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Started with Fifteen Students
Deeper Life Bible Church traces its origin to a 1973 apartment Bible study with fifteen University of Lagos students. There was no founding vision for a church, only a commitment to serious scripture engagement.
A mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos who began a small Bible study group of fifteen students in 1973, William Kumuyi built Deeper Life Bible Church into one of Nigeria's largest and most disciplined church movements, known for its uncompromising emphasis on personal holiness and rigorous scripture teaching.
CORE CONVICTION
“Holiness is not optional. It is the nature of God reproduced in the believer.”
LESSER-KNOWN FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT
In 1973, William Kumuyi was a mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos who had been deeply impacted by a personal encounter with God and a conviction that the Nigerian church needed to return to the practical disciplines of holiness and scripture. He invited fifteen university students to his apartment for a Bible study. He had no intention of founding a denomination. Over the following decade, through weekly studies that grew in intensity and reputation, people began travelling long distances to attend. By the mid-1980s, Deeper Life Bible Church had grown to over 150,000 members and was holding its meetings in a purpose-built auditorium in Lagos. The growth came almost entirely through the reputation of the teaching, which was systematic, unadorned, and demanding.
HISTORICAL RECORDS
Deeper Life Bible Church traces its origin to a 1973 apartment Bible study with fifteen University of Lagos students. There was no founding vision for a church, only a commitment to serious scripture engagement.
Kumuyi has for decades been cited in Nigerian public surveys as one of the most trusted and scandal-free figures in the country's religious landscape, attributed largely to his consistent emphasis on financial integrity and personal accountability.
His evangelistic crusades were held across Africa, Europe, and Asia, drawing large crowds and reports of physical healing.