramic tiles. For durability and slip-resistance, the concrete floor is finished with terrazzo.
Large aluminium-framed sliding windows are fitted for daylight and ventilation. The interior also features three large electronic screens to improve visibility for congregants seated at the far ends of the aisles. The gallery circulation is supported by 13 external and 5 internal stair halls. The auditorium has over 48 vestibules, multiple functional rooms and about 90 doors.
The auditorium’s design follows strong symmetry and radial balance, evident in the plans and elevations. Each one of the 6 major entrances features sloping beams and vertical columns shaped like clapped hands pointing to the sky. Each one of these carries a steel cross. This symbolizes a praying posture.
The Construction
Since all the contractors the church had reached out to, including Julius Berger, had insisted that completing the structure in 12 months was unrealistic. The construction was done using direct labour sourced by the church, and all the professionals from the church came together to ensure the structure was executed to perfection. It is important to mention that these professionals did this work pro bono. It’s also very important to mention that the auditorium wasn’t just completed in record time of 12 months, it was also finished with far lower cost than the major construction firms had projected.
International Recognition
The news of the ‘Acclaimed largest church auditorium in the world’ reached the BBC, and in 1999, they sent a correspondent to interview Bishop David Oyedepo. Although this claim could not be confirmed at the time, it was reported that the Faith tabernacle was indeed a mega-structure.
However, on the 24th of January 2008, Guinness World Records listed Faith Tabernacle as the largest church auditorium in the world, with a seating capacity of 51,400 people and an overflow capacity of 52,000. It held this record until it was beaten by a 55,000-seat Arena completed in the Philippines in 2014.
The story of Faith Tabernacle is very intriguing because of the uniqueness of its architecture and structure, but also because of the time in which it was accomplished and the professionals who worked tirelessly to ensure the dream they had came to fruition. Its completion and beauty have gone on to inspire others to create even more daring feats, and currently the church is working on its new auditorium, which is expected to hit a new record and be the largest auditorium with well over 100,000 seating capacity.
CITATIONS:
AfricanPastors.net, 2013. Pastor David Oyedepo Profile. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20120428040226/http://www.africanpastors.net/Pastors%20Webpages/David%20Oyedepo.html [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].
Armchair Travelogue, 2009. ‘Winners’ Chapel (Faith-Tabernacle), Nigeria’, Armchair Travelogue, February. Available at: https://armchairtravelogue.blogspot.com/2009/02/winners-chapel-faith-tabernacle-nigeria.html [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].
Beecroft, L., 2021. The Story of Faith Tabernacle and Canaanland. P.M. News. Available at: https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2021/08/30/the-story-of-faith-tabernacle-and-canaanland/ [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].
Igbinijesu, T., 2012. Discover Nigeria: Faith Tabernacle, An Engineering Wonder of the World. ConnectNigeria. Available at: https://articles.connectnigeria.com/2012/07/05/discover-nigeria-faith-tabernacle-an-engineering-wonder-of-the-world/ [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].
Wikipedia, 2025. Faith Tabernacle. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Tabernacle#cite_note-6 [Accessed 23 Nov. 2025].
