Biography
David Odubanjo was a Nigerian Christian leader of the early twentieth century and one of the founding figures of the Christ Apostolic Church, a movement of African initiative in the Yoruba lands of western Nigeria. He lived in the years when Nigeria was a British colony, and when the missionary churches, though respected, were often seen as foreign institutions. Many Africans longed for a faith that was rooted in their own people and that gave more room to prayer and divine healing.
He was educated in a mission school and worked as a teacher or clerk. He was drawn to the teaching about prayer and the power of God to heal, which he found in the writings of the American Faith Tabernacle movement. In 1918, the great influenza epidemic swept across Nigeria and killed a very large number of people. In that time of fear, a few believers in Ibadan and Lagos gathered to pray, and they refused to take medicine, trusting God alone. They began a small prayer group, and Odubanjo became one of their leaders. The group later took the name of the Precious Stone Society and then the Diamond Society.
He wrote to the Faith Tabernacle in Philadelphia and received literature and support from them. As the movement grew, he served as a secretary and organizer, and he kept up the correspondence. In 1930 a young revivalist named Joseph Ayo Babalola began a powerful ministry of preaching and healing in Ilesha, which drew thousands of people. The Faith Tabernacle group in Nigeria and the revival movement came together. Odubanjo supported Babalola and helped to form the new church organization.
In 1941, after a period of division and reorganization, the group took the name Christ Apostolic Church. Odubanjo was one of its leaders, and he helped to draw up its constitution. The church stressed prayer, healing by faith, holiness and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It also placed a strong value on African leadership and on the use of the Yoruba language. It grew quickly and became one of the largest and most influential indigenous churches in West Africa.
The early years were marked by conflict. There were disputes between the leaders about authority, about the use of medicine and about the relation to foreign churches. Odubanjo found himself at times in disagreement with his colleagues. He tried to keep order and unity. He suffered personal difficulties and, like many leaders of the time, endured hardship for the sake of the church.
The record of his life is limited, and it needs to be checked against fuller sources. What can be said with confidence is that he was one of the pioneers who helped to give Nigerian Christianity an African face and that he spent his life in the service of the church. He died in the middle of the twentieth century. His story reminds us that the gospel takes root in every culture when it is received and lived by the people themselves.
“Come over and help us!”